A visit to the CES never fails to stimulate the senses. You get caught up in with the energy and buzz which is always present. And every year you marvel at the immensity of this Convention. Seeing and experiencing everything at the CES is no longer an option. You have to pick and choose what interests or excites and plot out a travel route.
THINGS I SAW ON MY TRAVELS
Sony's Blu-ray vs. Toshiba's HD DVD High Definition DVD warring formats. Not to worry LG (the large Korean electronics firm) introduced the Super Multi Blue, a DVD player designed to play both Blue-ray and HD-DVD discs. Peace at last?
Sling Media showcased the SlingCatcher, a device that transmits multimedia images from the Web to TV set. Cost: Under $200 by mid-2007.
Texas Instruments announced that many of its OEM partners, including: Samsung, RCA, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, NuVision, Toshiba, etc. will be offering "slim DLP HDTVs" and that LED-based DLP and HDTVs are coming to market, which are touted to have a contrast ratio of 100,000 to 1! DLP is proven to be a great technology for both projection and HDTV use.
Similar to Sling, Dell introduced a digital home entertainment suite that sends HD video to Dell TV monitors. Dell also unveiled a new PC specifically designed for Game Players, with a liquid and ceramic cooling system. Cost: $5,499,
Sharp Electronics showcased the world's largest LCD display. At 108 inches.
Not to be outdone, Optoma BigVizion demonstrated a 100 inch DLP based display and has plans to introduce a 120 inch model later this year. Designed for the professional home theatre market the 120 incher will carry a price of $49,999.
Apple, as every one knows, introduced the iPhone. Although Apple may not be able to use the name iPhone (which has been copywrite owned by Cisco Systems for many years) Apple did get a lot of buzz but the Apple iPhone is not unlike other smart phones, such as Motorola's Q phone, which are already on the market.
TidBit: Samsung was the number one seller of digital TVs in the U.S. last year.
TidBit: DLP has 43% of display market. LCD and Plasma 57%.
As displays get larger and less expensive, video projectors are getting better and smaller. Projectors are being used for not only TV and movies, but for gaming, showing photos, presentations, sales and marketing calls & demos, etc., etc.
A number of point of purchase displays using portable digital projectors were showcased at the CES. Additionally, palm-sized DLP projectors were shown by Samsung,
Toshiba, and LG. These are low cost, extremely compact projectors which can be linked to cell phones, PDAs, PCs, etc. Samsung's Pocket Imager can fit in the hand.
Can link to a DVD player or DVD in laptop, Smart Phone, and provide up to a 54" image. Cost: $799 w/carry case.
Not to be outdone, Toshiba introduced the palm-sized TDPFF1AU that can provide an image up to 68 inches diagonal and comes complete with a foldable 23 inch screen, and a rechargeable 2-3 hour battery. It is compatible with phones, DVD players, digital cameras, laptops, game consoles, and USB memory sticks. Cost: $699. Let the games begin.
CES launched mygreenelectronics.org to assist companies and individuals in recycling tech devices and equipment.
TidBit: Within the next several years, Web-to-TV interfacing will be widespread. You can see it coming.
Tidbit: Funniest product at the show: Combo iPod dock station and toilet paper holder. Cost: I didn't get a price. As I don't own an iPod. Now what about a mini flat panel and toilet paper.....Hmmmm. Let's not go there.
By the way all the products mentioned and lots of others currently on the market can be purchased through Entertainment Equipment, just call 800-448-1656 or email.
Best - Jim Lavorato
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
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