The Observer, January 27, 2006
Volume XXXVIII, Issue 14
Consumer Electronics Show unveils what's new for 2006
Each January, geeks around the world gather in Las Vegas not to roll the dice or gawk at scantily clad women, but to announce and experience what fresh technological advances the new year brings at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). This year's CES took place from Jan. 5-8 and can be summed up in just two statements: If it was big, in 2006 it will get bigger. If it was small, in 2006 it will stay small, but with more features crammed into it.
High-definition television (HDTV) seemed to be incorporated into almost every booth this year. HDTV sets saw substantial size increases, with up to 103 inches of drool-inducing plasma real estate offered by Panasonic. To put it in another perspective – this screen is 7.5 feet wide by 4 feet tall. But is bigger necessarily better? A buyer could save an awfully large sum of money by "skimping" on a 50-inch model and sitting just a wee bit closer.
Dell announced 30-inch widescreen LCD monitor, the 3007WFP. Slightly cheaper than Apple's 30-inch offering, the 3007WFP is designed for gamers, programmers, and multitaskers who need the extra space and can afford the expensive video cards required to drive the behemoth. Dell's next largest screen, the 2405WFP at a mere 24 inches, required physical head movement to read text on the screen. Imagine what you must have to do to read the 30-inch screen.
The successors to the DVD, Blu-ray and HD DVD, were seen everywhere an HDTV was present. The Blu-ray devices weren't quite ready yet but promise 25 gigs of storage on a single disc. HD DVD players, like the Toshiba HD-XA1, will serve up 15 gigs on a single disc. Once companies perfect dual, triple, and even quadruple layers, we could see as many as 100 gigs on a single Blu-ray disc. We are approaching an all out format war – Microsoft and Universal Studios with HD DVD and Apple and Sony with Blu-ray. What this means to the consumer is that you might need two different players if you want to watch all of your favorite movies. It's the 8-track conflict all over again.
Toshiba's new Portable Media Player, the Gigabeat S Series, has been dubbed the iPod killer. The device features a huge (by portable standards) 2.4 inch QVGA (320 x 240 pixels) screen, 60 GB of storage for music and movies, and the ability to play videos downloaded from your Tivo. Toshiba also promises five hours of video playback time. Compared to the 60-gig iPod, the Gigabeat is a negligible .25 ounces heavier. If this doesn't sound appealing yet, the big man of the show himself, Bill Gates, was seen with one during his keynote speech.
Cell phones with digital cameras are standard now, so the industry is making a shift toward mp3 players and broadband-like speeds. Motorola's ROKR E2 is an attempt at fixing the dismal E1 – capable of storing only 100 songs no matter the remaining free space and employing the file-type-limiting iTunes player. The E2 has removed both limitations and looks promising despite a somewhat dated design. Samsung showed off a cell phone capable of connecting to the internet at 3.6Mbps. The technology that it is based upon, HSDPA, is technically capable of reaching speeds up to 10Mbps. It remains uncertain what that kind of bandwidth can be used for on such a small device, but it does sound exciting.
Of course, a technology show wouldn't be the same without huge keynote speeches and Google had, without a doubt, one of the best. With the help of Robin Williams, the search-engine giant announced Google Local for cell phones, the Google Pack featuring every download in one convenient package, and Google Video with content for purchase, including recent NBA games. Finally, Google made a request of the industry to standardize everything from power plugs to instant messengers. Bill Gates and Microsoft showed off their new operating system Windows Vista, a new radio station service named URGE announced by Justin Timberlake, and Intel's VIIV (pronounced "vive") enabling your PC to feel more like a TV with instant-on capabilities and features like surround sound.
This year may both impress and disappoint technologically. Screens are becoming almost absurdly large, cell phones are becoming mp3 players with broadband speeds, and mp3 players are becoming portable media centers promising to distract you on your walk to the quad. Standards and formats are shifting as lines are drawn in the sand. The best we consumers can do is expect change and attempt to go with the flow.
