CES 2009

Episode 889

Best of CES Awards
http://ces.cnet.com/best-of-ces/

Web site problems as Windows 7 beta hits
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10138449-56.html
http://ces.cnet.com/8301-19167_1-10139408-100.html
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/dd353205.aspx

Apple at CES? Unlikely
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10138499-37.html

Chrome gets Mac deadline, extensions foundation
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10138388-2.html

Nvidia 480-Core graphics card approaches 2 Teraflops
http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09%2F01%2F09%2F2022231

Palm Pre Touchstone eyes-on
http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/10/palm-pre-touchstone-eyes-on/

Testing CrystalTalk
http://ces.cnet.com/8301-19167_1-10138219-100.html

Dell Adamo
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10138468-1.html
http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/09/dell-adamo-hands-on/

Setting ioSafe’s Solo on fire: The hottest blog ever!
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10138593-1.html

Trojan found at torrent sites insists “downloading is wrong”
http://entertainment.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09%2F01%2F10%2F0336243

The Air Force’s rules of engagement for blogging
http://www.boingboing.net/2009/01/09/the-air-forces-rules.html

E-mail
Hey JaMoTo +1.

I was listening to episode 888 and I was wondering why everyone is drooling over the Palm Pre. Didn’t we do the same thing when the Blackberry Storm was announced? We gave it so much praise until the time came for release. It was a failure. Are we certain this will be Palm’s savior or will the hype rise above what will really happen? Will the Pre truly be the device that brings Palm back or will it be lost and forgotten just as the Storm was?

Chris from Florida

**********

Hey BOL team just wanted to pop in let you guys know orange julius has a brand spankin new drink called the blackberry storm haha included is a pic i took of the ad and a link to the nutrition facts on the 2nd page of the pdf 3rd flavor down of the blackberry storm. I wonder which is slower trying to use the BB storm’s accelerometer feature or trying to get the drink through a straw? haha keep up the good work love the show! Jason Trambley
http://www.orangejulius.com/downloads/OJNutritionalFacts.pdf
–
Jason T

**********

Listening to episode 886. You guys were alking about the sling player
app for iPhone and whether Apple might accept it into the App Store
because it’ll steam video over 3g. I recently started using Orb Live
from the app store. This app works with the Orb client on your pc with
tv tuner at home and you can then stream your tv and any other media
to the iPhone app. Works well. Video quality is good enough over 3g.
So, there’s precedent for it. Hope I’m not jinxing anything by
bringing attention to Orb. Love the show!

Peter on the train in Chicago

**********

Wow, it might not take long for Molly’s prediction to go true:

Seattle P-I up for sale; could go online-only
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008609677_webpi09m.html

I agree with Molly that her prediction is bound to happen. I didn’t think it was going to happen to my local paper though! J

– Jiunwei

A model shows off Dell's new luxury notebook called Adamo.

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET Networks)

LAS VEGAS--Dell trotted out a fashion model to show off the newest addition to its notebook lineup, but beyond explaining the name of Adamo, gave no further details.

Though rumors about Adamo circulated in December, Dell wouldn't confirm its existence. At its press conference here on the second day of CES, the PC maker did that--and only that.

Here's what we know: Adamo is sleek, thin, and black. And it's not a Netbook, meaning there's no Atom processor inside. But which processor is inside, company officials wouldn't say. And it will be for sale at retail locations sometime in the first half of the year.

A close-up of the Adamo shown off at a CES press conference Friday.

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET Networks)

Dell will say that it focused heavily on the industrial design of the notebook, using top-of-the-line materials. Based on what's outside, we can assume it's at the higher end of the spectrum, performance-wise. "It will have the better capabilities you'd expect," Senior Vice President of Consumer Products Alex Gruzen offered.

Oh, and Adamo is pronounced "A-dahm-o." It means "to fall in love with" in Latin, said Michael Tatelman, vice president of consumer sales and marketing for Dell. "It started off as a project code name and then we fell in love with it too."

But Adamo wasn't the only news of the day. Dell also announced a new Netbook, the Inspiron Mini 10, a 10-inch Netbook that falls right between the Mini 9 and Mini 12.

Obey the G2410!

(Credit: Dell)

Dell finally throws its hat into the whole green computer monitor trend, and of course by green I mean eco-friendly.

Thursday, Dell announced its brand new, aptly named G series of displays, which includes the 22-inch G2210 and the 24-inch G2410. Each monitor includes light-emitting diode (LED) backlighting and is made from recycled material.

Each display has a purported contrast ratio of 1000:1. Now, Dell states that each display achieves a significantly higher dynamic contrast ratio, but If you know how vendors determine dynamic contrast ratio numbers, then you know how meaningless they can be. So I won't even bother quoting the 1,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio...oh, too late.

Here are a few more quick specs:

• Maximum resolution: 1680x1050 (G2210)/1920x1080 full HD (G2410)
• Typical power consumption: 18W (G2210)/20W (G2410)
• Brightness: 250 cd/m2
• Response time: 5ms black-to-white
• VGA, DVI-D, with HDCP connections

Each display also includes a number of features that should save it from expending extra power when unnecessary. These include a light sensor that responds to ambient light, automatically adjusting its level when appropriate, and a dynamic dimming feature that decreases on-screen brightness when the image on-screen consists primarily of white or bright areas.

On the eco-friendly front, displays are built free of PVC, BFR, CFR, arsenic, and mercury.

Also, according to Dell, the displays are up to 20 percent slimmer and up to 28 percent lighter than comparable models.

Both display will be available at Dell.com in late February, with prices starting at $279 for the G2210 and $359 for the G2410.

Even if the case lighting caused consternation for some, we were fans of Dell's XPS 630 gaming desktop, which delivered solid bang-for-the-buck in a sub-$2,000 PC. With this morning's announcement of the XPS 625, Dell once again sets its sights on the midrange gamer. Starting at $999, this configurable PC uses all AMD components, including an option for multiple graphics cards.

One of the highlights of this system is that of the four AMD CPUs available, all are so-called "Black Edition" chips, AMD's term for processors with unlocked clock-speed settings. That means overclockers have leeway to ramp up the clock speeds, and gain more performance for no extra cost.

The new Dell XPS 625 has all AMD hardware under the hood

(Credit: Dell)

Dell also advertises that the XPS 625 supports AMD's new Dragon platform, which essentially means it uses one of AMD's new Phenom II X4 quad-core processors, an ATI Radeon HD 4800-series graphics card, as well as AMD's multiple-graphics-cards-capable 790 motherboard chipset. Dragon also gets you a handful of miniapplications for managing your overclocking settings through Windows, as well as tweaking your system software for improved game performance.

Among its other specs, the XPS 625 comes standard with 64-bit Windows Vista Home Premium, and you get options for up to 8GB of RAM, Blu-ray, and up to 1.5TB of hard drive space. Keep in mind that because it uses AMD's current Phenom II chips and their Socket AM2+ motherboards, the XPS 625 won't support faster DDR3 RAM, at least at launch. We have no word from Dell as to whether it intends to move to the DDR3-capable Socket AM3 motherboards when they ship early this year (according to AMD).

The XPS 625 also uses the same case as the XPS 630, a tidy, well-designed full tower system, but it has changed the case lighting. As with other Dell gaming PCs, Dell has adopted the AlienFX lighting scheme developed by its Alienware subsidiary. We've been fans of AlienFX for a year or two now, as it lets you assign case lighting schemes to system events; imagine your case lights turning blue when you get a new e-mail, for example. Hopefully this move will quell any lingering fear of the old lighting system.

Dell also tells us that the XPS 625 will be available to order today from Dell.com.

Image updated.

AMD's new Dragon platform uses components from several AMD product families

(Credit: AMD)

As the only vendor currently producing CPUs, GPUs, and motherboard chipsets, AMD is uniquely positioned to market its entire product line as a unified PC gaming platform. It began this effort last year with its Spider platform (the original Phenom X4, Radeon HD 3000-series CPUs, and its 700-series chipsets), and with today's launch of its new Phenom II desktop chips, AMD also announced its new Dragon platform. Dragon marries Phenom II with the Radeon HD 4800-line of 3D cards and AMD's 790-series chipsets into a complete, AMD-made gaming PC.

The big news with Dragon is really the Phenom II chips. Available as the 3.0GHz Phenom II X4 940 and the 2.8GHz Phenom II X4 920, these new quad-core CPUs are AMD's first 45-nanometer desktop processors, and they finally bring AMD in line with Intel's 45-nano manufacturing process, used in its Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Quad, and Core i7 chips.

... Read more

This story was co-written by Marguerite Reardon.

LAS VEGAS--Microsoft is hoping two new distribution deals will give its Live Search a much-needed boost.

The company is announcing on Wednesday a global deal with Dell that will see Live Search be the default search engine and a Windows Live toolbar bundled on the bulk of consumer and small-business PCs sold by the computer maker over the next three years. That deal is in addition to a five-year deal with Verizon Wireless, which leaked out earlier on Wednesday.

It's the latest effort for Microsoft, which has been trying--and struggling--for the past four years to build a search business that can offer a substantive rival to Google. But the latest market share numbers indicate that Microsoft is falling even further behind. Searches at Windows Live Search fell 16.7 percent year over year, giving Microsoft 9.1 percent market share in the U.S. in November, according to Nielsen Online figures released earlier this week. Google's searches rose 21.7 percent, for 64.1 percent market share, and Yahoo's searches dropped 1.4 percent from November 2007, for 16.1 percent share.

In an interview, Microsoft Senior Vice President Yusuf Mehdi said that the search product has gotten good enough that the time is right to start promoting it more heavily. Microsoft has already struck deals with HP and Lenovo to increase the distribution for Windows Live and Microsoft's search engine.

"We've gotten to a point where the product is now in a good enough state that we want to start to get it out more formally in front of more customers," Mehdi said. "These two partnerships are very significant for us, because it...gives an opportunity to put our search offering out before a broader audience now in a pretty mainstream way, and I think you should think about it as the first step of us slowly bringing up the dial on how we start to promote our product.

Microsoft has also made other moves, including building its own ad-serving engine, spending billions to acquire Aquantive, and trying promotions such as its Live Search Cashback and other efforts designed to give consumers a financial incentive to use its search engine.

The Dell deal will kick off next month, while the Verizon deal will begin in the first half of this year and includes both mobile search and other mobile advertising services. "It's a big win for us and by far the largest search and mobile display relationship we've entered into with any mobile operator," Mehdi said.

Mehdi acknowledged that Microsoft needs more than distribution deals to truly compete with Google. "These distribution partnerships are part of our strategy," he said. "We know we have to do a lot of other things, including improve the product, including being able to market direct with consumers, and build loyalty and brand around our offering."

Mehdi wouldn't say how much market share Microsoft expected to gain with the Dell deal or talk about Microsoft's other plans, including a rumored rebranding effort. He did say the Dell deal is flexible enough to accommodate a name change.

Microsoft had supposedly been in a bidding war against Google for the Verizon deal, according to earlier reports from The Wall Street Journal. Verizon Wireless and Microsoft have declined to discuss financial details of the deal. But a source close to the company said the five-year arrangement is worth a minimum of $650 million with Microsoft paying Verizon on a per handset basis.

This is believed to be the largest mobile search and advertising deal to date. The Journal reported last year that Google's deal to offer search on Sprint Nextel phones was about half what Microsoft was willing to pay for the Verizon deal. Details about Yahoo's deal with AT&T announced last year weren't disclosed either, but it's believed that Yahoo promised AT&T about $400 million in guaranteed revenue to become its default search provider.

As for the details of the Microsoft/Verizon deal, starting in the first half of this year, Microsoft Live Search will be preloaded on new Verizon Wireless phones and smartphones to provide all local and Internet searches. Microsoft will also power search for Verizon Wireless' VCast content, allowing subscribers to search for ringtones, full music tracks, videos, and other VCast entertainment content and news.

Depending on which device they use, Verizon subscribers will be able to search for content either by voice command or by typing their queries. And the search tool will also provide location-based results, meaning subscribers will be able to search for restaurants, movie theaters, and other businesses nearby.

Also as part of the deal, Microsoft will manage all search and display advertising for Verizon's mobile Web services.

Today mobile search is still in its early days. Only about 9 percent of cell phone subscribers search the Net from their cell phones, according to ComScore M:Metrics. But usage is growing, especially as more consumers upgrade to smartphones like Apple's iPhone or Research In Motion's BlackBerry devices.

Despite its small size today, the big search companies see the mobile market, with more than 3 billion subscribers worldwide, as a huge opportunity. Winning Verizon Wireless, which is currently the second largest cell phone carrier in the U.S., is a big deal for Microsoft. Yahoo is powering search for AT&T, the largest cell phone U.S. carrier. And Google has a deal with Sprint Nextel, the third largest U.S. operator.

But it's still unclear how important these carrier deals will be. Microsoft and Yahoo have previously struck similar multi-year portal deals on the PC side with Verizon Communications and AT&T, but Google still dominates the overall search market. And just as they can on the PC, users still have the option to use any search engine they wish from their cell phone browsers.

So far, Google has managed to continue its search dominance on mobile devices with 60 percent of mobile subscribers who search the Internet from their phones using its search engine. About 36 percent of subscribers use Yahoo and 10 percent use Microsoft, according to ComScore.

Google may also have another advantage in mobile, as carriers start rolling out more devices that use its Android operating system. Android is an open-source mobile operating system that tightly integrates several Google services into phones, including Google's search products.

So far, T-Mobile is the only carrier selling a Google phone, the G1. But other Android phones are expected to hit the market later this year. HTC, the maker of the G1 is planning another Android device, as is Sony Ericsson. Motorola has also said it plans to use Android as one of its main operating systems in future phones. And LG and Samsung, members of Google's Open Handset Alliance, are also expected to release Android phones.

LAS VEGAS--As he takes the stage Wednesday, Steve Ballmer has a mighty big task ahead of him.

Not only is he taking over Consumer Electronics Show keynote duties from Bill Gates, he is also aiming to convince the tech world that Microsoft is serious about defending its turf on the PC as well as making headway on the Web, television and phone. Oh yeah, and then there's that whole economy-melting-down thing.

Ballmer hasn't arrived in Sin City empty handed, however. In perhaps the biggest announcement of the night, he will announce Microsoft is ready with a beta version of Windows 7 and he will show off some of its key consumer features.

Microsoft will also announce new deals for Windows Live that will see Microsoft's search engine become the default on PCs from Dell as well as touting a deal with Verizon Wireless that leaked earlier in the day. The company is also counting on two Halo game releases this year to help keep the Xbox 360 going in the right direction.

But Microsoft faces considerable competition in each of the areas Ballmer is discussing. On the PC front, a resurgent Apple has increased its share. In search, Google continues to dominate. In the phone market, Apple's iPhone has grabbed much of the spotlight, not to mention significant market share. Google also has joined the fray, while longtime competitors such as Research in Motion and Palm are trying to maintain their slices of the pie as well.

And then, of course, there's the substantial financial headwind. Ballmer is expected to express his usual optimism--despite the global financial outlook--and discuss the company's commitment to research and development in both good times and bad. That said, Microsoft is clearly not immune from the problems that led Intel Wednesday to announce that fourth-quarter revenues were down 23 percent from the same quarter a year ago.

On the PC side, Microsoft is looking to turn the page from Vista to its successor, Windows 7. Microsoft isn't talking about any new features of Windows 7, saying it talked about all of the key features at the Professional Developer Conference last year. Instead, it will attempt to demonstrate what features like improved home networking really mean for the average household.

As for the beta of Windows 7, Microsoft said it will be immediately available for technical beta testers and those in Microsoft's TechNet and MSDN developer programs and will be made publicly available on Friday. The company still isn't officially committing to a final release in time for this year's holiday season, although the company is clearly still aiming for that.

Ballmer will also discuss Windows Live. In addition to the global PC deal with Dell and the five year U.S. deal with Verizon Wireless, Microsoft has expanded its relationship with Facebook to allow users to see within their Windows Live homepage certain of their buddies' Facebook updates. The company is also stripping the beta tag off many of its Web-based and downloadable Windows Live products.

On the phone side, Ballmer is expected to talk about the improved mobile browser Microsoft released at the end of last year, but the company is not talking yet about when to expect a serious upgrade to the Windows Mobile operating system, which has grown rather long in the tooth. Microsoft has made reference to an interim Windows 6.5 release that could serve as a bridge until the more significant overhaul of the operating system--Windows Mobile 7--makes its delayed debut.

On the automotive side, Microsoft is announcing a new version of its Ford Sync entertainment system that uses voice recognition software from its Tellme acquisition.

While that's the main news of the show, check out our live blog to get some live quotes, our commentary, as well as updates on any celebrity guests or funny videos that are often the hallmark of Microsoft's keynotes.

See also: Windows 7 beta: First impressions

While we're still pretty unsure of what Dell was up to when it combined its midrange Studio and high-end XPS laptop lines into the new (wait for it...) Studio XPS line, at least it means we're finally getting a true 16:9 16-inch laptop from Dell, in the form of the Studio XPS 1640.

More details on specs and price to follow (being a Dell, expect tons of configuration options, including Blu-ray), but in the meantime, click through for some new photos that highlight the backlit keyboard and smart-looking leather trim.

Update: Dell's gone ahead and popped this guy up for sale online immediately. CPU options include the P8400, P8600, T9400, and T9600, all from Intel's Core 2 Duo line. While it starts at $1,199, for an extra $250, you can upgrade to a full HD 1920x1080 display. Graphics are limited to an ATI Mobility RADEON M86XT chip. There's also a 13-inch version, called the Studio XPS 1340.

... Read more

The annual consumer electronics show isn't always a hotbed of new laptops, desktops, and accessories. After all, Apple likes to hold its own shows on its own schedule, and most big PC makers target their new products for the back-to-school and holiday seasons.

That being said, there are several big trends in the computer industry that will be prevalent on the show floor.

Netbooks: Almost every major manufacturer of laptops has tried to blow off the Netbook trend as a flash in the pan. Why? These small, low-cost systems have lower margins than the $1,000-plus laptops people have been buying for years. But sales trends can only be ignored for so long, so the last half of 2008 saw virtually every major player in the game--Dell, HP, Lenovo, Samsung, etc.--jump on board with sub-$500 Netbooks. At CES, look for the next generation of systems, as PC makers try to both jack up prices with higher-end models with unique features, or lower prices on the average usable configuration from $499 to $399 or less.

Computer as lifestyle appliance: Sure, companies have tried to merge the idea of a computer and a home or lifestyle appliance for years (and honestly, the iPhone has done it better than anyone else), but we expect to see more attempts to make an otherwise standard PC stand out as either a household appliance or a portable do-it-all media device. Will it work? Only if they learn from the guys who spent millions developing high-end UMPCs and low-end dumb e-mail terminals, neither of which took off with the public.

Airport-friendly laptop cases: Talk about an unexpected hit. Starting in September, laptop bag makers introduced split-open butterfly style cases, designed to let you run a laptop through the airport X-ray machine without taking it out. Not only have we seen a ton of these already, but reports indicate that TSA agents actually know the drill on how to use them. Look for more entries in this category in 2009.

Gaming? Not so much: Sure we'll see the latest revisions of the major graphics cards, and even some notable improvements in the graphics capabilities of laptops, but very few major gaming rigs-- and some major players, like Alienware--will be making only a cameo appearance at the show.

Next-gen CPUs: Look for some new chips to power everything from Netbooks to high-end desktops. Will AMD and Intel swap positions as industry leader again? Or, does it even matter, since the popularity of Netbooks and other low-end computers hints that the public may have finally figured out they've been paying for more performance than they need for years?

Windows 7: Vista, we hardly knew ye. Expect the next phase of the gradual public introduction to the next Microsoft operating system to kick off during CES.