Ford updates SYNC, adds HD Radio as standard option
Microsoft SYNC, an operating system that will soon be equipped in all new Ford vehicles, was recently updated to analyze the performance of the engine and deliver the results in easy to understand reports. SYNC 2.0 also includes a 911 Assist feature that calls emergency services automatically after a crash using a connected cell phone.
As Microsoft designed the platform to be upgradeable, all Ford vehicles currently on the road have the ability to be upgraded as well.
Panasonic develops 32GB SD card with Class 6 speed
It may be hard to spot on the hectic CES show floor, but Panasonic is showing off its new prototype SDHC card that holds a whopping 32GB of data. Although it won't be available immediately, the memory card is the world's first at that size.
The card, which surely won't come cheap, is being pitched as the solution for recording high-definition content. 32GB equates to about 8 hours of of 1440 x 1080i video and and five hours and 20 minutes of 1920 x 1080p full HD video. The Class 6 specification means the SDHC card can transfer data at 20MB/sec.
Vizio plans another strong year with Jive home theater
Several new HDTVs are due from the manufacturer, which saw significant growth during the past year.
Vizio came from basically nowhere to reach the top spot in LCD TV for the second quarter of 2007. Sales have cooled somewhat since then, but it still remains quite competitive in the market.
Panasonic president unveils 150-inch wireless 'life screen'
Tim Conneally, BetaNews: At a keynote speech here this morning at CES, Panasonic President Toshihiro Sakamoto showed the audience that his was definitely the biggest, and that he didn't need cables to hold it up. Specifically, he unveiled an 11-foot-long, 150-inch diagonal flat screen monitor he called the "life screen."
It's time to bring back family time, Sakamotosan said.
CEA president calls upon CES attendees to back free trade policy
Tim Conneally, BetaNews: In a keynote speech this morning at CES, Consumer Electronics Association President Gary Shapiro called upon members to back an initiative to give President Bush more latitude to negotiate trade agreements worldwide.
Gary Shapiro, President, CEA: [from notes] The chairman of the [Recording Industry Association of America] and the [Motion Picture Association of America] are joining me to send a formal request. We are calling on our government to eliminate all barriers on all technical projects around the world, and to give the president authority to negotiate trade agreements.
Sony confirms PSP will soon get Skype
It is now official: Sony announced yesterday afternoon that Skype calling service, including free conferencing and text chat capabilities, is due to be a feature of its PlayStation Portable, presumably with a future firmware upgrade.
While this doesn't exactly make the PSP the equivalent of a roaming cellular phone, this will give PSP users both presence and connectivity when in range of a Wi-Fi router.
TiVo to make Internet videos directly downloadable
Monday, TiVo said it will allow users to stay up to date on their favorite online videos much like they do with traditional television programs.
Ed Oswald, BetaNews: 'Season Pass' functionality will now work for Web videos, allowing the user to automatically receive Internet videos that use RSS feeds on their set-top boxes. This would allow users to watch online content from the networks as well as Internet-only programming like DiggNation in the same manner they do for their favorite shows.
Napster bids adieu to DRM with MP3 announcement
Comcast announces open cable standards one day early
Comcast Corp. Chairman and CEO Brian L. Roberts is slated to give a keynote speech at CES, and according to an Associated Press story this morning, he's going to be speaking about the "tru2way" initiative.
Sharon Fisher, BetaNews Senior CES Analyst: Formerly known as OpenCable or OCAP, the purpose of the specification is to enable electronics manufacturers to make industry-standard equipment regardless of the cable provider. Such compatibility would also make it easier to develop equipment that can transmit back to the cable network as well as receive from it (hence the '2way' part of the name), which would provide interactive services.
Samsung tries to extend DTV transition onto cell phones
In case music, games, and video weren't enough, vendors are now vying for the opportunity to send digital television signals to your mobile phones.
Samsung is announcing later today updates to its development of Advanced-VSB (A-VSB), which is its standard for mobile digital television. It is an open standard and the company wants to have it complete and available by next February, when the US transitions to all-digital broadcasting.
Broadcom bypasses STBs on the one hand, partners with Microsoft on the other
Scott Fulton, BetaNews: With connectivity between devices being the runaway principal theme of this year's CES, Broadcom is making an intriguing play: Yesterday afternoon, the provider of technologies embedded in devices announced it's producing the components for HDTV manufacturers to embed video-on-demand-ready features directly into their sets, bypassing set-top boxes.
Sharon Fisher, BetaNews Senior CES Analyst: Broadcom Corp. is demonstrating a digital television that hooks up directly to the Internet, eliminating the need for a PC or a set-top box to gain access to video-on-demand, Internet-based TV, and interactive TV services.
Toshiba picks up the pieces of its HD DVD plan
Faced with an embarrassing postponement, if not outright cancellation, of the HD DVD consortium's CES festivities, the champion of the format is going ahead with marketing plans for its "third-generation" consoles.
The timing for Toshiba couldn't have been worse, when one of its key technology partners in the creation of HD DVD -- Warner Bros. -- broke ranks to join the Blu-ray Disc Association last Friday. Faced with no other option, Toshiba played damage control as best it could on Sunday at CES. The president of its US consumer products division, Akiyo Ozaka, told reporters at a briefing this morning that while his company was "disappointed" by Warner's move, citing rising sales numbers since Black Friday, its format "is not dead."
Sony: PS3 ranks swell by 1.2 million since Black Friday
If Sony is to make a comeback this year, it will need to make a huge splash at CES. That's exactly what it has in mind, and helping the company along is some positive news -- for a change -- about its star gaming platform.
In recent weeks, Sony has been working feverishly to convince consumers that its PlayStation 3 console has been on a comeback trail. The problem is, even though sales do appear to have picked up, its two main competitors -- Microsoft's Xbox 360 and the winner-and-still-champion Nintendo Wii -- are also on the rise.
Samsung goes big in '08 with bright ad displays
In the advertising field, Samsung today introduced the SyncMaster 700DXn, a 70" Digital information Display (DID) designed for continuous use as an advertising medium.
For such taxing use, displays need to maintain a lower temperature to ultimately extend the life of the product even after running against high ambient light conditions for over 20 hours a day.
Live running analysis from the Bill Gates keynote
Scott Fulton, BetaNews: It is the annual ritual event that officially marks the end of the holiday season: the Bill Gates keynote at CES. This year, once again there's speculation over whether this will be the Microsoft chairman's last such keynote appearance, similar to the speculation throughout the '70s and '80s over whether this year's Bob Hope Christmas extravaganza would be the final one.
As far as prognostication is concerned, Gates has been a little off the mark in recent years. Last year, you may recall, he demonstrated the wonders of electronic wallpaper which was capable of changing its mood from bright and bold to warm and cozy, for those moments when you ned to tidy your house real quickly before your grandmother drops by. (Literally, that's the analogy he used.)
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