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.)
Panasonic raises the HD wireless connectivity issue
Scott Fulton, BetaNews: The big theme that's developing this year is high-definition connectivity. Essentially, the idea is that there will be many components to each video connoisseur's collection. How will they fit together in such a way that they can be convenient to the consumer and perpetually profitable for the various companies involved?
We asked our Senior CES Analyst, Sharon Fisher, to take a look at Panasonic's first big entry in this field, WirelessHD. Sharon?
Microsoft admits to 'mistakes' in Office format fracas
A Microsoft blog posting from a software engineer apologized for botching up communications around the blocking of old Office, Corel, and Lotus file formats in Office 2003 SP3. Why did anyone think these were security risks?
Responding to reactions from Corel and countless end users, Microsoft apologized late Friday for inaccurately blaming the file formats of other companies for security problems in Microsoft Office. At the same time, it released somewhat simplified tools for accessing files from older Microsoft, Corel, and Lotus applications previously blocked when users installed Office 2003 Service Pack (SP) 3.
Samsung tries a big LCD with a baby monitor attached
Samsung unveiled its SyncMaster 2263DX monitor, a dual-screen display, with one 22-inch LCD display and an additional 7-inch connected monitor on a swiveling, positionable arm to create a multi-screen work environment in a single package.
Optimized with Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 in mind, the 7" monitor can be used for unobtrusive web conferencing, or for running instant messaging clients without infringing upon work space.
Samsung goes small in '08 with new UMPC, printers
Samsung has announced it will be releasing an addition to its Q1 Ultra line in 2008.
Packed in a tiny sub-2 pound form factor, the Q1 Ultra Premium PC will have a 1.33 GHz ULV Intel Core Solo U1500 Pentium processor and 1 GB of DDR2 system memory. The device is powered by a 57.7 watt hour Li-Ion 0cell battery with about 7.5 hours of life. It features a split QWERTY keyboard. integrated 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR, 300 pixel webcam, dual-array mic, 1.3 megapixel camera, 7" wide WSVGA backlit LED 1024x600 monitor with touch screen capabilities.
Vudu opens the gates with high-def streaming movies
The theme of this year's CES could very well be "Leaving the Format War Behind," as already Sunday morning, the emphasis from manufacturers has been centered around device connectivity and streaming service. "HD" is left in, and "blue-laser" is on the sideline...at least thus far.
Monday promises to be "Blu-ray Day," with a flurry of Blu-ray related events to help rub HD DVD's nose in the dirt, after the historic snubbing of HD DVD by Warner Bros. on the weekend.
CES Trend #4: Will the quadruple-play finally cinch the 'last mile?'
What could eventually resolve the value proposition for mainstream consumers to accept an incoming ultra-high-bandwidth pipeline into their homes is the ability of high-definition, on-demand video. But that will require a level of cooperation that competitors thus far have been unable to muster.
"Convergence," used by CE manufacturers to promise solutions the way some political candidates promise "change," has once again become the big problem. The conventional logic is that converging the various communications services -- landline phone, wireless phone, broadband Internet, and HD video -- is the only way to make them both appealing to the consumer from a cost standpoint, and cost-effective to implement from the producers' and manufacturers' vantage point.
HD DVD cancels CES press conference after Warner's snub
In a shocking response to news today that Warner Bros. would make its high-definition movie releases only available on Blu-ray, the HD DVD Promotional Group has canceled its Sunday press conference at CES, and its meetings with the press.
The HD DVD Promotional Group, alongside Toshiba and Microsoft, had planned a cocktail party and press conference to tout the success and improvements in both the HD DVD format and hardware players, which saw heavy sales during the holidays thanks to falling prices.
Corel refutes Microsoft's file format 'insecurity' claims
Are Corel's file formats 'less secure' than those in Microsoft Office 2003 and 2007, as Microsoft told customers in a highly controversial support bulletin? Definitely not, according to Corel officials.
Corel officials today hotly refuted claims by Microsoft that older file formats for CorelDRAW and its Quattro spreadsheet software ever posed security risks when opened within Microsoft Office. But they stopped short of contending that Microsoft is intentionally vilifying either CorelDRAW, an illustration package which Corel sees as complementary to Office, or Quattro, a spreadsheet that's the counterpart of Excel in Corel's WordPerfect Office X3.
One critical patch for Vista en route
Maybe they are busy prepping for CES, but Microsoft only plans to issue two patches for the first Patch Tuesday of the new year. Both patches will deal with code execution vulnerabilities in the Windows Vista operating system. One will be rated "critical," while the other received an "important" rating from the Redmond company.
The critical patch affects not only Vista, but all versions of the Windows operating system, while the important patch is also intended for Windows 2000, XP, and 2003. FrSIRT may provide some idea as to what these patches may be: it currently lists a critical buffer overflow vulnerability in Microsoft DirectX, and a "moderate risk" flaw in the Windows CFileFind class.
Warner Bros. moves to Blu-ray camp exclusively
In a move that could upset the balance between the competing high-definition disc formats yet again, Warner Home Video today said that it is switching its allegiance entirely to the Blu-ray camp, in an effort to reduce confusion.
Beginning next May, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment announced late this afternoon, it will cease releasing new movie titles on the HD DVD format, preferring Blu-ray exclusively.
Powerline home networking could come to Vista
DS2 now claims to be the only powerline vendor offering on-board support for the LLPD network mapping protocol in Microsoft's Vista. But is LLPD really simple enough for use in home networking? And what are the chances anyway for a technology that runs over home electrical wiring?
Attempting to make it easier for consumers to figure out their home networking connections, DS2 -- a top maker of the powerline equipment that works over home electrical wiring -- has now added full support for a feature in Microsoft's Vista OS that supports the display of computers, network adapters, routers and other devices on an easy-to-read network map.
Is the on again, off again San Fran Wi-Fi back on track?
After Earthlink and Google scrapped plans to offer wireless in the city, many weren't so sure. But a start-up is promising to finish the job.
Silicon Valley-based Meraki, which has financial backing from Google, says it will attempt to complete the citywide network within one year. The company says it plans to lay out its plans on Friday.
HP to update media PCs with AMD Phenom, hybrid high-def drives
While even HP has admitted consumers' shifting preference toward notebooks as desktop PCs, for 2008, it plans to give desktops a boost with multimedia form factors, new AMD CPUs, and some intriguing price points.
If the desktop PC form factor has any room left in which to grow this year, it's in the media form factor. There, it has to be willing to assume an odd shape, perhaps not so much an element of your desk as something that can be wedged in an open cavity between cabinets in your home entertainment system.
Intel decides to leave OLPC project
Citing "philosophical differences," the chipmaker has abruptly announced its departure from the One Laptop Per Child organization.
Intel failed to appear at a board meeting in Florida recently, which apparently set off a dispute between the company and those in charge of the program. It is this argument which led to Intel's announcement on Thursday.
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