Live From CES 2011
Posted by Kevin McGuire on Friday, January 7, 2011 · 
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The following is a guest post from Kevin McGuire, vice president of wireless operations for Enhanced Telecommunications Corporation, in Sunman, Indiana.
As I roamed through the miles of aisles here at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), I thought I would take a moment to reflect on some of the highlights as I see them. Granted, it was impossible to make it through every booth, but I did quite a bit of exploring. If you are here, please leave comments about your thoughts of the show.
Tablets are here to stay. From Google’s new Honeycomb (Android 3.0- designed entirely for tablets) to Blackberry’s new Playbook, it is clear that tablets are an emphasis for manufacturers in the coming years. As I waited two minutes for my laptop to boot up, and thinking back to lugging the thing around in the airport, I can see why. When I travel I do only pretty basic things online — checking email, browsing the Web, reading/basic editing of documents and watching videos. Do I really need the power of a laptop to do these things? Likely I can do everything I need to do to keep up with work in a more convenient tablet form factor. Could I do it on a smartphone? Yes, many things — but many things would be much easier to do on a larger screen. And sure, tablets won’t work for everyone, but I suspect that unlike netbooks we’ll see tablets here to stay. Read more
Cisco Unveils its Videoscape Solution at CES
Posted by Jesse Ward on Thursday, January 6, 2011 · ·
Live from the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) today in Las Vegas, Cisco announced the release of Cisco Videoscape, a comprehensive TV platform for service providers that brings together digital TV, online content, social media and communications applications to create an all-inclusive home and mobile video entertainment experience.
Videoscape is an open platform that utilizes cloud computing, IP networking and client devices and software. In a press conference today, Cisco CEO John Chambers said 75%-80% of Videoscape is software, making it primarily an architectural play that extends from the core network all the way down to devices. Read more
RCA Demos WiFi Smartphone Charger
Posted by Jesse Ward on Friday, January 22, 2010 · (1) ·
RCA recently demonstrated a prototype of its Wi-Fi Hotspot Power Harvester device called Airnergy. (See the video after the jump.) It’s designed to convert WiFi signals into DC power for charging small wireless devices such as smartphones. The idea is that as long as you are within range of a WiFi network, you could charge your phone.
The Airnergy is about 2 in. by 3 in. in size and is expected to sell for $39-$49 this summer. RCA is working on a smaller version that would substitute for a battery inside a handheld device and would sell for around $59. That smaller version might ship in 2011, according to a demonstration at the 2010 International CES. Read more
Live From CES
Posted by Kevin McGuire on Sunday, January 10, 2010 · (2) ·
I had the opportunity to attend CES this year, along with about 110,000 other people. I’ll say that it gives me a new appreciation for NTCA events where things are much more intimate. The sea of people was overwhelming at times, and I heard a rumor that there was over 40 acres of booth space.
While there I got to see some great technology and some massive booths (Microsoft’s seemed larger than NTCA’s offices), but as the show draws to a close today, I must say that I will leave Las Vegas a little underwhelmed. Sure there were some cool things, but nothing that was revolutionary in my opinion. If you were there, please leave a comment telling of your experience.
While it is only my opinion that there weren’t any game changers, I’ll offer my thoughts on 5 things that may have an impact on our industry and let you be the judge. Read more