The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) (http://www.cesweb.org) was bigger and better than ever this year with more than 150,000 people attending and 2,500 exhibitors. Held again in Las Vegas, this show has grown so much that it now occupies the Sands as well as the Las Vegas Convention Center! It was billed this year as the world's largest technology tradeshow—and it was!
Pre-keynote technology demo
This is my fourth year covering the show and each year I attend Bill Gate's pre-keynote speech held at the Hilton hotel theater. To standing room only, Bill and others discussed new products and services. Microsoft has signed a deal with DirecTV to allow Media Center PCs to record shows directly using a special tuner card. Also, Bill showed a device from Dell that accepts a Time Warner CableCard, which decodes your digital cable signal and allows the Media Center PC to record shows. Both methods also allow you to convert and transfer the shows to your Pocket PC, Smartphone, or Portable Media Center devices.
Bill also demonstrated a table/overhead projector device. Place your Smartphone or Pocket PC on the table. After it recognizes and authenticates your device, you can scan a business card and transfer the information to your Windows Mobile device by simply placing it on the table. The table also includes a large built-in touch screen that you can use to interact with your device. Bill mentioned that we might see this in airports in the near future.
Vongo movie download service
Also demonstrated at the keynote was Vongo (http://www.vongo.com), a new premium movie download service from Starz. Vongo has a large library of the latest movies, most of which require about 500MB's of space each, and look very good when played on a PC. When you select a movie on Vongo, a panel with drop-down menus allows you to select full or widescreen versions of the title, formatted for either a PC or portable device. You can register up to three computers with the service (portable devices count as a computer) and the movie is saved to your hard drive for later offline playing. You can download as many movies as you want, and most movies have a life of several months before your license has to be renewed (and also if Starz! still has the movie available). You can also purchase Pay-Per-View movies from the service, but you can only play these once. Another nice feature is the ability to watch Starz's live feed on your PC (broadband connection required). The Vongo service costs $9.95 per month; I signed up and find the service well worth the expense!
Vongo premium movie download service
Palm Treo 700w—with Windows Mobile!
Probably the most noteworthy announcement from Microsoft was that Palm (http://www.palm.com) was introducing a device using the latest Windows Mobile OS (5.0). The company, which specializes in devices using the competing Palm OS, is marketing its new Windows Mobile Treo 700w through Verizon. The device looks very similar to the Treo 650 and includes a QWERTY keyboard, square screen, and cellular and Bluetooth connectivity
Palm Treo 700W that runs on Windows Mobile 5
New Portable Media Center devices
New Portable Media Center devices were also announced, putting to rest the rumor that Microsoft would abandon this platform. The new PMCs included a slim unit from Toshiba, a widescreen PMC from LG, and a square-cased device from Tatung. As these new PMC devices become available look for full reviews of them in upcoming issues of Smartphone & Pocket PC magazine.
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