They have a 150 inch plasma. There's a "life wall" that lets you interact with a wall. GPS devices in everything. And lamborghinis pimped until they scream (a little louder). Ambilight has gone bigger and Microsoft's surface is here. Seriously, CES is a ton of fun and something that anyone who digs gadgets MUST do before they die.
Look for a lot more from me in a few days. I promise.
So when the Amazon
Kindle was first announced I was immediately intrigued. eBook readers have been something that seemed
like a great idea from the beginning – at least to me. I had some problems with the earlier models –
price, availability of content, and my #1 issue: The fact that electronic books weren’t
cheaper than their paper counterparts. Truth is that a book doesn’t cost THAT much to manufacture but the
related distribution costs, retail overhead, etc, adds up to a premium that
downloads just didn’t have to deal with. I wanted the eBooks to be cheaper than the paper books and Sony’s store
(and others previous like Audible) didn’t
agree. Amazon did.
The Kindle has been panned for its industrial design. It has been criticized for its price point. I am not an overwhelming fan of the photography of it so far but honestly everyone that sees it says “oh, it isn’t that bad.” Functionality wise the side buttons allowing for previous and next page movement are quite convenient. The keyboard is a bit awkward but you only use it for very specific tasks, which I’ll get to later. In general it is light and easy to hold. I think the design is a personal preference thing and less of a serious hindrance to actually using it. (Note: I’ve read recent articles talking about how Amazon should license the Kindle store out to other manufacturers of hardware so they can stick to what works for them. This is genius and I agree whole heartedly… because…)
The integration with the Amazon store is amazing. Take first just the integration of it online, via the web, where you can easily search for and find, then buy, any book that has a Kindle edition. Most of the best sellers (91 out of 100 or so) have Kindle editions (a modified Mobicreator format) and are easily purchased. Amazon does one thing right – that’s work pricing and convenience down to a science. They’ve got it right here once again. THEN consider the integration at the device level. There’s nothing extra to do to get the content to your Kindle other than turn it on and let it wirelessly download via the Amazon Whispernet (EVDO) access. A truly genius move was to make that wireless access free. You’re paying for it as part of each download but you don’t notice, hence you don’t care. Smart. The emotional ease of buying more content will lead to higher sales in the long run guaranteed.
So what is it like to read on it? Personally I feel that it is better than reading on paper because of the variety of content piped into one small device, the ability to search interactively, and the resizing of text. The contrast of the screen is more than adequate and will only get better over time. I think the placement of the buttons is fine and useful, haven’t had an issue with them yet. I’ve found myself reading MORE because of the kindle, and that’s great. Given I’m reading more of my always loved sci-fi and futurist novels, but reading anything is good ;)
So what’s the keyboard for? You can search the Amazon store right from the device, complete with rankings by bestsellers, price, and even reviews which strike a rather personal chord with me. You can search through the texts of what you’ve got on the device. You can browse the web even – albeit not flawlessly – and hit sites like Wikipedia and news organizations. It is useful in a pinch but by no means a replacement for a laptop, iPhone, iPod Touch, Nokia tablet, or any other wifi enabled real browser.
And what about the storage? First off it has 250mb or so of internal storage that seems to work just fine for me. I’ve got a dozen books, a few magazines, lots of newspapers (various days of the WSJ or Investors Business Daily) and have no problems so far. Also you can add SD cards to increase the storage at will. Even more slick is the Amazon store holds references to your purchases and can retransfer them to the Kindle at any time. Take note iTunes – this is something that annoys the hell out of me when I buy a song and then have to worry about losing it.
My opinion is positive on the Kindle. I like it, I’m using it almost daily, and I am reading a lot more for it. I want to see more titles available on the Kindle store and improvements in the future to the eInk technology. Supposedly there’s some new stuff at CES ;)
Alright whatever – everyone else and their dog goes to CES every year, snaps secret photos, and blogs to their hearts content. I don’t. This is my first time to CES and I’m lucky enough to have it be business related. I’m looking forward to seeing all the stuff that is already being written about. I made the mistake (or life-balance choice) of not heading out until late Sunday. I know, I’m missing Gates’ last keynote and a few other fun parties, but my dog appreciated that I stayed home an extra day ;)
I’ll write more as I experience the insanity that is CES. From one nerd to many others reading this, I can’t wait.
-MRO
(Note: This didn’t post until Monday for some reason. Sorry ‘bout that. More to come)
I’m heading home to visit my family for the Christmas
holiday and I’m traveling with technology. Not just the usual cell phone or digital camera, but an entire list of
devices. Here’s what an early adopter
type rolls with:
1. Blackberry 8800. The absolute necessity. I’ll wear the same clothes 3 days in a row but I won’t MOVE without my blackberry. I’ve got 4 email accounts routed to it, text message threads with friends, and GPS navigation when I get lost. While I really did love the iPhone, it didn’t replace my blackberry for work and personal messaging combined.
2. Bluetooth Headset for the Blackberry (Motorola HS850). A must have. How else can you look so sweet in public places? I especially love the people that wear the headsets even while they’re having lunch with someone. As if they’re going to need to take that emergency call 1.2 seconds faster than without it already on. Ridiculous.
3. iPod Touch. I sold my iPhone because the crackberry won out, so I had to replace it with a dvice that’s the exact same just without the GPRS/EDGE radio. Love the iPod touch for all music and video watching needs.
4. Amazon Kindle. Wha what? I got one the day they were announced. Honestly I LOVE the thing, but my office has notable dissenters. I’ve already read the last three days worth of Wall Street Journals and one day’s worth of Investor’s Business Daily. Out of everything I’m carrying for “entertainment” this one will likely get the most usage. I’ll be writing a full review over the holiday so look forward to that.
5. Canon Powershot SD850IS. I’m not a fan of crappy phone pictures (nor does my 8800 offer that feature) so I carry a great camera in a super small form factor. I rather enjoy capturing photos along each step of a trip (particularly one for pleasure) so I’m glad I’ve got this trusty sidekick with me.
6. Nintendo DS Lite. That’s right, I have a DS Lite. So what. I enjoy the mental distraction of video games and honestly some of them are rather educational. Brain Age is a great example of something that’s Sudoku-like (does anyone even do Sudoku anymore?) and fun.
7. Low Tech stuff. Magazines, a pen and small moleskine notebook, and my boarding pass. Why magazines when I have the Kindle? Many of the ones I love aren’t yet available on Kindle (Wired Magazine isn’t for one) and some magazines are about the photography or imagery (gaming magazines in particular). This guarantees the continuance of paper for a bit longer. Wait until eInk technology goes color commercially (already has in limited beta testing) and the quality rivals CMYK printing. Not far off.
EDITED 12/23/07: I forgot my Dell Latitude D820 on that list ;) I was using it to WRITE the review so you wonder how I even could forget it. Either way - it's a beast of a machine but with 1920x1200 resolution and 2.5 hour battery life (or more if I optimize it a bit) I can't beat it. I love my Macbook at home but rarely travel with it because of the work+life combo this affords me. And yes I'm running Vista.
What do you carry when you travel for fun? Write a comment and tell me.
It has already been one amazing season for new technology. From the early kickoff of the iPhone (and numerous copies) to the recent releases of Rock Band, Amazon's Kindle, a TON of games for PS3, XBOX360, and the Wii, and more than a few releases in the GPS world (even ones for mountain bikes) - there's no shortage of stuff to drool over and eventually buy.
I haven't written in quite a while and plan on writing a few posts soon about the Kindle, Rock Band, and a few other things I've managed to pick up or play with. If you're reading this and have an idea or question, post it as a comment. I'm interested to know what you're buying. Or intentionally not ;)
And no, that gadget pile isn't stuff I own. Well at least not all of it. I probably did at one point though.
This is by far the dumbest thing I have ever seen. Wow. Just watch the video:
No kidding this is a company that has developed a 3D email app so each email is a JUMBO JET AT LAX. I get a few hundred a day, and I'm sure most of you get even more. The runways would be burning with the fiery hulks of so many collided jetliners. I can't even type I'm laughing so hard.
Wow.
1/5 Scaled Mig 29 - First Flight - The best video clips are right here
Wow. I've never seen anything like this. Anyone who has ever want to conduct diplomatic relations with a Mig 29, here's your chance.
Edit: Check out the WWII German Battleship model. 30 feet is one hell of a start.
Finally. Halo 3 is here.
Is it awesome? Duh. Are the graphics great despite the BS pixel nerds that are talking about the 640 lines issue? Yes. Is it actually fun to play? Of course. Is the story good? So far. I'm only 5 missions deep.
I'm glad that all of the reviews of Halo 3 have been 9.5's or greater. I haven't found anything about the game that I don't like yet except for a few random crashes (never really had any on my XBOX 360) but a reset fixes it. I'm surprised at how difficult Heroic is, and Legendary is insane. I'm playing on Normal right now to get the game done then I'll go back for the rest.
I played my CMO Sam Decker tonight on XBOX LIVE and it was rather entertaining, but our lag was terrible. I'm sure neither of us (being minor gamers at best) have invested in the time or router technology to ensure a fast connection, but it was fun nonetheless. He's a better shot than he looks.
GPS technology is a sector of tech that's hot right now. Why? Because everyone and everything needs to know where it is, always. Think about it - even when you're dying to get lost from it all, you're really not interested in actually being LOST.
The companies that are really interesting right now are Navteq (NYSE:NVT), Garmin (NASDAQ:GRMN), SiRF (NASDAQ:SIRF), and maybe Magellan (private). I'm personally an investor in Navteq and it has risen by 178% in the last 8 months. The sector is moving in that direction with the ever increasing number of cars that come standard with GPS based navigation, the proliferation of phone based GPS systems like on the Blackberry 8800 (my business phone), and the price decreases seen in consumer devices like the ones from Garmin.
I owned a Garmin eTrex when I was having fun with Geocaching and enjoyed it thoroughly. We'll only see more interest in Navteq data as systems like Google Earth and others become the basis for so many mashups and useful offshoots.
I'm no Jim Cramer, but I firmly believe that GPS tech is a great investment for the next year at least.
Seems that I only post when I'm in London. This time around its because the Metronet has decided to strike, literally crippling an entire city's public transportation. This is NOTHING like Austin where light rail means an illuminated rail - this is going to keep people from going to work. Estimated losses in the Evening Standard were 50 million GBP or about $100mm USD daily. WOW. And this over what the Mayor has already supposedly capitulated on, the restoration or security of jobs for about 3,000 railworkers from the company that was taken over earlier this year. Lame if you ask me.
London needs robots. Then by all means strike away.
I'm flying home tomorrow and luckily don't need the tube (but could have used it to get to where I'm going). Sad that a city as great as this is going to be taken hostage in the middle of the work week.
-MRO
