Bits of news from the CES show and media covering the show...

In a session entitled "Technology Policy Reform: The Future of the Internet," moderator

Drew Clark, senior writer of National Journal's Technology Review, led a discussion on

 the revision of telecommunications policies in order to continue to increase competition

in the field. Panelists Howard Waltzman, chief counsel, telecommunications and the

Internet, House Energy and Commerce Committee; Thomas Navin, chief, Wireline

Competition Bureau's Competition Policy Division, Federal Communications Commis-

sion; John Godfrey, vice president, government and industry affairs, Pioneer North

America Inc.; Johanna Shelton, minority counsel, House Energy and Commerce Com-

mittee and Alan Davidson, Washington policy counsel, Google Inc. agreed that there

was a strong desire on behalf of the government, carriers and manufacturers

to build large pipelines in order to give consumers more choices in regards to video

and internet products and services.

 

i pod news...MANY COMPANIES HAD ACCESSORIES READY FOR YOUR iPOD

 

Perhaps you're thrilled with the iPod video download offerings. If watching Knight Rider reruns on the iPod makes you long to

see KITT the talking car look bigger than a scarab beetle, you may want that same content on your TV. Australian company Xitel

 introduced the HiFi-Link for iPod to serve this need without sacrificing audio quality. This docking station recharges the iPod while

 displaying its content on a connected TV.

 

The newest iPod's 320-by-240 resolution screen measures just 2.5 inches. As nice as it is to have even that much, that screen size

might limit you to shows with lots of close-ups. Emagin, maker of goggles for gamers, sets its sights (and maybe yours) on the iPod

 with the Eyebud 800 personal display system. The headset provides one display, which you adjust to sit in front of your dominant

 eye. Emagin states that this gives a 40-degree field of view, which the company likens to watching a 105-inch display from a

 distance of 12 feet.

 

Google and Yahoo took center stage at the Consumer Electronics Show for the first time Friday, emphasizing their status as two of the most powerful technology firms in the world and revealing their larger media ambitions.

Google announced a new video-on-demand service that will offer its users the chance to buy CBS television shows and NBA games from its popular Web site, putting the search-engine firm squarely in the middle of the rush to deliver video content over the Internet.

"This is truly a historic meeting of established and new media," Google co-founder Larry Page said in a keynote address at the trade show, which was peppered with Bay Area celebrities, including Robin Williams on stage.

Yahoo said it would expand its online capabilities, introducing a service that would help consumers ship e-mails, music, videos and other digital content more easily between their computers, cell phones and televisions, in turn making Yahoo's services more mobile.

Google and Yahoo's emergence as major players at the world's largest technology trade show coincides with a convergence movement throughout the industry. By expanding their plans to include video and mobile services, Google and Yahoo are putting themselves in a league with consumer technology heavyweights such as Microsoft, Apple, Sony and Intel in the race to deliver digital media content via the Internet.

In addition, Google Pack features Adobe Systems Inc.'s Reader and the Firefox open source browser. A word processing program is noticeably absent.

 

Levi has introduced Levi's RedWire DLX Jeans, available worldwide fall 2006. Designed for both men and women, the jeans integrate

 iPod plug & play technology. The jean is designed to be compatible with most iPod systems and features include a joystick incorporated

 into the jeans' watch pocket to enable easy operation of the iPod. Features include an iPod docking cradle built into the jeans and

"invisibly" housed within a side pocket, and retractable headphone unit built directly into the jean to prevent tangles of iPod's earphone

wires. Levi's RedWire jeans are machine washable once the iPod is removed (pricing was unavailable).

 

The frames above are showing changing digital pictures through these frames...

 

Sling Media announced that its Slingbox, which already allows people to view their TiVoed content on any Internet-

connected PC, will support portables running Windows Mobile. So now you can get your video content on your

PocketPC phone or handheld.

 

There's a rumor going around that XM is prepared to get into the Digital Multimedia Broadcast business. What if you

could get your podcasts or video wirelessly from a combination of satellites and terrestrial relay stations?

 

 

While we are in Vegas at CES USA Today has article headlines ALBUM SALES SLUMP AS DOWNLOADS RISE

Down:

•Total album sales, falling from 666.7 million in 2004 to 618.9 million, according to Nielsen SoundScan, a drop of 7.2% after a

1.5% gain over 2003's sales total.

•CD sales (95% of total album sales), off even more dramatically, from 651.1 million to 598.9 million (down 8.0%).

•Most musical genres, many (soundtracks, classical, metal and R&B) suffering double-digit drops. Latin was the sole exception,

rising 12.6%.

 

Up:

•Digital track downloads, rising from 150% to 352.7 million.

Though the jumps are cause for long-term optimism, the overall picture for the year was far from rosy, because a digital track

download sale amounts to one-tenth or less the revenue of a CD sale. This year, SoundScan began to tally track equivalent albums

(TEAs), counting 10 track downloads as one album sale in an attempt to create a more realistic overall sales picture. Adding in the

year's TEAs, the 2005 album-sales decline is just 3.9% (from 680.7 million units in 2004 to 654.1 this past year).

 

Firm Backed by Google, Malone to Light Up in Texas

Multichannel News reports that you can plug an adapter into an electricity outlet in your home and get high-speed Internet,

telephone and even pay-TV services.  Add Google Inc. has jumped in with some financing along with Current Communications

Group to fire up the service for a test in Dallas, Texas...they report that they will also be adding High Deff TV.

 

 

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