Microsoft

Open the Gates – With more than 31 football fields of show space, CES attendees have to crowd in opening day and walk themselves ragged in hopes of not just seeing all the show but seeing what will win/fail big in the coming year.

While a few folks have said CES is on its last leg, we wonder if they were at the same show we were this month.

More than 3,100 exhibitors squeezed into a mere 1.861 million net square feet (31+ football fields) of exhibit space and the show drew more than 153,000 attendees.

There was the urban sprawl of the big boys trying to out-glitz each other (even as they experienced record losses or marginal profits).

Microsoft announced that this was their last keynote, last time of exhibiting; and folks immediately said, "See the show is losing its relevance in a real-time world."

These same folks probably said Ballmer couldn't get out of his own way.

Suddenly he's brilliant?

Folks pointed out that really big things in the past have gone on to bomb, die.

You know Palm/WebOS, netbooks, 3D TV, etc.Read more

Amazing iPhone Camera Rig, Cool New Car Tech and More CES news

Today was the official opening day at CES and the crowds showed up as expected. I started my day at the Intel booth and ended up at Showstoppers which is another press only event in the evening. As always, there was a lot to see and some very cool new technology like new car tech and of course the new 55-inch OLED TV which was on display showing passive 3D at the LG booth. Here are videos of some things that caught our eye.

Intel Life Forms Exhibit
Every year Intel has some amazing demonstration that is powered by one or two of their multi-core processors. This year they had some 3D scanners that turned whatever you put under them into a "life form" that "evolved" and interacted with other life forms.

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Another year, another CES. The huge consumer electronics extravaganza in Las Vegas that officially opens on January 10th looks to be a major showcase for tablets, TVs and connectivity this year. The 55-inch LG OLED TV is already getting a lot of buzz even though it's rumored $8,000 price tag will keep it in the fantasy realm for most consumers. We predict this will be the most photographed and talked about product at the show.

Android Tablets Will Make Another Run At the iPad

This time last year Google was just about ready to ship its tablet-friendly version of Android called Honeycomb but even that didn't seem to help Android make a dent in Apple's iPad business. This year we have another version of Android called Ice Cream Sandwich which may or may not help the mainstream tablet vendors like Samsung, Sony, Toshiba and others attract buyers to their tablets. At the moment it looks like the two dominant tablet makers; Apple and Amazon won't even be exhibiting at CES. We also think we'll see tablets featured at a lot of booths as accessories to TVs and controllers for smart home technology. The word is we'll see close to 100 new tablets on display at this year's CES including some quad-core, Tegra 3, Kal-El-powered versions like Acer's Iconia Tab A700. Samsung's 5.3-inch Note, which represents a new size for tablets should be getting a lot of attention along with some tablets that might be running Microsoft's Windows 8.Read more

"The leader who stays in the rear, takes it in the rear. Besides, violence is one of the most fun things to watch." – Mr. Hertz, Shoot 'Em Up (2007), New Line Cinema

A friend just had his PayPal account (hence his AmEx account) tapped for $50.

His son had bought a big bunch of virtual gold on a Zynga game he was playing.

$50 for something that doesn't exist?

OMG, someone really can sell the Brooklyn Bridge!

The game industry has come a long way since our Atari days. Now it's approaching a $1B industry!

Sony, MS and Nintendo still fight it out for leadership in the number of devices, but the real profit makers are the social and mobile games.

Why would millions of people buy something as meaningless as Raging Birds? Read more

Let's start by saying 2011 is going to be the year we wanted three years ago when the financial institutions "borrowed" our global wellbeing! It was the first time we entered unfamiliar territory because the financial meltdown didn't affect just one country but all of us.

Economic Outlook

Internationally governments are feeling their way along the precipice because the depth and duration of the recession was beyond what most could clearly recall. They are moving – hesitantly – but still slightly dazed by the headlights of the near miss.

At the same time the U.S. government ground to a near halt because of the partisan politics that could last for two years.

Fortunately as in past recessions companies have finally become sick and tired of being sick and tired and realized that government – any government – can't move things forward…it is up to business to get the job done!

Most of the 80+% of the employed U.S. population (10% tracked unemployed, 8% dropped off the grid) are certain that conditions are and will continue to improve. This was apparent over the holiday buying season where PC/CE/communications sales increased more than 7% with a greater percentage being cash sales…resisting mounting additional personal/family debt.Read more