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Blog: Consumer Electronics Show flips switch

Rocky staff and wire reports

Published January 8, 2009 at 9:59 a.m.

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Howard Stringer, chairman and chief executive officer of Sony Corp., right, demonstrates new 3D technology pioneered by Sony and demonstrated by actor Tom Hanks during a keynote speech at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Thursday.

Jacob Kepler / Bloomberg News

Howard Stringer, chairman and chief executive officer of Sony Corp., right, demonstrates new 3D technology pioneered by Sony and demonstrated by actor Tom Hanks during a keynote speech at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Thursday.

Show attendees wait in line Thursday at the Sharp booth to get a baseball autographed by Boston Red Sox first baseman David Ortiz.

Photo by Jae C. Hong / Associated Press

Show attendees wait in line Thursday at the Sharp booth to get a baseball autographed by Boston Red Sox first baseman David Ortiz.

Scott Charles, of Eugene, Ore., takes a closer look at LG's OLED TV on Thursday.

Photo by Jae C. Hong / Associated Press

Scott Charles, of Eugene, Ore., takes a closer look at LG's OLED TV on Thursday.

Members of the media wear 3D glasses as they watch movie clips at the Panasonic 3D full HD plasma theater at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Wednesday. The CES opens Thursday.

Photo by Jae C. Hong / Associated Press

Members of the media wear 3D glasses as they watch movie clips at the Panasonic 3D full HD plasma theater at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Wednesday. The CES opens Thursday.

12:20 p.m.: Show opens with innovation

The Consumer Electronics Association faced the recession head-on today, with a madcap 3D presentation set to classic movie scenes.

While famous actors bemoaned the tough economy, the world’s leading technology companies rode to the rescue in vintage cars.

“Help is on the way,” the voiceover boomed. “It’s time to get onboard.”

The presentation was courtesy of yoostar.com, a new site that allows anyone to star in classic movie scenes. In this case, the stars were Gary Shapiro, president of the Consumer Electronics Association, and the tech industry.

In his remarks, Shapiro said yoostar, which launches next month, epitomizes the strength of the consumer electronics industry: innovation.

The Consumer Electronics Association projects industry sales will fall 0.6 percent this year, only the fifth decline in the past three decades. But Shapiro noted that the industry has faced tough times before, including double-digit declines in the mid-1970s.

“We do not seek a government handout or bailout money,” he stressed, adding that innovation without question is the best medicine to stagflation.

Jeff Smith

12:20 p.m.: Criticism for policy makers

Shapiro, by the way, called President-elect Barack Obama the country’s “first digital president.”

But he quickly followed the remark by making his an annual plea for more H-1B work visas and quick approval of pending free-trade agreements.

He blasted U.S. policy officials who think they know more about technology than consumers, and unveiled an “innovation checklist.” The checklist is designed to remind policy makers to support such things as open markets and high-speed Internet access for all Americans.

Jeff Smith

7 a.m.: Exhibits open today

CES gets into full swing today, with the opening of trade floor exhibits and a full slate of seminars and keynote speakers.

A CEA official declined to predict how many people will attend the show this week, but said audited figures will be available later this year.

Last year, about 140,000 people attended.

But some here have reported their hotel rates had dropped in price twice since October.

Jeff Smith

Wednesday: Wheat Ridge firm honored

Wheat Ridge-based Able Planet Inc. (ableplanet.com) has won four Innovation awards at CES this year for its audio technology initially designed to help those who are hard of hearing.

Able Planet's patent-pending technology, incorporated into products such as headphones, is designed to improve sound quality, reduce distortion and increase the perception of loudness without increasing volume.

Four of the company's products were cited as Innovation honorees in three categories: health and wellness, home theater accessories and electronic gaming.

Jeff Smith

Wednesday: Progressing to Internet TV

The Internet has proved it can handle television, but is TV prepared to handle the Internet?

For years, technology companies have tried in vain to bring the Internet onto the screen at the center of North American living rooms. Although TV shows have made the migration to the Web, it has been, to date, a one-way road.

Now, a new breed of Internet-connected televisions is threatening to shake up both the technology and broadcasting industries while making millions of recently purchased high-definition TVs yesterday's news. Although the migration of the Internet to television could prove a boon for online video services, chip makers and television manufacturers, the new reality, if successful, could also bring about tough new challenges for cable companies and purveyors of set-top boxes.

LG Electronics Inc. unveiled a new line of high-definition TVs that will include software from Netflix Inc. to allow downloading of movies and TV programs to TVs over an Internet connection.

Associated Press

Wednesday: Mitsubishi's 3D TV dazzles

A 3D TV experience and the Earbud Yo-Yo were among the products that wowed the press Tuesday evening at "CES Unveiled."

The media event featured a preview of some of the award-winning products at this year's show. Journalists crowded around the Mitsubishi Electric display, donning special glasses to see the 3D effect on a Mitsubishi 73-inch, high-definition TV.

The Earbud Yo-Yo, meanwhile, is a small contraption that keeps those ear bud wires for an iPod or music player untangled and coiled up.

Jeff Smith

Comments

  • January 8, 2009

    3:07 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    leavemealone writes:

    More junk....

  • January 8, 2009

    3:11 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    leavemealone writes:

    "3D TV"

    Wow....what a pile of JUNK!

    Why not take those 3D glasses off, turn the boob tube off, go outside & see some real life 3D.