WEBVTT - The 2009 Consumer Electronics Show 0:00:00.320 --> 0:00:02.880 Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera. 0:00:03.240 --> 0:00:08.800 It's ready. Are you get in touch with technology? With 0:00:08.920 --> 0:00:14.400 tech stuff from how stuff Works dot Com. Hi, everybody, 0:00:14.480 --> 0:00:16.840 Welcome to the podcast. My name is Chris Pilett. I'm 0:00:16.840 --> 0:00:19.280 an editor here at How Stuff Works. Sitting next to 0:00:19.280 --> 0:00:25.040 me as usual as senior writer Jonathan Strickland. I'm so tired. 0:00:26.520 --> 0:00:29.800 That's probably because it wasn't long ago that you got 0:00:29.800 --> 0:00:32.519 back from the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. That 0:00:32.720 --> 0:00:34.960 is true, it was not long ago at all, and 0:00:35.000 --> 0:00:38.040 I'm still feeling it, to tell you the truth. See 0:00:38.159 --> 0:00:40.960 last year I was feeling it too, but you know, 0:00:41.080 --> 0:00:43.920 this year I had other obligations and couldn't make the show, 0:00:43.960 --> 0:00:47.280 So Jonathan went by himself, and I'm sure he loved 0:00:47.280 --> 0:00:51.040 being able to run across all those different show floors. Right. So, 0:00:51.080 --> 0:00:54.400 the the Consumer Like DRAVE showcases this big industry showcase 0:00:54.440 --> 0:00:57.880 in which all these uh these different manufacturers and companies 0:00:58.040 --> 0:01:00.800 come to Las Vegas to show off the new products 0:01:00.880 --> 0:01:04.280 for the next year, hoping to get buyers interested in it, 0:01:04.319 --> 0:01:06.640 hoping to get a lot of press coverage. Um, it's 0:01:06.680 --> 0:01:10.039 just this big, big convention and when I say big, 0:01:10.040 --> 0:01:12.920 it's I mean it's huge. C the c e A 0:01:13.120 --> 0:01:18.120 which puts on cees. Uh. They claim that the size 0:01:18.160 --> 0:01:22.199 was one point seven million square feet. That's a few 0:01:22.560 --> 0:01:25.000 square feet, Yeah, quite a few and all the space 0:01:25.040 --> 0:01:26.720 that's in between them where you have to walk from 0:01:26.920 --> 0:01:30.959 right and it takes place in in the Uh. There's 0:01:31.040 --> 0:01:34.600 several hotels where they have exhibitor space. There's the Nation, 0:01:34.760 --> 0:01:37.880 there's the Sands Convention Center, there's the Las Vegas Convention Center, 0:01:37.880 --> 0:01:41.160 where the bulk of the big big names are. Um, 0:01:41.200 --> 0:01:44.480 there's the Renaissance Hotel, there's the Las Vegas Hilton. And 0:01:44.520 --> 0:01:47.120 then there's some hotels, you know, some some exhibitors. They 0:01:47.240 --> 0:01:50.920 they booked space and hotels around the strip. Uh you 0:01:50.960 --> 0:01:53.800 know that way they get around paying for show floor 0:01:53.840 --> 0:01:56.040 space at the event itself, and then they try and 0:01:56.120 --> 0:01:59.080 lure people into these hotels to take a look at 0:01:59.080 --> 0:02:00.960 their stuff. And that did the couple of those two 0:02:01.000 --> 0:02:05.040 wanted to win, and some other places. Um. But yeah, 0:02:05.040 --> 0:02:07.200 it's a big show. And one of the big stories, 0:02:07.320 --> 0:02:09.680 I don't know if you were thinking about talking about this, 0:02:09.760 --> 0:02:12.960 was that, uh, everyone was wondering if it was really 0:02:12.960 --> 0:02:14.960 going to be as big as it used to be well. 0:02:15.000 --> 0:02:18.120 I had been wondering that myself. If you are a 0:02:18.120 --> 0:02:21.200 regular listener in the podcast, I was projecting in our 0:02:21.400 --> 0:02:24.400 two thousand nine predictions that the trade shows would start 0:02:24.440 --> 0:02:27.079 to shrink some in the economic down term. So I 0:02:27.120 --> 0:02:29.359 was wondering myself if it was going to be as 0:02:29.440 --> 0:02:32.400 large now. If if you were part of a large 0:02:32.480 --> 0:02:35.960 team of people covering the show, you may very well 0:02:36.000 --> 0:02:39.280 have noticed that it was smaller. There were there seemed 0:02:39.280 --> 0:02:42.360 to be fewer attendees, although when I say fewer, the 0:02:42.440 --> 0:02:45.320 floors were still really crowded. Don't get me wrong. It's 0:02:45.360 --> 0:02:48.040 just that you actually had some space to breathe once 0:02:48.080 --> 0:02:51.000 in a while, which normally isn't the case. Also, there 0:02:51.040 --> 0:02:54.639 were entire sections of the show floor that were unoccupied 0:02:54.840 --> 0:02:58.640 where people who had or companies that had reserved space 0:02:58.760 --> 0:03:01.640 pulled out. And um, so there were there wasn't a 0:03:01.680 --> 0:03:03.760 section I think it was in the North Hall that 0:03:03.840 --> 0:03:09.280 was completely curtained off because there were no exhibitors to 0:03:09.280 --> 0:03:12.519 to exhibit there. Um, they just kind of squished everyone 0:03:12.520 --> 0:03:15.160 else closer in and in a massive game of booth 0:03:15.240 --> 0:03:19.760 tetris um. But from a from a the perspective of 0:03:19.800 --> 0:03:23.200 a single person covering the event. It's still huge, So 0:03:24.400 --> 0:03:26.760 saying that it's smaller than it used to be, that's 0:03:26.760 --> 0:03:31.200 probably true, but it's still ginormous to use a fake word. 0:03:32.480 --> 0:03:34.800 But yeah, so, I mean it's it's not hurting as 0:03:34.800 --> 0:03:37.920 badly as you'd think. All right, let's talk about some 0:03:37.920 --> 0:03:40.160 of the stuff that you saw. Um, I think you 0:03:40.200 --> 0:03:43.600 were saying that one of your favorite favorite pieces of 0:03:43.640 --> 0:03:47.360 technology you saw was Panasonic three D television. Yeah. Now, 0:03:47.400 --> 0:03:50.120 this was the buzz at the event. There were a 0:03:50.200 --> 0:03:55.440 few major um uh exhibits that got more attention than 0:03:55.440 --> 0:03:59.160 anyone else, and this was one of them, and deservedly so. 0:03:59.160 --> 0:04:02.680 So Panasonic had this booth that spanned the entire width 0:04:03.000 --> 0:04:06.480 of the Las Vegas Convention Center. Um, it was. It 0:04:06.560 --> 0:04:09.520 was not very deep, but it was extremely wide. In fact, 0:04:09.520 --> 0:04:12.040 in order to get past Panasonic, you had to hug 0:04:12.160 --> 0:04:14.800 essentially a wall on one side or the other of 0:04:15.040 --> 0:04:17.880 the convention center because you couldn't go through um because 0:04:17.880 --> 0:04:20.480 I had a back to it. But in the middle 0:04:20.520 --> 0:04:23.160 of this was this theater, and inside the theater they 0:04:23.200 --> 0:04:28.080 were doing demos of this three D plasma home theater system, 0:04:28.320 --> 0:04:31.120 which is still on the concept stage. It's not it's 0:04:31.120 --> 0:04:34.040 not going to be commercially available anytime really soon, so 0:04:34.080 --> 0:04:36.280 it won't be working over money for that in stae 0:04:36.360 --> 0:04:39.839 July probably not. UM. No one would really give me 0:04:40.320 --> 0:04:43.800 a uh. No one would nail down a date for me. 0:04:43.920 --> 0:04:47.239 But the technology was phenomenal. I I got in line, 0:04:47.560 --> 0:04:50.920 I think I might have actually crashed it. Um crashed 0:04:51.000 --> 0:04:52.800 in the sense of I got in line when I 0:04:52.800 --> 0:04:55.839 shouldn't have. UM. I didn't realize this till later, but 0:04:55.960 --> 0:04:57.840 they were actually they actually had a booth where they 0:04:57.880 --> 0:05:00.159 gave out tickets for people to go and see this, 0:05:00.200 --> 0:05:02.120 so that they would have a specific time to come 0:05:02.120 --> 0:05:04.240 in and see it. I did not realize this. I 0:05:04.240 --> 0:05:05.960 didn't see the ticket booth because I came from the 0:05:05.960 --> 0:05:07.720 other side of the booth. And uh. And so I 0:05:07.760 --> 0:05:09.520 just got in line and no one asked me for 0:05:09.520 --> 0:05:11.599 a ticket. So I just walked on and sat down. 0:05:11.600 --> 0:05:13.960 They had one space available that they let me sit in. 0:05:14.120 --> 0:05:17.360 And uh. It was a really effective demonstration, in fact, 0:05:17.360 --> 0:05:20.240 the most convincing three D that I've ever seen, and 0:05:20.279 --> 0:05:23.640 I've seen quite a bit. UM it was. It was 0:05:23.720 --> 0:05:27.240 really beautiful, gorgeous high definition. It was just it was 0:05:27.279 --> 0:05:30.560 a fantastic demo. They could not have done better. Did 0:05:30.600 --> 0:05:32.800 you have to wear any special I gear or anything 0:05:32.839 --> 0:05:35.919 like that. If you're gonna be looking at this in 0:05:35.960 --> 0:05:39.799 your home, you're still gonna have to wear glasses. And 0:05:39.800 --> 0:05:42.040 and they they're not the red and blue glasses. It's 0:05:42.080 --> 0:05:47.400 the polarized glasses. So it's not not like you're you know, 0:05:47.480 --> 0:05:50.080 looking like you came straight out of you know, the 0:05:51.480 --> 0:05:55.520 UM And like I said, it was really really effective stuff. 0:05:55.560 --> 0:05:58.080 It was probably my favorite thing that I saw while 0:05:58.120 --> 0:06:00.320 I was at CES. Well, three DS seemed to be 0:06:00.400 --> 0:06:03.039 a trend this year. Oh it was huge. Yeah, Panasonic 0:06:03.160 --> 0:06:07.400 wasn't the only person or person corporation to showcase three 0:06:07.440 --> 0:06:11.040 D uh. There were several other companies that did, including 0:06:11.120 --> 0:06:13.960 Navidia had their three D glasses thing. It's called G 0:06:14.120 --> 0:06:18.760 Force glasses. Um. Those are USB powered or charged anyway, 0:06:18.839 --> 0:06:23.320 and they actually have a shutter speed, so the polarization 0:06:23.839 --> 0:06:26.880 there's actually a shutter. Now. The shutter opens and closes 0:06:26.880 --> 0:06:29.280 at a speed that's far too fast for you to 0:06:29.279 --> 0:06:33.760 to consciously um realize, you know, you can't see it, 0:06:33.800 --> 0:06:36.719 but it's happening at a sixty hurts refresh rate, so 0:06:36.760 --> 0:06:39.560 it's shuttering on and off sixty times per second for 0:06:39.760 --> 0:06:42.120 each eye. They actually call it a hundred and twenty 0:06:42.200 --> 0:06:45.880 hurts because it's for each I right, But it was 0:06:46.000 --> 0:06:50.680 very very convincing. They had a rock band or no, 0:06:50.760 --> 0:06:52.840 I guess it was guitar hero game going, so you 0:06:52.880 --> 0:06:55.960 could actually see the notes coming toward you and all 0:06:56.000 --> 0:06:59.400 the all the the little digital performers, you know, like 0:06:59.400 --> 0:07:01.159 they were actually on real stage. It was kind of 0:07:01.160 --> 0:07:03.600 neat and um I got a chance to play at 0:07:03.640 --> 0:07:07.640 another booth. I played Left for Dead, which is of 0:07:07.640 --> 0:07:10.840 course as zomb survivalist game, and it was in a 0:07:11.000 --> 0:07:14.720 It was set in a wooded uh level in the game, 0:07:15.200 --> 0:07:18.040 and it was phenomenal if and when you start going 0:07:18.080 --> 0:07:22.040 through those trees, it looks very convincing like you're really 0:07:22.080 --> 0:07:26.440 going through a forest. I mean it, it feels pretty cool. 0:07:26.480 --> 0:07:28.280 And now I don't think I can play that game 0:07:28.320 --> 0:07:31.560 without the three D anymore. So, do you need any 0:07:31.600 --> 0:07:35.520 special equipment other than the than the headgear? You have 0:07:35.520 --> 0:07:38.000 to have a special monitor. Yeah, it depends on the 0:07:38.120 --> 0:07:40.760 depends on the tech, which one you're you're looking at. 0:07:40.880 --> 0:07:45.520 Most of these require a special monitor. Just like if 0:07:45.560 --> 0:07:48.080 you wanted to have three D television, you would need 0:07:48.120 --> 0:07:51.000 a special TV. You need one that was three D ready. 0:07:51.080 --> 0:07:54.160 So for instance, the Mitsubishi Laser View is a three 0:07:54.280 --> 0:07:57.520 D ready television. Most TVs would not be able to 0:07:57.560 --> 0:08:00.200 display the information properly, so you wouldn't get the real 0:08:00.240 --> 0:08:04.320 the effect. Um. So, yes, you do need special equipment, 0:08:04.400 --> 0:08:09.640 whether it's a computer monitor or a television. Sounds expensive, Yeah, 0:08:09.680 --> 0:08:12.160 well it's not cheap, but you know, it's really really cool, 0:08:12.440 --> 0:08:15.440 so you gotta you know, it's the trade off, it's 0:08:15.480 --> 0:08:18.160 and of course, just like any technology, the earlier, the 0:08:18.280 --> 0:08:21.440 early adopters will will purchase it, and f enough of 0:08:21.440 --> 0:08:24.040 them purchase it, that drives the price down and then 0:08:24.080 --> 0:08:25.920 the rest of us can get our grubby little hands 0:08:25.960 --> 0:08:31.000 on it. Um. Another one of the trends that I 0:08:31.040 --> 0:08:34.680 saw and following other sites in their coverage of CS 0:08:34.720 --> 0:08:36.880 this year is one of your favorite words, and it's 0:08:36.920 --> 0:08:39.160 maybe the first time that I've uttered this word on 0:08:39.200 --> 0:08:45.959 our podcast, convergence. Convergence was huge. Um. Yeah, So there's 0:08:46.000 --> 0:08:48.280 a couple of different things that are converging into a 0:08:48.679 --> 0:08:53.040 single form factor. Really, one, I would argue smartphones and 0:08:53.080 --> 0:08:57.400 netbooks are really getting closer and closer to becoming a 0:08:57.520 --> 0:09:00.240 single device. So you're gonna put the keyboard up to 0:09:00.240 --> 0:09:02.640 your mouth and type of your tongue something. I mean. 0:09:02.720 --> 0:09:07.160 The point being that smartphones are getting more and more complex, 0:09:07.280 --> 0:09:10.280 and netbooks are you know, kind of these scaled down 0:09:10.480 --> 0:09:14.320 notebook computers. But a lot of the netbook manufacturers are 0:09:14.320 --> 0:09:18.640 looking into using the cellular network as a means of 0:09:18.679 --> 0:09:22.000 transmitting information. So instead of using WiFi, you're using the 0:09:22.000 --> 0:09:25.120 three G network or even the edge network. And um, 0:09:25.160 --> 0:09:28.200 and so, yeah, your your computer is turning into more 0:09:28.280 --> 0:09:30.520 of a phone device. Your phone is turning more into 0:09:30.520 --> 0:09:33.320 a computer device. Eventually they're going to meet uh. And 0:09:33.360 --> 0:09:35.720 then the same thing you could say is going on 0:09:35.800 --> 0:09:41.240 with television. There was lots and lots of interactive TV displays. Um. 0:09:41.400 --> 0:09:43.360 One of the stories I heard was that Yahoo had 0:09:43.440 --> 0:09:46.040 kind of pulled out of C E S, but yah 0:09:46.040 --> 0:09:49.480 who was still everywhere because everyone had Yahoo widgets on 0:09:49.559 --> 0:09:54.280 their interactive TVs. I remember when that was called confabulator, 0:09:54.559 --> 0:09:58.000 and they offered the widgets for your Mac. Of course, 0:09:58.040 --> 0:10:01.720 now dashboards there and Vista has widgets. So and as 0:10:01.760 --> 0:10:03.280 a matter of fact, I saw some of that on 0:10:04.080 --> 0:10:06.720 and C S two thousand and eight. They were starting 0:10:06.720 --> 0:10:08.679 to put in you know, you can put in your 0:10:08.679 --> 0:10:11.480 own news tickers or little widgets. But it seems like 0:10:11.520 --> 0:10:14.480 widgets are everywhere now and it's you know, it's interesting. 0:10:14.520 --> 0:10:16.880 It'll be interesting to see if it really takes off. 0:10:17.400 --> 0:10:19.480 It's something that I would like to use. I would 0:10:19.520 --> 0:10:21.640 love to have a little option to be able to 0:10:21.720 --> 0:10:24.160 check my weather or you know, see the traffic or 0:10:24.200 --> 0:10:26.160 whatever just by looking at not having to wait for 0:10:26.200 --> 0:10:30.160 a newscast or anything like that. Um but you know, 0:10:30.679 --> 0:10:33.040 you gotta make it as easy as possible to use, 0:10:33.160 --> 0:10:35.680 and you've got to make it as easy for the 0:10:35.760 --> 0:10:38.760 cut for the consumer to to see the value in 0:10:38.840 --> 0:10:41.360 it for it to really take off. So right now, 0:10:41.400 --> 0:10:42.880 I think a lot of people are still thinking of 0:10:42.920 --> 0:10:45.120 it as well. This is neat, But would I really 0:10:45.200 --> 0:10:49.080 use it right right? Another trend I saw mentioned a 0:10:49.080 --> 0:10:52.000 lot was wireless technology. And of course we've been talking 0:10:52.000 --> 0:10:55.080 about things like Bluetooth and WiFi, but they were talking 0:10:55.120 --> 0:11:02.880 about wireless everything. Um I saw a wireless charger. You know, 0:11:02.920 --> 0:11:06.440 battery chargers are sort of everywhere now, you know, just 0:11:06.520 --> 0:11:08.480 drop your cell phone on a pad and it charges 0:11:08.520 --> 0:11:12.160 for you and even even for your car. Some of 0:11:12.160 --> 0:11:14.520 that and showing up now, there was there's a lot 0:11:14.559 --> 0:11:18.400 of wireless chargers there were, of course. I also got 0:11:18.440 --> 0:11:23.080 to play with Microsoft Surface. Yeah, the the interactive table exactly, 0:11:23.120 --> 0:11:25.960 and that that has the multi touch capability where it 0:11:26.000 --> 0:11:29.360 can sense multiple points of contact with your fingers or 0:11:29.400 --> 0:11:31.360 hands or whatever, and you can manipulate stuff. But it 0:11:31.440 --> 0:11:35.120 also has this technology that allows it to interact wirelessly 0:11:35.200 --> 0:11:38.880 with appropriate devices. So let's say you have I don't know, 0:11:39.040 --> 0:11:42.839 a Microsoft Zoon for example, and you put your Zoom 0:11:42.880 --> 0:11:46.640 down on the surface. You could theoretically synchronize your zoom 0:11:46.800 --> 0:11:50.080 to the surface without ever connecting any wires or cables 0:11:50.160 --> 0:11:54.080 or anything. Or if you had a uh A camera 0:11:54.320 --> 0:11:56.800 that had the wireless capability, you could place the camera 0:11:56.840 --> 0:11:59.720 on the surface and automatically pull the pictures from your 0:11:59.720 --> 0:12:03.959 camera to the surface. Again, you don't need any wires 0:12:04.040 --> 0:12:05.760 or anything. It just all happens as soon as you 0:12:05.840 --> 0:12:09.160 as soon as it makes contact. That's a really cool technology. 0:12:09.160 --> 0:12:11.760 It's something that we're not going to see in homes 0:12:11.840 --> 0:12:13.920 or anything for several more years because right now the 0:12:13.960 --> 0:12:17.280 surface is still prohibitively expensive. It's around ten thousand dollars. 0:12:17.840 --> 0:12:20.560 This is something you see in like commercial displays, less 0:12:20.559 --> 0:12:22.360 and less likely to see it in a home unless 0:12:22.400 --> 0:12:27.120 you're you know Bill Gates. Well, um, it's funny because yeah, 0:12:27.160 --> 0:12:29.439 you mentioned that that you didn't even see the Microsoft 0:12:29.480 --> 0:12:32.680 surface in the Microsoft area. No, I didn't see it there, 0:12:32.840 --> 0:12:35.080 but you didn't talk to Microsoft and they had someone 0:12:35.240 --> 0:12:38.760 some big stuff. Of course. Uh, Windows seven Beta was 0:12:38.880 --> 0:12:41.160 supposed to be released around then, and they had it 0:12:41.280 --> 0:12:43.840 was this big thing. Um, of course you were on 0:12:43.840 --> 0:12:46.240 the show floor, but they only were limiting it to 0:12:46.400 --> 0:12:49.800 two point five million downloads and having having to open 0:12:49.840 --> 0:12:51.720 it up, and they had some problems with the whole 0:12:51.760 --> 0:12:54.839 downloading process as well. As I recalled, there was Yeah, 0:12:54.920 --> 0:12:56.680 this was stuff that I was hearing while I was 0:12:56.720 --> 0:12:59.520 at the show. Um didn't really affect me because I 0:12:59.559 --> 0:13:01.520 had a physic old copy of Windows seven Beta in 0:13:01.559 --> 0:13:04.560 my hand. But you actually saw Window seven. I did. 0:13:04.600 --> 0:13:06.640 I did. I saw a demo by one of the 0:13:06.640 --> 0:13:09.520 people who made Windows seven. Yeah, it was a personal 0:13:09.640 --> 0:13:13.040 one on one demo and it was it was pretty impressive. 0:13:13.080 --> 0:13:16.160 I mean they were They didn't come out and say 0:13:16.200 --> 0:13:19.600 this is to try and correct the mistakes of Vista. 0:13:19.960 --> 0:13:23.760 The way the way he worded it was that Microsoft 0:13:23.840 --> 0:13:27.720 listened to their customers, took into account the things they 0:13:27.760 --> 0:13:30.360 liked versus what they didn't like and used that to 0:13:30.440 --> 0:13:33.200 design Windows seven, so, you know, kind of dancing around 0:13:33.200 --> 0:13:36.320 the issue of the whole Vista perception problem thing. And 0:13:36.679 --> 0:13:38.600 I didn't really ask about that because I was very 0:13:38.640 --> 0:13:42.040 interested in the technology, not not you know, covering up 0:13:42.080 --> 0:13:46.000 something or whatever. Um, but it was very it was 0:13:46.000 --> 0:13:49.240 a very neat demo. I actually really did like what 0:13:49.400 --> 0:13:52.920 I saw, and hopefully we'll be able to start testing 0:13:52.920 --> 0:13:55.680 out our own copy of Windows seven Beta very shortly 0:13:55.720 --> 0:13:57.600 and and kind of take it for a spin. Yeah, 0:13:57.640 --> 0:14:00.520 that'll be fun. Yeah. Um. And you also like media 0:14:00.640 --> 0:14:04.600 Room media Room. Media Room was so neat. Okay, So 0:14:04.720 --> 0:14:09.520 media Room is this this technology Microsoft has developed that 0:14:10.720 --> 0:14:15.160 allows them to work with cable content providers like a 0:14:15.280 --> 0:14:17.320 T and T for example, was the one that that 0:14:17.480 --> 0:14:20.280 I got to see. And this would allow you to 0:14:20.360 --> 0:14:22.720 do things like let's say you you get home and 0:14:22.720 --> 0:14:25.880 you realize that you just missed the first ten minutes 0:14:25.960 --> 0:14:28.560 of whatever your favorite show is, and you didn't set 0:14:28.600 --> 0:14:31.720 your DVR, you have no way of of watching that. Well, 0:14:32.240 --> 0:14:34.080 this service would actually let you go back to the 0:14:34.080 --> 0:14:36.360 beginning of that program and watch it all the way through. 0:14:36.400 --> 0:14:38.680 It has a lot of DVR capabilities in it, but 0:14:38.720 --> 0:14:41.280 there's no DVR. It's just part of the service. I mean, 0:14:41.280 --> 0:14:45.480 you do have a box that is the Media room box, 0:14:45.520 --> 0:14:49.520 but it's not it's not a traditional DVR, and it 0:14:49.560 --> 0:14:53.440 has so much many more capabilities. For example, let's say 0:14:53.480 --> 0:14:56.200 that you produce a show and you have some great 0:14:56.240 --> 0:14:59.000 bloopers from that show. You know, it's like you know Sitcom. 0:14:59.080 --> 0:15:01.480 Let's say, and there's there's great bloopers. Usually you have 0:15:01.520 --> 0:15:03.800 to wait around for some sort of special or DVD 0:15:04.000 --> 0:15:07.560 or whatever. But for subscribers to the service, it's possible 0:15:07.560 --> 0:15:10.880 for the content provider to add in clips of bloopers 0:15:11.080 --> 0:15:13.120 and you would just push a little button on your 0:15:13.160 --> 0:15:15.360 remote and pull up a menu, and you could go 0:15:15.400 --> 0:15:18.560 through and see what additional content is available for that show, 0:15:18.640 --> 0:15:20.400 and if it's a blooper, you could watch the blooper 0:15:20.520 --> 0:15:23.680 right then and there. Or you could even link web 0:15:23.760 --> 0:15:28.000 content to the device. So let's say you're watching one 0:15:28.000 --> 0:15:30.520 of our programs, how Stuff Works program you're watching the 0:15:30.520 --> 0:15:32.840 one on coffee, and then you think, I'd like to 0:15:32.840 --> 0:15:35.120 actually know a little bit more about coffee. I wonder 0:15:35.160 --> 0:15:37.440 if there is any more information. You push the button, 0:15:37.440 --> 0:15:39.480 you pull up the menu and you could go and 0:15:39.520 --> 0:15:44.280 read excerpts from our coffee article if we were working 0:15:44.280 --> 0:15:47.200 with the media room software and all of that. So 0:15:47.280 --> 0:15:49.960 this is all very early on. There's already about two 0:15:50.000 --> 0:15:55.360 million customers worldwide using this software. Um, but it's you know, 0:15:55.400 --> 0:15:57.320 it's still in its early stages. But I think it 0:15:57.360 --> 0:16:00.320 has pretty amazing potential. I was blown a a by 0:16:00.360 --> 0:16:05.320 the demo. Yeah, yeah, that sounds impressive. UM, let's see 0:16:06.000 --> 0:16:13.240 other different things. I remember you mentioned the Lenovo screen, 0:16:13.760 --> 0:16:17.440 which is the think pads. Yes, this was a monster 0:16:17.560 --> 0:16:19.800 of a laptop. Guys, you would not want to put 0:16:19.800 --> 0:16:22.400 this on your laptop because you would probably crush your legs. 0:16:22.480 --> 0:16:26.160 But it is technically a portable computer. Um. It is 0:16:26.280 --> 0:16:29.080 rather heavy, it's rather large. But there's a retractable second 0:16:29.200 --> 0:16:32.640 screen stored behind the main screen of the laptop. It's 0:16:32.640 --> 0:16:34.880 on the right hand side. You push a little, you 0:16:34.880 --> 0:16:36.960 push the screen in and it pops out just like 0:16:37.040 --> 0:16:39.520 kind of a you know, like a click click off 0:16:39.760 --> 0:16:43.800 type thing, and it increases your screen by about your 0:16:43.800 --> 0:16:48.280 screen uh landscape, I guess by about Yeah. The press 0:16:48.320 --> 0:16:51.240 release that I read said the main screen is seventeen inches, 0:16:51.600 --> 0:16:53.880 which is already pretty big. It's already then you're adding 0:16:53.920 --> 0:16:58.360 another ten point six inches smaller screen so you can 0:16:58.440 --> 0:17:01.400 you can put information off to that side screen if 0:17:01.440 --> 0:17:04.119 you like, and work from your main screen. And that 0:17:04.160 --> 0:17:06.280 way you you have you can reference things that are 0:17:06.320 --> 0:17:11.080 on the the secondary screen and you know while you're working. Um, 0:17:11.160 --> 0:17:13.080 and it means that you don't have to purchase a 0:17:13.119 --> 0:17:15.360 second monitor. I mean a lot of people do use 0:17:15.359 --> 0:17:17.560 workstations where they have a second monitor and they can 0:17:17.600 --> 0:17:20.719 you know, they drag and drop stuff left and right. Um, 0:17:20.800 --> 0:17:24.920 this saves you the trouble of doing that. Um. But again, 0:17:24.960 --> 0:17:27.239 it is a it is a big machine. Not I 0:17:27.280 --> 0:17:29.800 loved it. I saw this and I immediately thought I 0:17:29.840 --> 0:17:32.840 want one. But um yeah, but yeah, a little You 0:17:32.880 --> 0:17:34.800 don't want to carry it around on the show floor. No, No, 0:17:35.000 --> 0:17:36.879 this would be one of those things where I would 0:17:36.880 --> 0:17:38.960 want to leave that at my desk here and then 0:17:39.000 --> 0:17:41.320 maybe get one of the cool netbooks. I saw while 0:17:41.359 --> 0:17:44.760 I was in CES, and there were a lot of netbooks. 0:17:44.760 --> 0:17:49.920 Netbooks were huge this year. Yeah yeah, well, um, speaking 0:17:49.960 --> 0:17:52.800 of huge, actually small, that's what I was thinking. I 0:17:52.800 --> 0:17:57.960 was gonna ask you about the l G watch phone. Yeah, 0:17:58.000 --> 0:18:00.119 that's another one of those like the Panasonic three D. 0:18:00.280 --> 0:18:02.320 That was one of those things that everyone was talking about. 0:18:02.840 --> 0:18:05.760 And the l G Watch phone is yeah, it's a phone, 0:18:05.960 --> 0:18:08.159 it's a watch. It has a speaker on it, you 0:18:08.160 --> 0:18:10.760 can talk into it, It's got a little touch screen interface. 0:18:11.440 --> 0:18:15.760 It's really cool. Now. LG was really careful with this thing. Um, 0:18:15.800 --> 0:18:19.120 they had two different types of people who could wear 0:18:19.160 --> 0:18:21.399 the watch who were part of the l G booth. 0:18:21.400 --> 0:18:24.000 There were the spokespeople who could actually talk about it, 0:18:24.240 --> 0:18:27.320 and then there were the mutes. And the mutes were 0:18:27.359 --> 0:18:29.920 for people who, let's say that you have a camera 0:18:29.960 --> 0:18:31.760 crew with you and you want to shoot some footage 0:18:31.760 --> 0:18:33.159 and you want to talk about and you want this 0:18:33.200 --> 0:18:34.640 person to hold up their arm, but you don't want 0:18:34.720 --> 0:18:36.800 to have that chatty chatty kind of thing going on. 0:18:37.359 --> 0:18:38.840 That's what the mutes were for. They were just to 0:18:38.880 --> 0:18:41.280 stand there, look pretty and be a showcase for the watch. 0:18:41.359 --> 0:18:45.679 They were just models essentially. Essentially. It was cool. It 0:18:45.720 --> 0:18:48.359 has some pretty impressive specs. Um, you know, it does 0:18:48.480 --> 0:18:51.560 include Bluetooth. But what I thought was really funny is 0:18:51.560 --> 0:18:54.840 that LGS saying that it has such excellent noise cancelation 0:18:54.880 --> 0:18:57.080 that you're not even supposed to have to put it 0:18:57.160 --> 0:19:00.560 up to your mouth to talk. It should cancel out 0:19:00.600 --> 0:19:04.200 everything that's not you for three feet. Yeah, it's interesting 0:19:04.200 --> 0:19:05.520 to get our hands on one of these and see 0:19:05.520 --> 0:19:07.560 if that's really I would love to. I don't know that. 0:19:07.600 --> 0:19:09.320 I don't know that Dolt would be handing them over 0:19:09.359 --> 0:19:11.080 anytime soon, but I would love to get my hands 0:19:11.080 --> 0:19:13.840 on one there. Actually. Noise cancelation was another big thing, 0:19:14.400 --> 0:19:16.120 just with phones in general. Yeah, there was a lot 0:19:16.119 --> 0:19:19.879 of discussion about phones that had multiple microphones in the 0:19:19.920 --> 0:19:23.440 phone to help with noise cancelation, to try and uh 0:19:23.960 --> 0:19:26.040 so that you know, in theory, you could just be 0:19:26.080 --> 0:19:28.680 in a noisy place like I don't know, the showroom 0:19:28.680 --> 0:19:30.879 floor of C e S and still carry on a 0:19:30.920 --> 0:19:34.120 normal conversation without having to scream your head off. Yeah, 0:19:34.119 --> 0:19:36.280 there was there was one booth in particular where they 0:19:36.280 --> 0:19:38.560 would blast noise at you and hand you a phone 0:19:38.560 --> 0:19:40.560 and I'll let you call other people and you could 0:19:40.760 --> 0:19:42.640 you know, they could hear you. You could show off 0:19:42.680 --> 0:19:45.000 the fact that and then you'd walk out and your 0:19:45.000 --> 0:19:46.919 ears would be ringing and you want to go and 0:19:47.000 --> 0:19:51.280 lay down for a while. Well. Um. One of the 0:19:51.280 --> 0:19:53.760 other things that I thought was really cool was the 0:19:53.800 --> 0:19:55.480 fact that you mentioned that they were sort of reaching 0:19:55.520 --> 0:20:00.080 out to kids and to older adults with technology. You 0:20:00.119 --> 0:20:04.320 actually had specific um exhibits targeted towards those groups. Yeah, 0:20:04.320 --> 0:20:07.160 they had two areas. They had an area specifically for 0:20:07.800 --> 0:20:10.520 products aimed at kids, and they had another one for 0:20:10.560 --> 0:20:12.600 products aimed at the elderly. And then there were other 0:20:12.640 --> 0:20:15.960 booths that also had technology that fit these categories, but 0:20:16.000 --> 0:20:19.320 they were not displaying in those designated areas. But it 0:20:19.359 --> 0:20:21.879 was interesting because what we have here is, you know, 0:20:21.920 --> 0:20:25.119 you've got the baby boomer population that's continuing to age, 0:20:25.160 --> 0:20:28.879 funny how that happens, and they're pretty tech savvy, you know, 0:20:29.000 --> 0:20:32.359 for the most part. But their parents, the generation you 0:20:32.400 --> 0:20:35.160 know that came before them, they're not as tech savvy. 0:20:35.280 --> 0:20:39.160 And so it's sort of the the gadgets that will 0:20:39.200 --> 0:20:44.840 allow the this generation, this older generation too, maintain a 0:20:44.880 --> 0:20:49.920 sense of independence and reduce a sense of isolation. And 0:20:50.040 --> 0:20:52.680 uh so that was really the focus of the gadgets 0:20:52.680 --> 0:20:54.879 for them. I thought that was really really interesting. I 0:20:54.920 --> 0:20:57.240