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Hot Topic: It's CES Time Again!

This years Consumer Electronics Show got off with its usual futuristic push from Microsoft’s Bill Gates giving the usual keynote sales push and he did not disappoint. Hinging on the unofficial theme of “Connected Experience – 24 hours a day,” it is obvious that Microsoft wants to help you get the data you want, any time and anywhere (Yes, there is an “Anytime-Anywhere" Tech Area). This is, no doubt, how they will rule the world and keep taking your hard earned dollars. While there is really no single theme running thru the colossal event it seems that mobility is a very big issue. When consumers are deciding on how to spend $191 Billion dollars this year, it’s no wonder the CES people expect over 140,000 visitors to the show. If Gates and his crew are a bell-weather, then things are a’changing and they see a little different picture this year. For one, kids are now spending more time in front of their video consoles (Xbox, of course) instead of broadcast TV. No wonder advertisers are worried! They have sold over 10 million of the platforms in 37 countries. This fact is the driver for a coming (‘07) box called IPTV – just what it says, Internet Protocol TeleVision. Game consoles in conjunction with a new box will be a new entertainment paradigm and coupled with your HDTV and PC, we have a new “community” huddled around a gaming console. This is probably why Microsoft and companies like HP are introducing home servers to expand your home networks, eventually, to the kitchen and bedroom. Remember the “your entertainment (data), any time and anywhere” mantra!

Now we have your home wired, next Microsoft will touch your PC with many features built into Vista. Besides the huge new demand for memory, storage and processor speed (no wonder hardware makers love’em), Vista will create a new level of operating system features that may be the final bitter pill for home users. The increasing love for “simple” programs that run fast and don’t use system resources may signal a new shift to on-line applications and web-based operating systems. The latter goes by the name of WebOS and we will tell you about them in a coming Hot Topic. Mobility gets more attention in the arena of Windows Mobile (CE) and Sync. Originally conceived as a counter to GM’s OnStar, Sync has become a de facto Ford human interface operating system that integrates your mobile devices with the car. As we all spend more time in our vehicles, we take a lot of hardware with us – PC’s, MP3 players, phones, and whatever. Using voice prompts, Sync Bluetooths with your handhelds and data storage devices supporting MP3, AAC, WMA, and PCM files via a voice prompted control interface. We wonder if this technology will eventually drive an airplane interface. Time and acceptance will surely tell this story. The concept of “community” crops up in many of Bill’s examples. Digital ecosystems like the home, car, office or whatever, are of no use if the community who uses and supports them are in sync (no pun). Groups of Zune owners, Home Server networkers, Sync warriors, Xbox Live and HDTV (IPTV) gamers will all work within digital ecosystems communities that are the “hub and spoke” of the next digital revolution. We wonder how the airplane will fit into this paradigm, once passengers get used to this technology at home and in their car, they're not likely to settle for less when flying!

Here are a few CES links that you might want to check out:

• http://www.microsoft.com/ces/ 
• http://www.engadget.com/photos/kohjinsha-sa1f00a-umpc-hands-on/ 
• http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2079941,00.asp 
• http://ces.gadgetell.com/
• http://www.eetimes.com/conf/ces/

(Photos courtesy CEA)

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Continental Airlines Installs New Audio/Video on Demand Entertainment Systems on International Routes
1/7/2007 7:57:48 PM

Boeing Sets Records for Airplane Orders in 2006
1/7/2007 7:46:57 PM

First Boeing Next-Generation 737-700ER Rolls Out of Factory
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IFExpress is sponsored in part by:

Travellers 'want to treat flights like homes'
Just The Flight
 

IFExpress is sponsored in part by:

Technology Committee Meeting
1/23/2007 - 1/24/2007

Asian Business Aviation Conference & Exhibition
2/6/2007 - 2/7/2007

Aircraft Interiors Exp 2007
4/17/2007 - 4/19/2007

WAEA TV Market
5/21/2007 - 5/22/2007

7th Annual European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition
5/22/2007 - 5/24/2007
 

IFExpress is sponsored in part by: