AMD shows off its Puma platform beating Centrino
Although AMD didn't have a major presence at CES, the chipmaker did have a reference design of its upcoming Puma platform on hand to show how it out-performs Intel's Centrino platform.
Puma is essentially the company's new "Griffin" processor paired with an ATI graphics chipset and designed for laptops. It also adds a chip dedicated for high-definition video that sits right on the GPU. The platform will be the first to support DirectX 10.1 in a mobile environment.
Universal: We're staying with HD DVD
5:00 pm ET January 10, 2008 -- Universal Studios has officially dispelled the rumors from Variety that it will drop HD DVD and switch to Blu-ray.
"Contrary to unsubstantiated rumors from unnamed sources, Universal's current plan is to continue to support the HD DVD format," said Ken Graffeo, executive vice president of HD strategic marketing for Universal Studios Home Entertainment and also co-president of the HD DVD Promotional Group.
WeBot adds video streaming to its media service
The service had already been offering users a way to stream photos and music from their computers, and its provider announced at CES that it will soon add video to the mix.
The new functionality was demoed on a Nokia N810 Internet Tablet, for which WeBot built a custom interface in order to take advantage of the device's feature set. Video would be integrated with the other content types already supported.
Google Maps add radar-driven weather conditions
Want to know what the weather is like right now somewhere else? Today, you can just click around on a radar-enabled Google map to quickly get the lowdown on temperature, humidity, wind conditions, and a lot more.
When you're heading out of town, you're interested in what kind of weather to expect when you get there, right? Well, starting today, answering questions like that is as easy as clicking on a Google map, due to a new "mapplet" rolled out by The Weather Channel Interactive, Inc. (TWCI).
Analysis: The outlook for solid-state drives
Scott Fulton, BetaNews: Every year, solid-state storage advances just a little bit further, often just enough to prompt analysts to ask yet again, when will it be time to declare spinning platters of magnetic data obsolete? If only hard drive technology would just stop rapidly evolving on its own for a little while, perhaps we'd have an answer.
Samsung made some waves at the start of CES week by announcing it's boosting its solid state drive (SSD) capacity to 128 GB, with a new model whose SATA II interface enables it to read data at 100 Mbps. Seek times have never been a problem for memory-based storage, but sustained throughput continues to dog the SSD.
Analysis: Will streaming HD movies bypass Blu-ray?
It may not be exactly possible for high-definition discs to pick up where their lofty goals of 2005 left off. Transmission technology has evolved very rapidly during that time, partly due to the format war's very existence.
In the midst of the spat between different groups of intellectual property holders over extremely esoteric matters, the effect of which was to effectively stall the advancement of high-definition disc technology, telecommunications companies, CATV providers, and a few bold startup companies planned to pick up the pieces of both formats. Their plan is to bypass Blu-ray 2.0's connection to the Internet, and provide "all-on-demand" service for a huge library of movies and recorded shows, apparently for subscription rates.
Sony discontinues 20 GB, 60 GB PS3 in Japan
The electronics maker is making some changes to its product lineup in its home market, deciding to focus on the 40 GB model.
While there are no immediate plans to replace the discontinued models in the immediate future, Sony says that it would launch new models based on the preferences of its customers based on demand.
GameStop reports strong holiday sales, Wall Street passes
Despite the generally bad news thus far from many US retailers about this holiday season's sales, the nation's largest gaming retailer has posted stellar results.
Holiday same-store sales for GameStop shot up some 20% over the previous year, with total sales increasing 35%. GameStop's success even gave it enough confidence to raise its 2007 fiscal guidance by 13 cents per share.
No dual-boot OLPC is in the works, says Microsoft
Is Microsoft working on building a laptop for the OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) program? Yes, but the intended machine will run Windows XP only, rather than both Windows XP and Linux, Microsoft officials said today, refuting an earlier report that made the waves on Slashdot.
Microsoft officials today denied published reports that it is collaborating with the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) program to build a dual-boot Windows XP/Linux laptop. However, it did say progress continues toward a Windows XP-only laptop for the same organization, with plans to do limited field testing on the Windows machine this month.
ArcSoft demos new embedded digital photo software
The company debuted new software to provide more functionality for manufacturers aiming to offer consumers ways to display their digital photography.
Several of the new functions in the platform revolve around its FaceTracking technology. For example, the software will use the face to intelligently rotate the picture to the correct orientation. It will also be able to zoom and pan across faces on the picture using that same technology.
New GPS features aerial photography, fly-overs
Although it is intended primarily for GPS applications, uPlay is saying the new features makes its latest device 'the Apple iPhone of GPS.'
Dubbed the uPro, the device will make its first appearance at the 2008 PGA Show in Orlando next week. Along with the GPS functionality, it also includes laser technology, which a golfer could use to measure distance.
Conspicuous by its absence, Vista is a no-show at CES
Scott Fulton, BetaNews: One of the consumer electronics industry's biggest brands has had an ever-diminishing presence at CES, and the trend continued this year. It's Windows, which this year moved from the backseat into Microsoft's trunk, as even Bill Gates himself touted products such as Mediaroom, Silverlight, and the Surface prototype while only mentioning Windows Vista in passing.
Last year, Sharon Fisher and I noticed the trend, and here's what we said about it at the time:
Pyxix to offer video for PSP, iPod, Zune
The content distributor announced its plans to make Internet video available for mobile platforms at CES, marking yet another option for consumers in an already crowded field.
Pyxix offers content across three different types of channels, each offering a platform for up and coming entertainers to distribute their work. ComedyPop is self-explanatory, while DocuPyx offers documentaries and short films. Finally, Urban Chillers offers horror films for download.
XStreamHD's ambitious plan for 1080p all-on-demand service
Scott Fulton, BetaNews: Easily among the most curious developments at CES this week was the Tuesday press demonstration of a device called XStreamHD. Conducting the demo was none other than actor Michael Douglas, who apparently succeeded in putting the polish on a presentation for a technology that's so ambitious that any other face or voice might leave attendees very skeptical.
Here's how the company touted its advancement on Monday morning:
Analysis on the format war: So is that it?
One of Las Vegas' most epic battles may be drawing to a close, but the spectators in the high-definition format war are already moving on to the next big technology. Are the spoils for Blu-ray enough to sustain the industry going forward?
What was almost declared a stalemate that could leave the high-definition disc market's prospects unfulfilled, may end up a squeaker of a victory for Blu-ray after all, assuming no further bizarre shift of allegiances takes place between now and next Christmas. If Blu-ray has actually won, then what has it won? Can we all go pick up our Blu-ray Disc players and start buying any recently produced movie we possibly want, regardless of its studio? Or has the public's appetite for the thing waned, perhaps moved onto some other technology with less of a chance of getting bogged down in a years-long dispute?
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