FCC Chairman, at CES, hedges on shutoff date for analog TV Pressed by the incoming Obama administration to delay the planned conversion of all U.S. TV broadcast from analog to digital on February 17th, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, at the Consumer Electronics Show, hedged his bets, admitting that a coupon program to subsidize conversion boxes, is not working. Video: Broadcom pursues ideal of 'drop-dead simple products' During the time of a deep recession, consumers are concerned about two things: price and simplicity. They are looking for reasonably priced products that bring immediate value and "drop-dead simple, easy-to-use" consumer devices. Video: TI powers Palm Pre Palm chose the TI 3430 processor to power its comeback product, the Pre, announced at the Consumer Electronics Show here. NAND partners SanDisk, Toshiba roll SSDs NAND flash partners SanDisk Corp. and Toshiba Corp. separately rolled out more solid-state drives (SSDs) in the marketplace. Infrastructure upgrade needed for clearer HD images The rapid adoption of HD and improvements in TV technology are outpacing the capabilites of the current network infrastructure, a researcher says. Analysis: Hard times and empty seats at CES Philips used to routinely fly 600 employees to the Consumer Electronics Show. This year, reportedly, there are two. Cisco was nowhere to be seen on the CES show floor either. Technology suppliers, including NXP Semiconductors, are hit hard, because their customers are unable to project the market demand. Comment: Bad luck for Blu-ray Like Barack Obama, Blu-ray drives have won a historic battle, and like the President-elect, the proponents of the technology are finding some of the fruits of that victory are, well, a little less than sweet. Creative Tech forms ZiiLabs to exploit 'stemcell computing' SoC British graphics chips specialist 3DLabs Ltd. has had another makeover, and is now part of a new initiative with its parent, Singapore based Creative Technology, dubbed ZiiLabs. Imagination extends PowerVR, Ensigma IP core ranges Imagination Technologies is demonstrating a flurry of new IP cores and platforms for the consumer and communications sectors at CES, including a multi-standard programmable comms platform and upgrades to its PowerVR range. AMD rolls graphics for notebooks Advanced Micro Devices has rolled out the first versions its RV770 graphics processor geared for use in notebook computers, the HD4000 series which is the first to support DirectX 10.1 graphics and GDDR5 memory in notebooks. Video: Business robot debuts at CES Trevor Blackwell, founder of startup Anybots, rolled out QA at the Consumer Electronics Show, a robot that acts as a webcam and phone on wheels, letting users visit remote colleagues by navigating the five-foot bot via a Web browser. Video: Stevie Wonder on vision-free design Music icon Stevie Wonder made a stop at the Consumer Electronics Show here to open designers' eyes to the problems blind and visually impaired people have using some of their latest gadgets. Medical technologists at CES: 'Your lungs are calling!' A CES medical electronics panel, discussing the potential of implantable devices, remote patient monitoring and even robotic surgery, agreed that the U.S. health care system is poorly equipped to take advantage of the technology available bot now and in the future. Qualcomm demo's Android running on Snapdragon Qualcomm is using the Consumer Electronics Show to demonstrate Google's Android operating system running on its Snapdragon chipset. Sony CEO downplays economy, offers 'lucky seven' policies Howard Stringer, CEO of Sony, focused his keynote speech at the Consumer Electronics Show largely to new Sony products, while introducing celebrities such as Tom Hanks and Reggie Jackson, as Consumer Electronics Ass'n President welcomed in a new administration in Washington by issuing a subtle "hands-off" our industry warning. Comment: One Laptop Per Child hit by competitive reality The One Laptop Per Child project appears to have been outpaced by market-driven netbooks. LG and Panasonic pursue divergent 3-D paths LG Electronics and Panasonic are following two sharply divergent directions on 3-D, with LG going for an interim approach for 3-D by using a proprietary method, and Panasonic proposing a full-blown 3-D HD standard based on what the MPEG group has already developed as Multiview Video Coding. Broadcom demos AMP version Bluetooth at CES Broadcom is demonstrating alternative MAC and PHY (AMP) implementations of the latest standard Bluetooth in file transfer and device synchronization applications at this week's CES in Las Vegas. Samsung and Chumby partner on 'connected' digital photo frames In hopes of kick starting a market for no-keyboard, always-on, always-connected Internet devices, Samsung Electronics Co. has entered into a strategic partnership with Chumby to provide a reference design for a digital photo frame. Marvell pictures GHz ARM in photo frames Marvell Technology is pushing its Sheeva ARM9 core to GHz levels in the first of a family of integrated processors aimed at consumer and embedded systems, the PXA168 debuting at the Consumer Electronics Show in Web-connected digital photo frames. Video: LG's Woo Paik on 3DTV Woo Paik, the chief technology officer of LG Electronics, talks about the company's plans for a 3DTV processor and digital TVs supporting 60 GHz wireless at the Consumer Electronics Show. Comment: CES Presents 'The Giant Horny Gorilla from the 3-D Lagoon' A commentary on the promotion of 3-D video at this year's Consumer Electronics Show, featuring a panoramic glimpse at the history of 3-D movies and a skeptical suggestion that 3-D in its new incarnation might be just a costly exercise in planned obsolescence. AMD debuts 45nm desktop CPUs at CES Advanced Micro Devices has announced the second batch of processors coming out of its 45nm process technology, the Phenom II quad-core desktop CPUs running at up to 3 GHz with up to 8 Mbytes cache. Cisco unveils media products at CES Cisco Systems took its first big steps as a corporation into consumer digital media markets at the Consumer Electronics Show, claiming it would help ease the pain in managing home networks and Web services. Panasonic calls for 3DTV standard this year Panasonic called for the industry to rally around standards this year for stereo 3-D high definition TVs so products can flow in 2010. Toshiba forgoes 3-D, opting for Cell TV in 2009 Toshiba's Cell TV, configured as a combination of a set-top box " an HD server " and a 4k x 2k pixel panel, will be first launched in Japan later this year, followed by a U.S. launch early in 2010. Monster and Gennum enable longer distance HDMI cables As more and more higher definition content gets distributed -- over distances longer than several feet -- around the "connected home," consumers may soon need to start looking for higher speed and more reliable HDMI cables. Webcam now goes 3-D Promotion & Display Technology Ltd. launched at Consumer Electronics Show the Minoru 3-D webcam, a single unit integrated with two CMOS image sensors and an internally-designed chip capable of processing stereo images into one, in real time, for the first time. Intel makes Wi-Fi personal at CES Intel Corp. released at the Consumer Electronics Show new software to let its Centrino 2 notebooks create a personal area network of connected Wi-Fi devices in an effort to add value to its Wi-Fi chip set. Mitsubishi, Nvidia team up in 3DTV Mitsubishi has teamed up with Nvidia to fill its hunger for content for its 3-D-ready digital TVs. CES: There may be an upside to the slowdown For an industry that thrives on ever-increasing innovation, there may be an upside to the slowdown Europeans plan major assault on CES European companies will be flying the flag(s) at this week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Asus reads beyond netbook at CES AsusTek Computer Inc. rolled out a line of new notebooks, netbooks and consumer appliances at the Consumer Electronics Show and is expected to debut an Eee-branded phone using the Google Android software, probably at the 3GSM conference in Barcelona. HDMI gears up for home network role The High Definition Multimedia Interface officially throws its hat in the ring of contenders for a home networking physical layer today with plans for a next-generation of HDMI that will include support for high bandwidth bi-direction traffic capable of handling compressed video. Updated: Samsung, SanDisk roll SSDs Two companies--Samsung and SanDisk--have separately rolled out solid-state drives (SSDs) for use in opposite ends of the spectrum. CSR tunes in to Bluetooth based stereo headsets CSR plc (Cambridge, England) will demonstrate at this week's CES in Las Vegas a stereo development kit with which, it says, it is possible to simplify and speed the design of Bluetooth headsets. Energizer details zinc air battery plans Energizer is working with OEMs to develop zinc air batteries suitable for consumer gadgets including Bluetooth headsets, computer mice and MP3 players that could triple the run time of the alkaline and rechargeable lithium ion cells used today. Ambarella pulls triple play: high-res still, HD and mobile video Ambarella's launches a new SoC platform designed for hybrid cameras capable of capturing, concurrently, high resolution still pictures, HD video and mobile video. Intel, Adobe optimize Flash for TVs Intel Corporation and Adobe Systems are collaborating to port and optimize Adobe Flash technology to the Media Processor CE 3100 which will offer seamless Web-based and video viewing through advanced Intel-based cable set-top boxes, Blu-ray Disc players, digital TVs and retail connected AV devices. Dolby, Nvidia demo stereo 3-D at CES Dolby Labs and Nvidia Corp. will demo separate stereo 3-D technologies at the Consumer Electronics Show this week. Freescale, Nvidia chase netbook sockets Freescale Semiconductor is trying to drive netbooks to lower price points with a new ARM-based processor while Nvidia wants to ratchet up their performance with a more muscular graphics chip, but one OEM said he does not believe Freescale's Linux-based option will gain much market traction. Intel rolls new education PCs at CES Intel Corp. will make a fresh foray into low-cost PCs at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, launching a tablet-style netbook for students as well as a personal area network technology for linking Wi-Fi devices. Startup rolls home net box for carriers Startup Prodea Systems has designed its own all-in-one home networking box it will sell to service providers along with its software to help them manage home net services. The secret behind July 4th Court turns down DVR appeal Is space exploration still worth it? Blog Main Page

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