Monday, January 7, 2013

CES: Does the consumer technology show have a future?

Silhouettes in front of a CES sign (Copyright: Getty Images)'CES:
'This week's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas is one of the world's largest showcases for new gadgets and technology. But CES veteran David Pogue wonders for how long.

It’s a golden rule in consumer technology: you can’t predict the future. Just ask the Popular Mechanics writer who said, in 1949, “Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons.”
But 2013 presents a unique opportunity to make safe predictions. Maybe not about consumer tech, but at least about the annual trade show that celebrates it: the Consumer Electronics Show.
For years, CES was North America’s biggest trade show. It’s been running in various forms since 1967. Every January, nearly 150,000 attendees walk its 2,700 booths, then wait 45 minutes for taxis so they can return to their overpriced Las Vegas hotel rooms with aching feet.
So what’s the prediction? That CES has started a long, slow decline.
CES is not open to the public. It’s attended exclusively by electronics representatives, investors, and members of the media. Its function: for tech companies to display the new gadgets they’ve been working on - and to beg the press to write about them.
And we do. Every January, we, the press, dutifully report the industry’s latest message. This will be the year we surf the web on our TV sets! This will be the year for 3D television! This will be the year someone besides Apple has a hit tablet!
But as time goes by, it’s becoming clearer that CES isn’t serving anyone very well. Not the public, not the press, not even the manufacturers. And that is down to four reasons.
First, the elephant in the room: When 2,700 companies try to introduce new products simultaneously, they’re guaranteed to dilute the press coverage. In fact, a CES debut is the worst way to make a product announcement - you’ll be lost in the shuffle. Why not wait for a quieter week in tech, when your news has some impact?
(I can tell you firsthand how ineffective CES announcements are. In the month of December 2012, I received over 300 email pitches for products coming out at CES 2013. I write two columns a week for the New York Times. You do the math.)
iPad clones
The second worrisome sign: the big names are leaving the show. Apple hasn’t attended CES for years, preferring to announce new products when they’re ready, rather than being locked to CES’s annual January cycle. Dell’s stopped renting booths in 1997; like Lenovo (the world’s number two computer maker), Dell now sends reps only for hotel-room meetings.
And this year another major firm will be missing.
For over a decade, Microsoft not only brought a booth the size of Britain, but CEO Bill Gates or Steve Ballmer gave the opening-night keynote speech. But no longer. “Our product news milestones generally don’t align with the show’s January timing,” Microsoft said in a statement.
(And what consumer-electronics megabrand will be replacing Microsoft for this year’s opening CES keynote speech? Qualcomm, a maker of cellphone circuits. Hold on to your hats!)
Microsoft’s departure doesn’t mean the end of CES, but other companies may well follow suit.
Veteran tech reporters may remember that the biggest tech show used to be Comdex, the computer show also held in Las Vegas. But when IBM pulled out in 1998, Comdex began a long, slow decline. By 2004, Comdex was history.
A third problem: the timing is horrible. Everybody knows that in the gadget biz, you want to unveil your shiny new product just in time for the holiday shopping season. But January? You’ve barely formed your strategy, let alone polished up the new gizmos for the following Christmas.

hey hey show

hey hey show

hey from chukana on Vimeo.

Saturday, January 5, 2013

guinness show 2

guinness show 2


guinnes from chukana on Vimeo.

Samsung Korea posts Galaxy S II Jelly Bean update details, but not the release date

Samsung Korea posts Galaxy

Samsung Galaxy S II owners waiting for an update that adds features (instead of taking them away) may not have long to wait, now that support pages for the official Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update -- announced months ago -- have been found on the company's Korean website. Listing details for all three local carriers, the update will arrive via KIES and change the amount of available internal memory from 12GB to 11GB. Other than the usual list of Android 4.1 features, it will also preload the Google+ and some additional Play apps while adding Samsung features like Smart Stay. There's no word yet on exactly when the official update will arrive (or a schedule for rollout on US carrier editions), but once it's out in Korea it shouldn't take much for owners of the GT-I9100 international version to try it out as well.

Thursday, January 3, 2013

Ephrata Leo Club Organizes Collection

Ephrata Leo Club Organizes Collection
/The EMS/EIS Leo Club would like to thank the students, teachers and staff of the Ephrata Intermediate School (EIS) and Ephrata Middle School (EMS) for donating new hats, scarves and gloves that were donated to the Neighborhood Santa program. The Ephrata Police Department organized the former Cops for Tots program in 2004 to help local children have Christmas. Kimberly Goshert organized the program again this year. EMS/EIS Leo Club had two holiday trees located in each school’s lobby for the students to “decorate” with the hats, scarves and gloves. They had 163 hats, scarves and gloves donated this year. A special thank you to the Red Rose Quilters Guild for donating 25 items. The Leo Club is always looking for new members to join in on their projects throughout the year and is open to students in grades 5 through 8. Shown in the photo are (left to right): Back Row: Hannah Morales, Brooke Spangler, Amanda Rodriguez, Lauren Morales, Faith Myers, Sarah Pstrak and Craig Merkey (club advisor). Front Row: Emily Morales, Destiny Stauffer-Ovenson, Derek Murphy and Kat Sandell.