Apple CEO Steve Jobs is trying to drive a stake into the music industry's heart by calling for the end of copy protected music. He said that abolishing DRM-protected music would be, "the best alternative for consumers, and Apple would embrace it in a heartbeat."
Kodak today announced its plans to launch a series of inkjet printers next month, officially entering the race currently dominated by HP, Canon, and Lexmark, after years of talking about the possibility of getting into the printer market.
The first eight months of the format wars ended in a near stalemate, though the hardware front saw a slim victory for HD DVD, with a new report from NPD Group saying that high-def video players ranked in at 52% for HD DVD and 48% for Blu-ray.
The National Football League is now giving the thumbs up to churches who want to show the Super Bowl on extra large television screens. In the past weeks, the league has gone after churches and threatened legal action to stop Super Bowl viewing on greater than 55-inch television sets. The league now says such viewings are OK as long as no admission fee is charged.
Canon's Powershot line of cameras is about to expand, as the company today announced two new under-$200 models, both of which will be available next month.
Dolby promises to automatically control the volume of your TV: Most couch potatoes have clutched the remote control to raise the volume on quiet television shows only to be blown out of their sofas with a surprisingly loud commercial. In front of a select group of journalists at the MGM Grand Hotel, Dolby demonstrated 'Dolby Volume' and proclaimed that people would "never reach for the volume again."
A new product from Panasonic has shown up on the FCC website, describing a home audio system that links up wirelessly through a Bluetooth connection. And yes, it does have the option connect directly to your iPod.
Ricoh has announced the availability of its latest product, the 500SE, a rugged GPS-ready digital camera that can keep track of when and where every picture was taken.
Posted by Rob Enderle, Principal Analyst, Enderle Group
The high-def age is upon and if you are buying a TV this year anyway, why not buy a HD player as well? And, do you buy HD DVD or Blu-ray, if you are looking for the technology that makes most sense right now? We were looking for clues at CES and found a very convincing answer. Just not the one we expected.
Netflix today announced that it is adding a video download service and enable its customers to not only order DVDs online, but also watch movies and television series on their PC. The new service is offered at no additional cost, but there is a limited viewing time that depends on a viewer's subscription plan.
As the Sands hosts a whole series of lock-in pre-CES conferences which you can't get into, even if you've RSVP'd (do I sound bitter?); the expo center and Venetian hotel are gearing up for another event with a major impact upon the technology world: The Adult Entertainment Expo.
If there was any doubt that CES has become a bloated, over the top, affair, much like the last days of Pompeii, or Comdex for that matter, you need read no further than this little ditty from our intrepid reporter, Rob Wright, in Las Vegas.
Posted by Rob Enderle, Principal Analyst, Enderle Group
Get ready for the battle for the digital home: CES and Macworld are just a few days away and both will lure you with new media center devices. Behind the scenes, Apple, Microsoft, Intel, and AMD are assembling the core technologies, but the front end is more interesting: HP, Dell and Apple will be the primary vendors making a run at this new market. Let's have a closer look.
Posted by Rob Enderle, Principal Analyst, Enderle Group
2007 is slated to become a big year for media in the home. Every major technology vendor with even a toe in the consumer segment will be going after a market that could easily create the next iPod-like wave of products and growth. As we wrap up 2006 the year let's take a look at what a media center device needs to look like and who is likely to come closest to the mark.
