CES 2009

LCD panel manufacturers are touting the effectiveness of 120 Hz refresh rates for dragging their little darlings out of the drug-induced haze that is LCD smear. I've seen JVC, SyntaxBrillian's Olivia and Sharp LCDs with the technology and it clearly works and works well.

The HomePlug Powerline Alliance was formed in 2000, and the idea was to develop a unified home networking system that uses the existing power lines in your home to deliver power, internet access and other entertainment without extensive and expensive wiring. in the last seven years 75 companies have come onboard.

There is no way to convey the noise level on the show floor. In fact, you've not truly had a CES experience until you've been inundated by the cacophony of sights and sounds in these giant, cavernous halls.

THX is sure not sitting around and living off their existing licenses. Like everyone else they are looking for the next Big Thing. Here at CES, they are touting a new THX technology called Media Director that is meant to simplify home theater set-up and operation. MD turns movies, music and video games into, what THX calls “smart content” that can communicate information about AV settings directly to your home entertainment products. The technology lets consumers tap into and maximize the features and modes of their electronics. More than ever consumers are faced with an overwhelming amount of playback and set up options on their gear and its no wonder they are confused, tending to use the out of the box settings. THX hopes to take a lot of that confusion and frustration out of the process.

Here's our own Fred Manteghian blogging away in the press room. I was wondering how he was getting some of his entries up so fast until I discovered he uses his Blackberry to get online while he's still on the show floor. Way to go Fred, use that technology !

Not to complain too loudly, because in the old days we had typewriters, but whoever is responsible for making sure the 4th estate can do their job should be fired. The press room is full of hardwired Dell laptops (I mean, I'm a Windows guy and even <I>I</I> won't use a Dell, for Lord's sake) and there are precious few empty tables for people who brung their own. On top of that, there's no "supported," a.k.a. working, wireless connections. Granted, wireless introduces problems too, but hardwired Dells and brown shirts walking around making sure you don't unplug the Ethernet cable and put it into your laptop isn't helping anyone get their job done.

No really, he won't.