Entertainment Technology Center @ USC

One of the most fun things we saw at CES was the MakerBot booth, where the three founders of this growing company were demoing an inexpensive, open source 3D printer.

The MakerBot CupCake CNC uses ABS plastic to print virtually any 3D shape, from whistles to Han Solo’s face encased in carbonite.  The MakerBot comes in kit form that they say takes two people two days to assemble.  An active online community shares design models and user support, and it prints from widely available open-source software.

The MakerBot measures 12x12x18-inches, and is made out of laser-cut quarter-inch plywood.  The kit sells for $950.

Wacom is offering an interactive demo of its unlimited multi-touch screen prototype.

The system uses a 21-inch LCD monitor and version 1.8 of Nuiteq’s Snowflake Suite software running on Windows 7.

The company confirmed that it is in talks about visual effects and animation, as well as casinos, as potential applications.  It also could find applications for meeting and collaborative tasks.  “In the future, this could also be larger and something everyone could collaborate with,” said company spokesperson Doug Little.

The technology is at least a year away from shipping, he said.

Callpod has a very cool new charger on display.

The Chargepod V2 can simultaneously charge a laptop, three mobile devices and a digital camera or similar technology.  A 3-port USB 2.0 hub is also featured on the three-sided device, which requires only one power outlet.

Side one of the charger can charge PC or Mac laptops, while side two can charge three smaller devices such as a cell phone, MP3 player or camera.  The third side features the 3-port USB hub that can connect keyboards and mice and handle data transfer.

Chargepod V2 is scheduled to ship at the end of Q1 for $199.95.

The Iomega iConnect Wireless Data Station makes USB drives “smart” by connecting them to a home network as well as making them remotely available via the Web.  The $99 device plugs into a router in either a wireless or wired configuration.  Plug any-brand external USB drives or USB Flash drives into one of four USB ports on the Iomega iConnect and they’re just a click away.  The DLNA device streams photos and video and also has a torrent download manager for managing peer-to-peer file transfers, Apple Time Machine support and device-to-device replication.

The iConnect Wireless Data Station (compatible with Windows, Mac and Linux) will be available February 2010.

Iomega also unveiled its v.Clone software application for the PC.  V.Clone lets users create and carry on an Iomega hard drive an image of their primary computer that can be run on virtually any PC.  Iomega president Jonathan Huberman summed up v.Clone as “allowing you to carry your PC in your pocket.”  It not only virtualizes your primary PC during your travels, but also syncs back to your main PC – no data left behind! – when you return.

Iomega expects to ship the v.Clone software later this month (not compatible with Mac computers).

“2010 is going to be the beginning of the tablet revolution,” NVidia president/CEO Jen Hsun Huang asserted, adding that this requires an enabling technology that delivers the power of a mobile chip and performance of a PC.

To address that need, NVidia unveiled its next-generation Tegra, a new chip with 8 independent processors and Dual Core Cortex-A9 CPU.

“NVidia is engaged in development with PC companies, mobile companies, CE and automotive companies in building Tegra computers,” he reported.

Tablets powered by Tegra, as well as stereoscopic 3D, were the focus of NVidia’s Thursday press conference at the Hilton’s Shimmer Cabaret.

Huang discussed how NVidia technology can be used to bring 3D to PC entertainment, including desktop PCs using new 3D Vision-Ready, 1080p, 120Hz LCD panels from display companies, including Acer and Alienware.

On the gaming front, he announced a partnership with Ubisoft and James Cameron for a special edition kit of Nvidia’s 3D Vision and the Ubisoft Avatar game.

NVidia is previewing its new “3D Vision Surround” technology at its CES booth in the South Hall.

Broadcom is rolling out two new set-top boxes designed to enable networked TV across a home that has either digital or cathode ray tube TVs.  The Irvine-based semiconductor manufacturer will provide real world demos here at CES of the Broadcom BCM7208 with 1080p60 HD output and the BCM7468, which works with standard def and coaxial cable to enable features such as picture-in-picture, multi-room DVR and resolution of up to 480p.

The “system-on-a-chip” (SoC) solutions utilize single 16-bit DDR2 or DDR3 memory circuits to decode SD or HD, respectively.  Broadcom emphasized the integration of the RVU Alliance remote user interface (RUI) specs, designed to provide “pixel accurate” consistency across a consumer’s networked audio/video devices.

Broadcom’s SoC platform includes a DLNA client, enabling consumers to locate and access digital content anywhere on their home network and move or stream it between DLNA-connected devices.  It also supports IP over TV, Adobe Flash, Digital Transmission Content Protection (DTCP) and the CEA-2014 standard (which, as per the CEA website: “defines the necessary mechanisms to allow a user interface to be remotely displayed on and controlled by devices or control points other than the one hosting the logic”).

Broadcom’s media advisory cited a DisplaySearch study indicating more than 120 million CRT sets still in service in the US and over 150 million in Western Europe.  Of those existing CRT TVs in North America, the data indicates 80% are analog only.

Asus Computer International is leading the charge at CES, with their impressive selection of netbooks and notebooks.

At Tuesday’s press conference, the company discussed touch-based computing and a new ultraportable with 512 GB SSD that will run for up to eight hours on a single charge. Unfortunately, the new Asus Eee T91 and T101 swivel-touchscreen netbooks have no release date yet, but it looks like they’ll be ready in ‘09.  CEO Johnny Shih said that they are also thinking about doing an Android-based Eee PC.

The swivel-touchscreens were a big hit in the ASUS booth, as was the newly announced W90Vp gigantic gaming laptop (pictured below).  At 18.4-inches it comes close to Dell and HP’s record of 20.1-inches.  Powered by an Intel Core Duo with up to 6GB of RAM and a dual 500GB hard drive, ASUS calls it the “Ultimate Multimedia Notebook.”

Also, if you’re jumping on the “green” bandwagon, be sure to check out the limited edition ASUS U6 Bamboo Notebook…

Where to see it:

• South 4 35301

Dolby is demonstrating its invention aimed at delivering 3D to the home, in a private room in the South Hall.

The setup: A Mitsubishi 3D-ready TV with active glasses, a Panasonic Blu-ray player and an HDMI cable connection.

It played 3D with the setup via a Blu-ray Disc that was created by using a Dolby development for pre-filtering and preparing the content for encoding (H. 264).

It next played the 3D content on a Hyundai 3D-ready LCD TV with passive glasses.

The goal was to show that one could get 3D in the home via standard players and available display systems, as well as mimic current professional and consumer paths. Dolby added that the technology could also lends itself to broadcast apps.

The connected home has been an emerging theme at this year’s CES.  Yahoo! is leading the way with their Connected TV initiative.

In previous blog posts you may have read about Yahoo! Widgets appearing in consumer electronics by five manufacturers – LG, Samsung, Sony, Toshiba and Vizio.  All five are using the very same Yahoo! Widget engine to run Yahoo!’s clean and crisp widgets. Collectively there are 20 widgets being shown at CES, from MySpace to CBS, with many more in development.  Yahoo! says that any developer can write a widget app and have it appear on one of the five manufacturers’ devices.

Yahoo!’s open platform approach should be hailed as a step in the right direction.  The widgets go far beyond simple traffic reports, RSS feeds, and photos.  With widgets by CBS, Netflix, Amazon, Blockbuster, Showtime and many others, digital content can be streamed directly to your TV – giving the consumer even more flexibility in the way they receive their content.

But we must be cautiously optimistic. Yahoo! has given OEM manufacturers a minimum requirement so that their devices can run the widgets.  It is up to the manufacturer to decide how much flexibility & capability they give their devices (for example, if the widget uses Flash video, the device must be able to play Flash).

Lastly, the OEM manufacturers have the last say on which widgets make it to their devices.  Yahoo! will put widgets in their gallery and from there they are sent to the OEM for approval.  If the widget conflicts with company contracts or policy then the widget may not appear.  Exclusive widgets may allow for differentiation among the brands, but too much isolation and restriction may be a ‘turn off’ for consumers.

Where to see it:

• Renaissance 26, South 4

Most attempts at subscription music have failed miserably, and pundits have assumed that’s because consumers aren’t interested in subscription audio.  A little company called Slacker may be proving that assumption wrong – it’s all about the consumer experience, and what consumers don’t like is lame consumer experience.

We’ve had the new Slacker G2 in our lab for a couple of months, and it’s very compelling.  This week at CES, Slacker announced a FREE (to consumers – ad supported) version of Slacker radio that works on BlackBerry phones.

Songs are streamed or cached on your phone for playing offline.  We’ve been using the private beta, and the BlackBerry app, though a little rough around the edges is great.  It also helps you see a potential for similar services in video, which is why we’re watching it closely.

In addition to the news regarding Slacker Mobile for the BlackBerry, FlyCast announced a client for the Android/T-Mobile G1 and desktop players for Windows PCs and Mac.

Where to see it:

• BlackBerry: South 4 36206