By James Turner
Senior Editor
Well Linux campers, it’s early January, which must
mean it’s time for that annual orgy of consumer techno-porn called
the Consumer Electronics Show. (For normal, everyday porn, you have
to walk a few feet down the Sands Expo Center to the Adult Video
News show…) And just as the swallows return to Capistrano each
spring, and politicians to New Hampshire the day after the
mid-terms, it was time for me to board that Southwest jet and head
on out to the land of milk and honey shrimp
and money to see what the future holds for Linux in the new year,
at least in the consumer space. As well as hunting for Linux among
the set-tops, I’ll also try to give you my own unique and twisted
spin on the madness that descends on Vegas during CES.
No, it’s not a photo-micrograph of Bill
Gates’ face as a teenager, it’s the western edge of the
Rockies.
This is the earliest I’ve ever arrived at CES, the
show floor doesn’t open until Monday morning and I was on the
ground in Vegas on noon, Saturday. Of course, that meant getting up
at 5 AM east-coast time to make my flight, which in my opinion is
an Unnatural and Perverted Hour to be up (unless you haven’t gone
to bed yet, in which case it’s fine, just fine.) The flight was
uneventful, but I already knew that the Gods of Irony were well at
work. Normally, CES is a relatively warm escape from the cruel New
England winters I endure in New Hampshire. But this is is totally
whacked, weather-wise. Forecasted high in Las Vegas for Saturday,
52. Forecasted high in Manchester? 70 freaking degrees!
This year, I’m staying off-strip, at the South Point,
a new hotel/casino/bowling alley/cineplex/equestrian center/nuclear
submarine base that’s about 5 miles south of the main strip on Las
Vegas Boulevard. Staying on strip has the advantage of being a
little closer to the action, but it’s god-awful expensive during
CES week, and since you really only visit your hotel room a few
times a day, not really all that important. The rooms at the South
Point are huge and the parking plentiful and free, and I can drive
up to one of the main strip hotels and take the Monorail to the
convention center to get to the show. The only funky thing about
the South Point is that, as mentioned, it has a world-class
equestrian center, which is hosting a world championship bull
riding event this weekend. C&W music and Stetson hats are
everywhere…
Yep, the Microsoft Keynote isn’t the only
bull in town this weekend (thus ends the Microsoft bashing for
today…)
Before I get into the meat and potatoes, here’s a
general outline of what you can expect this week as far as
reportage (be sure to read that word with the pretentious French
accent I intended…) In general, the report for a given day’s
events should be available sometime the next day.
- Sunday events
- Bill Gates keynote
My Attempt to Crash the Pepcom Digital Experience! party (see
below)
The Blogger / Social Networking party
Potential mourning or jubilant celebration of the Patriots / Jets
game (go Pats!) - Monday events
- Show floor day 1 (South Hall)
Disney Keynote
One Laptop Per Child lunch and final product demos
Show Stoppers and other evening events - Tuesday events
- Show floor day 2 (Central Hall)
Dell Keynote (maybe)
General Musing and event events - Wednesday events
- Show floor day 3 (North Hall and Sands)
Wrap-Up
Because of editorial issues, the Wednesday report will actually
run after the show closes. There are 5 keynotes this year: Gates,
Motorola, Disney, Dell, and CBS. Of those, I consider Gates and
Disney to have the highest potential not to put me to sleep. Dell
is a possible for Tuesday morning, depending on other commitments
and how late I was up Monday evening.
A note about the Pepcom Digital Experience! party. For those who
have never attended one of these big shows, there are almost always
big parties every night where groups of vendors pitch their
products to the press in a more intimate setting. The presence of
alcohol is probably also intended to enhance the presentations…
This year, the three big evening parties are the CEA-run
Innovations event on Saturday night, the Pepcom-run Digital
Experience! event on Sunday, and Show Stoppers on Monday night. For
the last two years, Pepcom has refused to grant me credentials for
Digital Experience!, because I was dumb enough to have the word
Freelance in my e-mail signature. Evidently, Pepcom doesn’t
consider you to be a serious press person unless you’re a full time
employee of a publication.
This, of course, is nonsense on two fronts. First off, at least
a quarter of the people at the event tonight will be freelancers. I
know personally of half-a-dozen who, while on the masthead of
publications in editorial positions, are doing so as freelancers.
It’s kind of a don’t ask, don’t tell situation. Secondly, not to
toot my own horn but I’ve pitched or written a good half-dozen
major product reviews in the last 3 months alone for publications
like ComputerWorld and CMP TechWeb. If I’m not exactly the type of
person their vendors want to pitch their products to, I’m not sure
who is.
So tonight (Sunday), I’m going to show up in person (possibly
with a few freelancers who were in fact granted admission in tow),
and Make A Stink. Why? Because You, the readers of Linux
Today, have a Right To Know! Besides, the food is pretty
good…
Ok, having suffered through all of that ranting, on to some
actually products. As always, the name of the game is “Find The
Products With Linux in Them”, with a sprinkling of the truly cool
and bizarre mixed in. Innovations is the show-produced event held
on Saturday night, which showcases the companies and products that
have won awards at this years show. There were a couple of
immediate trends I noticed. The first was that at least a dozen of
the companies were showing some variety of streaming media solution
for the home. I’m not sure how something can be that innovative, if
there are that many companies doing it, but what the heck.
Note to CEA: Maybe giving out the big bulky
backpacks to the press right before the crowded party wasn’t the
best idea?
Remember last year, when I showed you the Linux-based speakers
from Avenga, that communicated via WiFi and let you design a whole
surround system without wires? Speakers with embedded Linux are
pretty cool, and I spent all of last year hoping I’d get sent a
pair for evaluation, in vain. Well, here it is a year later, and
who should be at the event but Avenga Systems, showing off their…
speaker with Linux in them. It turns out that Avenga changed their
business model last year, from trying to sell the speakers
themselves, to selling them through partners. In the immortal words
of Bullwinkle, “This year for sure!”
Avega Systems Linux-Based WiFi
Speakers
Looking at the first of our Streaming Media solutions, Logitech
has acquired a company called Slim Devices, which makes a series of
streaming audio set-top devices. What’s cool here is that Slim
Devices uses a totally open source model for their products. The OS
inside the boxes is Linux, and the server software is written in
Perl and will run on just about anything. The server software is
open source, and has an active developer community. Equally cool is
that Logitech has acquired them. Any time a major company gives the
open source / Linux business model a vote of confidence like this,
it’s a Good Thing.
Logitech (Formerly Slim Devices) Shows it’s
Streaming Audio Products
In no particular order, here are some other companies
showing streaming media solutions that had Linux in them. Micronas
was showing a stream video solution (the new buzzword is IPTV.)
Niveus also had a DVR/IPTV combo that was half-Linux. The tuner box
can’t run Linux, because there are no Linux drivers available for
the cable card tuners (the ole DRM headache.) However, their
back-end media storage/server solution is Tux-enabled. Bamboo
Technologies also had a streaming set-top box, and Torian Wireless
had a tiny lil module intended to be used in third-party set-tops
that is basically a Linux-powered streaming audio on a chip
solution.
Micronaus
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Niveus
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Bamboo
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Torian
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A streaming-related product was Hitachi’s AVSM
Streaming Media File System for Linux. It’s tuned specifically to
deliver sequential data such as audio and video. It can also offer
Quality of Service commitments to applications. Don’t expect to
load it up on your Myth TV box any time soon, however. It’s a
binary-only driver and will only be offered for license to
high-volume set-top manufacturers.
Hitachi’s Media File System for Linux,
Hobbyists Need Not Apply
Under the Federal Rack Mount Protection Act, I’m
required to include at least one photo of a rack mount system in
every report I file. Here’s SuperMicro’s latest 1U system, sporting
two nodes sharing a single power supply. The unit is currently only
available with an AC supply, but a DC version will be available
later in the year. SuperMicro claims an impressive 93% efficiency
on their power supply, which should reduce cooling and power
requirements.
There’s No Need to Fear, SuperMicro’s
Here!
The actual product may use a proprietary operating
system, but iControl’s central web servers, which form the core of
their home security and automation offering, are strictly a LAMP
house, according the the CEO.
iControl’s Product May Not Use Linux to
Control Your Lamps, but the Web Portal is totally
LAMP!
Finally, we come to the cool and wacky products for
the evening. No Linux-worthy news here, just the strange and
wonderful things that every CES seems to attract. LG Electronics
found a novel way to display their cell phones. most of the folks
seemed more interested in getting a hand on one of their hands
(alas, not for sale…)
LG Electronics Asks for a Show of
Hands
Atlantic Inc. wants to let you take your iPod into
the bathtub. Unfortunately, the rubber duckies can’t agree on what
playlist they want.
I’d Like to Be, Under the Sea, With a 30 MB
Hard Disk Full of Songs…
Interactive Toy Concepts had a cool-looking
dual-bladed RC helicopter. It seemed to look pretty easy to fly,
right until the demonstrator nose-dived it into the WiMAX booth
next door.
If I Can Get One of These, My Cats Are At My
Mercy
Not sure why a group calling itself Digital Freedom
has there, they didn’t seem to be award winners. Originally formed
to fight regulation of Satellite Radio, they seem to be branching
out into DRM and Digital Media issues in general. The person I
talked to at the table seemed quite sympathetic to problems of
Linux users wanted to access DRM-protected content. Take a look at
the partners
list for these folks, it’s an impressive coalition and tends to
belie Microsoft’s assertion that everyone is for draconian closed
DRM.
Any Resemblance to the EFF is Not Purely
Coincidental
Finally, if you don’t have the budget for one of
Honda’s Asimo robots, maybe you want to consider WooWee’s
offerings. After all, Asimo may be able to run and dance, but does
he have the head of Elvis? Thankyouverymuch.
Asimo Dances
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But Elvis Sings!
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