Seeing the Future at CES 2007 - Portability and TV Major Themes
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The other factor is portability. There were at least two forms of portability on display at CES this year, and you might say they made up the second theme of the show. The form that is relevant to convergence is the capability to move files, particularly media files, from one form hardware to another. The vision seems to involve being able to move audio, image, and video files seamlessly between your computer, cell phone, TV and other devices. In theory, you'd be able to download a TV show or two with your computer, transfer it to your cell phone to watch in odd moments while you're waiting in line, and move it from your phone to your large screen TV when you get home in the evening.
There are factors that may work to inhibit this level of portability, such as DRM software. Since the show was reportedly attended by several members of Congress, we can hope they were inspired by what they saw to refrain from hampering this vision of the future. After all, in a relatively immediate sense, that's what CES is all about. As Rob Pegoraro of the Washington Post wryly observed, "The idea behind this excess of gadgetry is to predict the future in the most accurate way possible - by inventing it."
Somehow, TV is playing a huge role in these twin themes of convergence and portability. I don't really mean the "huge" part literally, despite the 108-inch prototype LCD that Sharp displayed at the show. Apparently the size competition led to a little cheating, by the way: the 100-inch LCD TV that LG had on display was revealed by Wired to be nothing more than "two smaller screens stitched together." The company must have been blinded by the dollar signs; factory-to-dealer sales of consumer electronics are projected to exceed $155 billion this year, up from $146 billion last year. But I digress.
When I say "huge" in this case, I'm referring to products more like what Verizon Wireless showed. The company featured a pair of phones that with their own TV channel. Verizon calls the service V CAST Mobile TV, and it's supposed to let users leave the house and still catch their favorite shows. Verizon said the service will be available in the first quarter of this year. It will include programming from CBS, Comedy Central, FOX, NBC News, NBC Entertainment, MTV and Nickelodeon, with more channels to be added after launch. Pegoraro noted that the phones would receive a good quality video signal, so you won't be trying to watch something blurry on your tiny cell phone screen. It may seem like a little thing (pun not intended), but it could become one of those things that you wonder how you ever lived without it.
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