Macworld and CES 2009

Macworld Keynote by Philip Schiller
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
Moscone Center - West Hall
San Francisco, CA
(Macworld: 5 to 9 Jan)

CES Keynote by Steve Ballmer
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
6:30 p.m.
The Venetian, Palazzo Ballroom
Los Angeles, CA
(CES: 8 to 11 Jan)

Bill Gates drinks Diet Coke

For all Coke lovers and Bill Gates' fans...


Bill Gates drinks Diet Coke during Gizmodo's CES 2008 Interview.

iTalk on the iPhone, therefore I am

Alan Kay once said, "The best way to predict the future is to invent it." In the case of Steve Jobs, the best way to predict the future is to reinvent it. Last week's CES was no doubt shadowed by the big bang at Macworld 2007. The "revolutionary new product", the iPhone, came from a man who reinvented three industries - the Mac changed the way computers look and function, PIXAR with the world's first full-length computer animated film, and then the music revolution that came with the coming of the iPod in 2001.

If the iPhone "works like magic", as magician Steve Jobs claims, then Job's 2007 Keynote @ Macworld was also "like magic". It was another of his reality distortion field, a presentation fine tuned to near perfection.

However, like the first iPod, the iPhone does have some questionable problems:
- Apple Inc. filed over 200+ patents for the iPhone. Unfortunately, Cisco got there first.
- Concerns over non-replaceable battery? According to the small print, the iPhone allows 16 hrs of battery life with music playback.
- If the iPhone will be exclusive to only Cingular, will it scare away potential customers?
- Will using the touch screen cause the screen to become oily, dirty and full of scratches over time?

Of course, we will find out the answers to these questions in a half a year's time.

One more thing, Engadget provided the best 'live' coverage of Steve Job's Keynote.

With the iPhone to be out in June, Michael Arrington at TechCrunch already asking people to "throw out the PC", and everyone else forgetting that Bill Gates gave a keynote at CES, the times are indeed a changin'.

CES, Macworld

Its another new year once again and its time for CES and Macworld.
- CES (Consumer Electronics Show): Jan 8-11, Las Vegas
- Macworld: Jan 8-12, San Francisco's Moscone Centre

Where to get updates: TechCrunch, Scobleizer, Gizmodo, Engadget (The guys over at Gizmodo have managed to sneak inside)

What to watch out for:

• Cool new stuff/technology @ CES
  
• Steve Job's keynote (iPhone?) [Keynote on 9th Jan, 9 AM GMT -8:00; get ready for the RDF]
  

CES 2006: Bill Gate's Keynote Address

Its time for CES watch...
and here is the transcript of Bill Gates's pre-show keynote address at this year's CES 2006.

I think he has some interesting ideas worth contemplating over.

I thought I would start off and show a scenario that we think will be real by the end of the Digital Decade, so within the next four years or so, this will be something we think will actually be realistic.

The term "digital decade" was mentioned by Bill Gates in 2001 at his Comdex keynote.

I think I was really impressed by the phone demo.

And so I can take my phone here, and I just put it down on a table that's here in the airport lounge, and it recognizes it. It's got a little camera here, and a little Bluetooth, nothing very complicated with the magic of software behind it. And it says it wants me to authenticate that this is really me, my phone. So, as soon as I put my fingerprint there, I'm connected up, and I actually get a full-sized desktop. And so now, if I want to read mail, or browse, that's all there.

A full-sized desktop workspace projected on a table, authenticated with a phone and fingerprint, anywhere and anytime! Really cool. I am confident we will see this becoming mainstream (among business travellers) in 5 to 10 years' time.


Also, see Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer play a boxing game (Muhammad Ali vs Joe Frasier) on XBox 360. Of course, Bill Gates won. I find the commentry by Al Bernstein very amusing.

First of all, in this corner, playing the role of Mohammed Ali, he floats like an MSN butterfly and he stings like a bee, let's welcome back a true heavyweight, Bill Gates. (Applause.)

Now, in this corner, playing the role of Joe Frasier, he's the sultan of security, and he's the prince of productivity, the Motor City hit man, Steve Ballmer. (Applause.)

And I wonder how much they paid Al Bernstein to say:
"Ladies and gentlemen, watch these replays, they are so realistic that it's unreal."



On a more serious issue, URGE might be a direct competitor to Apple iTunes music download service.

And to-be-expected there was a demo on Windows Vsita (Flip 3D, Quick Search, Live taskbar thumbnails, etc). Its high time we better do something about KDE and GNOME interfaces.

Check out the CES 2006 Keynote page for more keynote addresses.
(Still waiting for Larry Page's keynote transcripts...)


Technorati: CES

2006 International CES

Title says it all?
Check out the website.
They even have their website in 7 languages!