CES 2010 - What Did I Miss?

It sounds like I didn't really miss all that much. Reports that've been posted on Engadget and other blogs make it sound like CES 2010 was a lot like the previous years. There're a couple of things I've noticed over the years. The two biggest technologies that get the lion's share of attention are displays and smartphones. Every year they try to have something that's suppose to represent the next great thing. A couple years ago it was large, thin displays. Last year it was large, thin and faster 120 Hz processing speed. Now it's even thinner and even faster 240 Hz processing and now with 3D! So the new big thing is 3D TV. Even if I owned a big 3D capable 60" flat screen TV, I don't think it would be all that great. I think 3D has to be on the really big screens to be appreciated. If I want to see a 3D movie, I'll go to our local Imax. I just cant get excited about sitting in our family room wearing 3D goggles. Just thinking about it gives me a bit of a headache. I'm not even going to comment on smartphones because I'm just not really into them. I also missed a handful of companies showing off tablet PCs that they hope will be competitive with Apple's upcoming iSlate or whatever it's going to be called.

There were a few announcements or presentations that piqued my interest. During Steve Ballmer's keynote, he stated several times that the PC was the most advanced entertainment device (or something along those lines). Years ago, even back in the late 80's and into the 90's, they always talked about the convergence of technology. Especially the convergence of TVs and PCs. There were other things, like movies and hi-fi, but I think those were the 2 biggies. Anyhow it didn't happen the way Microsoft, Intel, HP, etc. thought it would. Or it didn't happen as quickly as they wanted. So in the past few CES trade shows, they hardly mentioned the PC. Instead it was all about the extenders and stand-alone gaming consoles, like the Xbox 360 or PS3. The PC was too complicated, noisy, big, etc. And people just didn't seem to understand that you weren't limited to a 17" CRT monitor. The tone seemed different this year. He genuinely seemed excited about all sorts of PCs - laptops, notebooks/netbooks and very small form factor HTPCs running Windows 7, Media Center and potential functionality with Mediaroom 2.0.

So since the success of our future products depends on the success of HTPCs, I guess there are reasons to be optimistic. Mediaroom 2.0 will allow major content providers, like AT&T's U-Verse, use HTPCs running Win7 and Media Center to tune into their programming instead of a dedicated set-top box. Initial reports are a little confusing and talk more about using Mediaroom 2.0 with the Xbox 360, but Ballmer made some reference during his keynote about it working with PCs as well. There were also a few announcements about a new CableCard tuner from Silicon Dust. I own one of their HDHomeRuns, so I'm a big fan. This is a dual tuner that connects to your home network. Any PC on your home network can tune into programming from cable providers or over-the-air digital broadcasts. The only big problem was you could only get cable stations that were unencrypted or clear-QAM. This limited you to mainly the basic tier, which includes your local programming (including local HD stations) and some crap channels. All the upper tier programming, stations on expanded basic or above, like ESPN, Comedy Central, Bravo, Discovery, etc. are all encrypted and couldn't be viewed and recorded using the HDHomeRun and your HTPCs. This is going to change when Silicon Dust ships their new CableCard dual tuner and we will be able to view and record encrypted programming from the cable companies. The cool thing about these HDHomeRuns is that your HTPC doesn't need an empty PCI-E slot for a tuner. The really small and silent PCs, like Dell's Zino HD, don't even have the space for internal tuners. So the CableCard ready HDHomeRun will be a great match.

So, it looks like some of the news out of CES 2010 is encouraging for us HTPC'ers.

Skipping CES 2010

This is the second year in a row that I decided not to attend the International CES tradeshow in Las Vegas. I just don't think tradeshows are that useful anymore. It used to be a good way to learn about new advances in our industry and meet with potential partners and suppliers, but that's not the case for us. Also, I've never invested in a booth at CES to demonstrate our technology because we simply cannot afford it, so I don't know how beneficial that would be. As far as getting new information about technological advances in our industry, there is so much noise at CES, that it is hard to learn anything except the big announcements coming from the major manufacturers. Especially those that happen to present a keynote address, which you can't attend unless you happen to be lucky enough to get an invite or are a member of the press. As for networking, it hasn't really been as useful as I'd like. Some of the companies that I'd like to meet with don't have a booth at CES and those that do usually get a private suite in the Hilton and will only meet by appointment. Naturally, their appointments are all booked up with existing partners or potential partners that have the potential to become large accounts. They don't seem to be very interested in meeting with a startup that can't commit to purchasing 1,000 units a month. On the odd chance that we do get to meet with a company of interest, we usually talk with a marketing representative who can't provide us with any useful information.

As a gadget junky, it was kind of fun to attend CES and walk through the exhibits and see first hand all the gadgets. I especially enjoyed touring the high performance audio & home theater exhibits at the Venetian Towers. So maybe I'll go back some day. I still register every year just in case I decide to go.

Anyhow, with the Internet, I can read most of the big announcements and learn about the new gadgets from my office and/or home. On Wednesday night I even watched Steve Ballmer's keynote address streaming live to my HTPC. In the next couple posts I'll talk about a few of the big announcements and speculate on their potential impact on our business.

More Amazing Technology - Alter Electromagnetic Ambient Conditions

At least this gadget doesn't cost $10K, but who are they kidding? For only $959, this black piece of metal in a relatively nice frame is suppose to improve the sound of your audio system. How does it work? It seems like magic. You just place it near your gear. You don't even have to plug it in. At least it doesn't waste any power. The Blackbody from LessLoss (I think they also sell high end cables), "greatly enhances your audio playback experience by addressing the interaction of your audio gear's circuitry with ambient electromagnetic phenomena..." and, "The Blackbody takes advantage of the quantum nature of particle interaction, and is therefore able to permeate metal, plastic, wood, and other barriers to affect the circuitry inside your components. This altered electromagnetic influence results in profoundly improved sound quality." These quotes are right off their webpage.

Who buys this stuff? After reading the rest of their webpage which explains how it works, I'm certainly not convinced. They try to imply that there's some real science behind this, but that's laughable. They even suggest several Blackbodys can be used to maximize coverage and effectiveness. Yes, of course, the more, the merrier. I only wish they were selling it on Amazon, so I could read some humorous comments and reviews.

What's the Next Big Thing?

This blog post isn't exactly related to Amplio's product development or audio, but eventually it might be something we all use.

I think the next big thing will be tablet PCs. Because of Steve Jobs and Apple, the tablet PC will get a lot of attention in the coming month. Rumor has it Jobs will make a big announcement around January 27th. There have also been reports that Apple has ordered 10 million tablet PCs from their Chinese manufacturer. Some people have been calling it the iSlate.

I think these will be a cross between a Kindle-like eBook and a netbook or laptop with touchscreen capability. Not sure if these will be powerful enough to play HD content, but I wouldn't bet against it considering all the choices out there for inexpensive 1080p capable graphics processors. Add in a USB2 port and these tablets will be useful little music players as well. Wireless USB2 would be pretty cool.

Just like MP3 players and the iPod, Apple will probably be credited with the Tablet PC even thought they're not the first. No doubt they'll popularize it because the mass media doesn't follow these sort of things until the Apples or Microsofts of the world make big announcements. HP, Lenovo, Fujitsu, and Samsung have all released products that they refer to as tablet PCs, but these are really more like laptops with swivel touchscreens. I think Apple has probably studied this category for awhile and figured out what works and what sucks, like they did with MP3 players, and they'll come up with something that will be a significant improvement both aesthetically and functionally over those I just mentioned. I doubt Apple's will include a keyboard.

The tablet I'd really like to see come to market would be something like the "Courier" from Microsoft's research labs. A few videos demonstrating the Courier's capabilities showed up on the Internet a few months ago. Here the first article that I discovered on Gizmodo. Here's the second article. I think the Courier's UI is really nice. Hopefully, we'll see it on real products.

Nine Inch Nails - The Slip

More free stuff. At this nin.com link you can sign up and receive a download link for a free copy of the new Nine Inch Nails album "The Slip." The album is available in a variety of formats including 24-bit/96Khz WAV.

And More HiRez Downloads

This time the samples are from HDTT - High Definition Tape Transfers. They offer some 24-bit/192KHz tracks that are encoded using lossless FLAC. Here's what they say on their website:

High Definition Tape Transfers specializes in rare classical recordings mastered with the best mastering equipment available. They are available in Redbook CD, 24/96 DVD and HQCD. We also offer our releases in 24/96 and 24/192 (on select titles) Flac downloads for playback on a High End Computer Audio System.

They have a list of 5 sample tracks available for download on their storefront. Check it out.

More HiRez Audio Downloads

Every now and then I get notices for sample tracks of some high resolution audio. I've posted information about both of these sources before, so some of you may have received the same offers.

The first is Linn Records. On their website they have an article titled, "What is a Studio Master?" It explains how analog recordings on vinyl or magnetic tape sounded better than CDs because of the analog to digital process that chopped up the perfect waveform into little bits. They oversimplify things and fail to mention the problems when reproducing sound with a needle vibrating inside the groove of a rotating vinyl platter. Anyhow, I don't want to start a big debate over analog vs. digital or vinyl vs. optical disc. I have a pretty good Linn Sondek LP12 turntable that I haven't used for years. I prefer the quality and convenience of playing digital files from my media server to several computer systems, which are connected to my stereo and home theater gear. They go on to tell us that their Studio Master files are much higher resolution than CDs and sound as good as analogue. I would say they sound better than what you will hear from vinyl or magnetic tape. At the end of the article they provide a link to some sample files. I encourage you to download these and have a listen. Obviously, you'll need equipment capable of handling these files. BTW, the article mentions that Studio Master files are encoded at 24-bit or higher and up to 192 KHz. These samples are actually 24-bit/88KHz.

The other source for high resolution audio samples is 2L, the Norwegian music label. They have a few tracks in a variety of file formats and resolutions. They also let you choose both stereo and surround versions.

Light Peak

With Freecom's USB 3.0 hard drive ready to ship in November, and many more USB 3.0 products expected in 2010, it looks like USB 3.0 is going to be the most popular connection for peripherals in the future. There are a lot of peripherals that will never need the performance of USB, so they may continue to use USB 2.0, but since USB 3.0 is backwards compatible, it will also work for USB 2.0 devices. So I think more and more motherboard manufacturers may start including USB 3.0 ports.

Even though FireWire-800 has been around for awhile, I haven't found any included on any motherboards yet. These manufactures will probably stop including any FireWire ports - IEEE1394a or IEEE1394b) in future motherboards. Actually almost all of the new small form factor, higher performance mini-ITX motherboards don't include a FireWire port. The future doesn't really look to bright for FireWire.

Some people say USB became popular because a lot of PC systems and peripheral manufacturers did not want to pay licensing fees to Apple for FireWire. So they conspired to develope USB. Sure it wasn't as fast, but for a ot of peripherals, it was fast enough. Then USB 2.0 came along and provided much better performance. Many argued that it was still not as fast as FireWire for things like external hard drives, but for many people it was fast enough. Now USB 3.0 may make the need for FireWire totally obsolete. Except there is that little issue of cable length, which still gives FireWire an advantage.

But maybe USB isn't the perfect solution. I haven't heard of anyone using USB for display devices. Monitors are connected with DVI, HDMI or DisplayPort.

Now we've learned that Apple has pushed Intel to develop a new fiber-optic connection for peripherals called Light Peak. Light Peak could be a solution for just about every PC peripheral. It could replace all the cables we currently use for monitors, external drives, printers, scanners, audio interfaces, etc. Distance isn't a problem, at least compared to FireWire, because a Light Peak cable can be up to 100 meters long. So, will USB 3.0 become the most popular way to connect peripherals? Maybe not.

I'm Back...

It's been a long time since I've posted anything to our blog. Well, what can I say, not much is going on. Actually, since I rarely receive any comments, I assume very few people read this. So I haven't put any time toward this.

Originally, I hoped that if a lot of people read about the development of our products and provided some feedback, we could use their comments to help direct our efforts. It would also show there was some demand for our products. One of the challenges any start-up deals with when talking with potential investors or lenders, is convincing them there is a market for their product. One way to do this is to hire a marketing firm to conduct surveys to try and estimate market demand. These sort of surveys might help show if a new health club at a particular location is viable after asking a series of questions to local residents. The more people you ask, the more accurate your results. If your geographic area is large, it becomes a bit more complex. Typically a well constructed marketing survey costs a lot of money. And we chose to spend our very limited funds on development. So, I was hoping the feedback from the blog would help. Well, maybe it has shown there is very little demand for the type of products we are working on.

We haven't totally given up. There are a few interesting technical developments/improvements in the past few months that are promising. So we keep plugging away.