We all knew things were moving from offline to online media, but this suggests that online video adoption and usage is happening faster and with more gusto than all but the most enthusiastic online evangelists would have predicted.   In fact YouTube’s  Robert Kyncl noted how they have been constantly revising projections based on higher use than expected.

How will this trend affect us?    Probably in some very dramatic ways.   Heavy capital TV networks may increasingly see advertisers shifting to highly targeted niche markets, lowering the quality of network productions as money dries up.   Meanwhile more and more user generated content is pouring online, diverting more  attention away from traditional media.   The end result in terms of the content landscape?   I’m guessing we’ll see even more of a ” race to the bottom” in terms of content, where low quality lowbrow content will push out the better stuff.  Yet “high quality TV” has always been something of an oxymoron anyway, so nobody should lose any sleep as we watch our watching habits shift from our favorite TV drama to our favorite online personality’s content channel.   In fact I’d predict that we’ll even see some great quality, low cost shows come out as the barriers to entry fall away and millions more clever content producers flood the online landscape with …. more stuff.

CES Mobile Apps Showdown – turn your 2 minutes of mobile fame to your new fortune. 

Gary Dell’Abate and Jon Hein are hosting a great CES event on Thursday where competitors will showcase their mobile applications in the hopes of winning the “best mobile application” based on different criteria such as online voting and even audience applause.  A showcase event will follow where you can ask questions and test drive some of the applications you liked in the contest.

It’s encouraging to see a lot more internet centric events at CES in recent years.    In Technology Report’s 2008 coverage we noted that “Web 2.0″ and social media emphasis seemed a bit lacking but CES has made good progress in those areas – especially mobile internet which many see as the most fertile ground for expansion of the online landscape.

There are more different types, sizes, and brands of computers at CES than you can shake a stick at, though Apple is always conspicuously absent. In fact the Apple Tablet somewhat overshadowed much of the innovations of the Las Vegas show because clearly the Apple Tablet is going to be the “one to beat”, especially given the lack of any clearly “superb” tablet offering at CES.

Although I have not done enough research to generalize much about the best new PCs I think it’s clear that the mainsteam trend is towards smaller laptops and netbooks with robust features. Costs are going down – features that would have been unheard of at any cost 5 years ago are now standard on even a modest PC. Battery life is impressive and getting better – one of the ASUS PCs shown here had a battery that lasted something like 10 hours.

ASUS also has a new interesting line of *very large* laptops with high quality speakers built into the sides of the chassis to the left and right of the screen. Although heavy, these will offer huge power and a “desktop” feel for your mobile computing. Still, I think weight is the key factor driving down PC size and predict it’ll be the netbooks that dominate the market for the next few years.

The Aria Resort and Vdara Hotel are sponsors of Technology Report’s CES Coverage for the 2010 Computer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, and this post is to thank them for that support.   Disclosure Statement

If you’re in Las Vegas for CES and not already staying at a CityCenter Hotel (Aria Las Vegas, Vdara, or Mandarin Oriental), you’ll want to visit CityCenter.  You can take a free tram from the Bellagio or the Monte Carlo to get both a view and be dropped off in the middle of CityCenter.   Be sure to check out the wooden sculpture and staircases with agates embedded in them – some of the most beautiful woodwork in the city.

Drew Carey hosted a short tech trivia contest for CNET this afternoon here at CES.   Carey’s joke during the contest summed up one of the major stories here here at the conference.  Carey joked that the $50 gift certificates from CNET were going to be $100, but CNET  “had  tough year”.       I spoke with CEA briefly and they said the preliminary counts indicate about the same attendance as last year’s which I think they said was 107,000 after the auditing that is mandatory for major shows.    Of course I think that many attendees are from exhibitor groups so it’s not a simple task to determine the year to year trends in terms of the industry at large.    I think the Drew Carey analysis probably sums it up – 2009 was  tough year in tech.      However overall the feel here seems to be optimistic, and I think we’re seeing more from China as “good quality, lower price” may start to define the industry more than it has in the past.

Cirque du Soleil thrills audiences around the world with shows that use a remarkable collection of innovative theater technologies, some on a scale that is very hard to imagine.

Even for Cirque’s traveling shows – often set in massive tents that are erected at various sites – the technical demands are far beyond those of other theater productions.   CNET reports on some of the technical issues for the Cirque du Soleil, noting:

Under the giant blue and yellow tent in which “Corteo” performers leap, contort and clown, technology is everywhere, even if the audience hardly knows it …

Most of the show’s lighting, for example, is controlled using a protocol called Wireless DMX. The idea, Wilder explained, is that so much action goes on in midair–like the acrobats suspended from the chandeliers–that it would be impossible to use a wired system. Thus, technicians use computers that automatically send signals to hundreds of lights throughout the theater, both in the air and attached to beams or trusses, turning them on or off as needed.

Cirque du Soleil’s KÀ in Las Vegas may be the world’s most technologically advanced theater production.   Located permanently at a heavily engineered theater at the MGM Grand Hotel,  KÀ  features a sweeping set of engineering innovations designed to create a spectacular Egyptian-inspired acrobatic story:

For KÀ  there is no conventional stage.   Rather the audience faces an apparently bottomless void.    It is within and around this void that the Cirque du Soleil performers create their acrobatic magic.   The show featured two massive, hydraulically controlled decks and five stage lifts.

Sand Cliff Deck and Gantry Crane

The Sand Cliff Deck weighs in at *40 tons* and measures 25×50 feet with a six-foot depth.   It is supported and controlled by an inverted gantry crane attached to four 75-foot long hydraulic cylinders running along massive support columns.   Together the crane and deck weigh in at about *175 tons*!    The crane is powered using five pumps and about 3500 gallons of oil.    Vegetable oil is used as an environmentally friendly alternative.

Tatami Deck

The Tatami Deck  measures 30×30 feet and weighs over 37 tons, and can  slide forward almost 50 feet at full travel, like a giant drawer.

Five stage lifts move props and artists during the show, each raised or lowered by four to seven spiral lifts.

Scenic Elements are often controlled by artists in real time:

The Wheel of Death in the Slave Cage scene is comprised of two independent sets of circular “cages” that rotate around a common axle. The movement is completely controlled by the artists in the “cages”.    In the Battle scene, the artists walk on the Sand Cliff Deck at a perpendicular angle to the ground. This is achieved through individual high-speed winches for each of the 16 artists, who control their movements through wireless remotes built into their costumes.

KÀ has over 3,300 lighting fixtures.

Video including massive surface computing:
The video projections in KÀ mix computer and human input.   To create interactive projections artists are captured by an infrared-sensitive camera above the stage and their movements are tracked by a computer.

At the KÀ theater, the performance area is formatted into a huge touch-screen that knows the precise position of each artist and this information is used to “influence the mathematical parameters of any number of worlds that are then re-projected onto the space they occupy”.      [I'm not sure what that sentence means but it sounded too impressive to leave out!]

Sound at KÀ – over a half millon watts of power!

A whopping 4,774 loudspeaker drivers in 2,139 cabinets provide   524,150 total watts of amplifier power for the show.
The sound system weighs in at over *twenty one tons* and the main audio system covers almost two million cubic feet of air space.

KÀ Theatre seats have speakers built into the headrest – this allows sound effects to be targeted, manipulated and customized to any of 16 seating zones.

Special Effects Techology:    Fire and Fog

During the pre-show, approximately 120 fireballs are discharged during the pre-show.   They are about 30 feet in height and reach temperatures of 1200° Fahrenheit.

Many of the fog effects in KÀ are created using liquid nitrogen, which has a temperature of approximately -300° Fahrenheit and creates a “low fog” effect when mixed with hot water.     KÀ has a 13,000 gallon storage tank for the liquid nitrogen.

For the Forest scene, a mist curtain is created that is 60 feet wide and falls 75 feet. The mist system is softened water run through very fine nozzles at 2500 pounds per square inch.

For the Mountain Tribe scenes, snow machines and fans float very fine soap suds through the air to make a very convincing snowfall.
119 pyrotechnic devices are fired throughout the show.

Rigging for aerial acrobatics.

If you’ve been to a Cirque show you know the aerial acrobatics are simply amazing, often seeming to defy gravity and exceed human abilities.   There are more than 160 aerial harnesses of 21 types.  Each is hand-fitted to the individual artist and is inspected weekly, daily, before and during each show.    Acrobatic safety nets are used for artists falling less than 20 feet. For falls over 20 feet, air bags are used in addition to the safety nets.

18 winches used to pull two safety nets into the many different configurations needed for the show. Each winch rope (5/8” diameter) has a tensile strength of over 30,000 pounds.  The forest grid (truss, catwalk and track system that supports the scenic elements of the Forest scene) and its component parts weigh over 80,000 pounds.

Frankly, we’ve only scratched the surface here and I hope to do a follow up, because much of the Cirque technology relies on computer controls and programs that direct the sounds, music, and motion in these spectacular shows.   Although the humans are the most remarkable features of the Cirque performances, without the stunning technological innovations of the Cirque team things would not be nearly as amazing or spectacular.

Cirque is yet another example where humans and technology can work beautifully together to create something …. wonderful.

Thanks to Jessica at Cirque du Soleil for sending the technical specifications of the KÀ theater.

Cirque du Soleil  Website

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Welcome to Technology Report’s CES Party List!

Sponsored by:
Aria Resort and Casino and Vdara Hotel at Las Vegas CityCenter.

Thanks to these lists for helping pull this information together:
Karen’s Party List | www.CESPartyList.com

NOTE: Most of the CES parties are by *invitation only* and even with your CES pass you’ll want to confirm you are on the specific list for that party before walking the great distances required to get from venue to venue. Generally registered CES bloggers and CES press have the best party options at the show.

Tuesday January 5th

4-7 pm:    CES Unveiled – Venetian Hotel in the Venetian Ballroom. This is a major press event of the conference where several dozen sponsors set up booths to showcase their technologies to the press. Last year (2008) the dinner buffet was excellent and drinks were free. Registered CES Press and CES bloggers.

7–10 pm:    Startup DEBUT – Transportation provided from Sands Expo.
New start-up showcase focusing on Web 2.0 technologies. Registered CES media, VCs and angel investors and exhibitors only.   For more information, contact startupdebut@gmail.com.

Wednesday, January 6th

7–10 PM:  PepCom Digital Experience – Mirage, Grand Ballroom.      I’ve had some bad experiences with PepCom but others have said it’s great.   Make sure you are on their list and not just invited by a sponsor!

TBA?  Social Media Club Blogger Party.  Contact:  @chrisheuer

7–10 PM: Corsair Party – Palazzo, Lavo Nightclub

Thursday, January 7th

6–10 p.m. Showstoppers – Wynn. This event is similar to PepCom and features dozens of sponsors showcasing their wares along with a large buffet and free drinks.   Last year the Showstopper food was superb and the layout was great.

6:30 p.m.   Emmy Awards for Tech & Engineering Dinner – Mandalay Bay.   Tickets:  events@emmyonline.tv

6:30- 10 p.m.   Rat Pack Happy Hour – Aria Resort

7:00 PM – 9:00 PM: Pentax – Aria Resort

8:00 PM – 11:00 PM: DivX – Palms, Moon Nightclub

OCZ at Aria Resort and Casino, CityCenter.   Contact:  @OCZ_Jess

Friday, January 8th

CES Tweetup 5:30–8 p.m. #CES Tweetup!- @LasVegasHilton Tempo Lounge.
Drink specials, drawings & prizes. This is billed as the “official” Tweetup of #CES so it should be fun and well attended. Note that the Las Vegas Hilton is connected to the Las Vegas Convention Center at the North end via a (long!) walkway, so consider finishing up your CES day in North Hall if you want to attend this. The Las Vegas Monorail MAP has stops at the Hilton as well as the Convention Center.

5 p.m. – 7 p.m.   China Top Brands Awards Reception – Venetian, Casanova 505, Palazzo Room (Invite only)

5:30 p.m – 8:30 pm:     It Won’t Stay in Vegas Blogger Party.    This excellent and longstanding blogger’s party is off the strip a few miles at the Atomic Museum, a really interesting venue.      This year Brent Spiner of Star Trek will be one of the featured guests.

6 – 8    Bluetooth SIG – Hard Rock Hotel, Wasted Space Room – Best of CES contest

6 – 10   Marketnews Canada Night – Caesar’s, Palace Ballroom (Open to Canadian industry members)

6:30 – 8 Digital Media Insider Reception – Venetian, Ballroom 3001 ($75 for full day of events)

9 pm to late.  Monster Cable: Paris Hotel  John Legend Concert.   The Monster parties feature amazing acts.  They are often followed by an afterparty but you’ll need a separate ticket for that.

Saturday, January  9th

10:30 am Last Gadget Standing – LVCC, Room N257  Lastgadgetstanding.com/

11 am    CNET Best of CES Awards – LVCC, South Hall 3 Lobby, CNET Stage

12:30 pm Mobile Apps Showdown – LVCC, Room N257  Mobileappsshowdown.com

6pm – 11 pm  CES Partylist Party – 2176 Pueblo Circle, Las Vegas.   Las Vegas National Golf Course – where Casino was filmed. , Shuttles available.  Invite only.  RSVP:  party@socialradius.com

We’ll also be live blogging the CES Press Event on Tuesday where several highlighted innovations from the conference make their debut.

SOURCE:  International CES

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Steve Ballmer

Microsoft CEO

Steve Ballmer joined Microsoft in 1980 after being the first business manager hired by Bill Gates and was named chief executive officer in 2000. With Microsoft’s goal of delivering an integrated platform to enable a seamless experience for consumers across PCs, devices and services, Ballmer is focused on continuing Microsoft’s leadership across the company’s seven businesses.

Gary Shapiro

Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) President and CEO

Gary Shapiro will deliver his annual state of the industry address immediately before the 2010 CES opening keynote from Ford President and CEO Fred Mulally. Shapiro is president and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), the U.S. trade association representing some 2,000 consumer electronics companies and owning and producing the world’s largest tradeshow for consumer technology, the International CES. Shapiro is an active leader in the development, launch and marketing of HDTV. He has testified before Congress on HDTV and other technology and business issues more than 20 times. He co-founded and chaired the HDTV Model Station and has served as a leader of the Advanced Television Test Center (ATTC). He is a charter inductee to the Academy of Digital Television Pioneers, and in 2003 received its highest award as the industry leader most influential in advancing HDTV.

Alan Mulally

Ford President and CEO

President and CEO of Ford Motor Company, Alan Mulally, will deliver the opening keynote address at the 2010 International CES. “Alan Mulally has positioned Ford as a leading innovator in the automotive industry, and we are pleased to welcome him back to CES,” said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO, CEA. “For the auto industry and all other businesses that use technology, CES is the single must-attend event where business gets done.” Mulally will deliver his keynote address, following a State of the CE Industry keynote address delivered by Gary Shapiro, president and CEO, CEA. Mulally joined Ford in 2006, after serving as executive vice president of The Boeing Company and president and chief executive officer of Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Mulally is known for his innovation and focused leadership, while working to transform Ford into a lean, global enterprise. He has served as a past president of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and is a former president of its Foundation. Additionally, Mulally served as a past chairman of the Board of Governors of the Aerospace Industries Association. He was named to Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in 2009, “Person of the Year” in 2006 by Aviation Week magazine and one of “The Best Leaders of 2005″ by BusinessWeek magazine.

Carol Bartz

Yahoo! CEO

Carol Bartz has served as chief executive officer and as a member of the Board of Directors of Yahoo! since January 2009. Previously, Bartz served as executive chairman, president and CEO of Autodesk, Inc. During her 14 years at Autodesk, the company diversified its product line and grew revenues from $285 million to $1.523 billion in FY06.

She previously held positions at Sun Microsystems, most recently as vice president of worldwide field operations and an executive officer of the company. Before joining Sun, she held product line and sales management positions at Digital Equipment Corporation and 3M Corporation. She is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the National Medals of Science and Technology Foundation. Ms. Bartz also serves as a director of Cisco Systems, Inc.

Paul Otellini

Intel President and CEO

Paul Otellini became Intel’s fifth CEO in 2005, succeeding Craig R. Barrett. Otellini previously had served as Intel’s president and chief operating officer, positions he held since 2002, the same year he was elected to Intel’s board of directors. Otellini is now focused on continuing Intel growth by extending Intel Architecture into adjacent market segments of embedded, handhelds and consumer electronics and to continue building new businesses by tackling big problems.

Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo

Nokia CEO

Nokia CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo is preparing to deliver a keynote address at the 2010 International CES as part of the third annual Technology and Emerging Countries (TEC) program, which focuses on technology’s role in furthering economic and sustainable development.

Kallasvuo was appointed president and CEO of Nokia in 2006. He has held several executive positions after joining Nokia in 1980 as corporate counsel, including executive vice president, North America; Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer. Kallasvuo has been a member of the Group Executive Board of Nokia since 1990, and was nominated to the Nokia Board of Directors in May 2007. He has been Chairman of the Board of Nokia Siemens Networks since its formation in 2007.

Zhou Houjian

Hisense Chairman

Zhou Houjian, chairman, Hisense, will deliver a keynote address at the 2010 International CES as part of the third annual Technology and Emerging Countries (TEC) Program, which focuses on technology’s role in advancing economic development.

Under Zhou Houjian’s leadership, Hisense Group Co. Ltd. has grown from a small regional multimillion dollar company to a large global multibillion dollar conglomerate. With a worldwide workforce of more than 60,000 employees, Hisense has over 300 sales companies and more than 60,000 service outlets around the globe. It has 13 manufacturing facilities in China, as well as in North and South Africa. In addition, it has three R&D facilities in China, as well as in the U.S., South Africa, and Belgium. Its products are exported to 130 countries and regions throughout the world.

Zhou has twice won the honor of China Central Television’s Business Man of the Year (2000 and 2005), a similar award to Time Magazine’s Man of the Year. He is also recognized as one of the most influential persons since China’s economic reform policy was established in 1978 and has been named as one of the “Top Ten Electronic Information Leaders since China’s Economic Reform.

Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz will be one of the keynotes at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.  Bartz will speak at 11 AM Thursday, January 7th in the Las Vegas Hilton.

Bartz was Autodesk CEO from 1992 to 1996, and took the helm of a troubled Yahoo in January 2009, just months after Yahoo founder Jerry Yang resigned the post after months of controversy surrounding his decision to avoid a Microsoft takeover of Yahoo at upwards of $31 per share.

Bartz is known as a “no nonsense” tough executive and many assumed at the time her job was to groom the company for a Microsoft takeover. However that never materialized.  Instead, Yahoo and Microsoft recently announced a joint search deal where Yahoo will effectively be dropping Yahoo search and using Microsoft BING search technology instead.  Yahoo will continue to sell advertising across both networks giving the combined Microsoft Yahoo search empire a larger advertising footprint.   Most feel this deal is more beneficial to Microsoft than Yahoo since it expands BING’s reach at only a small cost to Microsoft.   Yahoo will retain most of the advertising revenues for the next several years in this deal.

Perhaps Bartz most quotable moments to date were about a month into her tenure when she said she would “kick ass” with the Yahoo brand and also inadvertently suggested that some Yahoo engineers were not “f**king doing anything.”

Other executives expected to give keynote addresses at CES 2010 include Steve Ballmer of Microsoft, Alan Mulally of Ford (see our CES 2009 Coverage of Mulally’s keynote) , Paul Otellini of Intel, and Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo of Nokia.

Yahoo CEO Terry Semel spoke at CES 2006, and Jerry Yang gave a very uninspired talk in 2008 CES, but Yahoo had little to say at CES 2009.

Gary Shapiro of the Consumer Electronics Association said after the announcement:

“Yahoo is a top global brand whose vision is to be the center of people’s online lives, and Carol Bartz is leading the development of Yahoo’s approach to delivering personally relevant, meaningful Internet experiences,”

Disclosure:  Joe owns YHOO stock

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