tag:,2009:/1/tag:72.47.210.69,2007://1.5246- 2009-10-30T14:51:54Z Comments for R/WW Coverage of Macworld and CES Movable Type 4.23-en tag:72.47.210.69,2007://1.5246 2007-01-08T01:30:24Z 2007-12-16T23:16:42Z R/WW Coverage of Macworld and CES It's going to be a big week of tech news, as Apple's Macworld conference and expo in San Francisco goes head-to-head with the 40th annual CES (Consumer Electronics Association) show in Las Vegas. Both conferences kick off Monday 8 January and there will be no shortage of blogs and other websites covering the news. What... Richard MacManus http://www.readwriteweb.com Macworld and CES 2007It's going to be a big week of tech news, as Apple's Macworld conference and expo in San Francisco goes head-to-head with the 40th annual CES (Consumer Electronics Association) show in Las Vegas. Both conferences kick off Monday 8 January and there will be no shortage of blogs and other websites covering the news. What Read/WriteWeb will do is filter the best of it for you, focusing on the most promising web technology announcements and product demos.

So what will we see from the shows this year?

]]> What Web technology we can expect from Macworld

According to Web 2.0 Workgroup member and Mac fan Joshua Porter, the sites to watch for Macworld news are MacRumors, ThinkSecret, and Daring Fireball. Josh thinks that Apple will be "making a huge social software push" at Macworld 07, citing the the next release of OS X (code-named Leopard) and the rumored iPhone as two key products. He also suggests that Apple will add social and recommendation features to iTunes (a la last.fm, Pandora and also Netflix), along with announcements around podcasting, iTV and the iWeb/iLife suite of apps.

From a high level, what's clear is that Apple will push more into the media field this year. In 2006 they dominated online music, with the incredible success of iPod/iTunes - so expect Apple to try to extend that with movies/TV. Also the iPhone is an intriguing rumor. Several people have pointed out that there is room in the market for a super-elegant VoIP-enabled mobile phone, which of course plays to Apple's design strengths.

Overall, I'm with Josh in that I would like to see more social Web features from Apple in their products. What's more, these features should be cross-platform and allow Apple users to interact with Windows users via web standards. Especially when it comes to iTV and Apple's digital hub strategy, a.k.a. Apple in your living room - it is crucial that users aren't restricted to just Apple hardware in order to use the likes of iTV. As Steve O'Hear pointed out recently, Apple could easily create an Internet ecosystem around iTV, by allowing third parties to create plug-ins to connect to web services other than iTunes.

Also, from the 'maybe asking too much' department: how about a Web Office suite from Apple based on iWorks '07?

What Web technology we can expect from CES

CES is generally regarded as the world's largest and most successful technology launchpad and gadgets trade show. This year it will reportedly host 2,700 exhibitors. The following list of past product debuts shows that it's a stage for big technology announcements:

  • 1998: HDTV
  • 1999: PVR
  • 2001: Microsoft Xbox
  • 2001: Plasma TV
  • 2002: Home media server
  • 2003: HD radio
  • 2005: IP TV

For this year's CES, watch out for news on the official CES blog, as well as the top gadgets blogs like Engadget and Crunchgear.

Expect Microsoft to make some announcements at CES. Bill Gates is doing a keynote speech at 6.30pm tonight, discussing his thoughts on digital content's future. However Mary Jo Foley isn't expecting much in the way of Windows Live announcements at CES, although it would be odd if they didn't show off the new Windows Live for TV beta - particularly given Bill's keynote topic. Note also there is a Windows Vista RTM lab happening now, pre-CES, which fellow kiwi Mauricio Freitas is covering.

Will we see much from the other Internet powerhouses, Google and Yahoo, at CES? Yahoo is holding a press conference on Monday at 12.15pm, to announce new Mobile Internet services. However there's no official sign of Google at CES '07 - remember they did an entertaining keynote last year, featuring co-founder Larry Page along with comedian Robin Williams. So given the absence of Google and just one appearance by Yahoo, I'm beginning to wonder if we'll see much in the way of Web technology announcements at CES this year? As Michael Gartenberg noted, "it's about PCs, phones and traditonal media this year."

In any case making the first waves at CES is a 'Digital Entertainer HD' product from NETGEAR. It will stream "HD [high definition] movies, YouTube videos, iTunes music and more from PCs, Storage Devices and the Internet to Home Entertainment Systems." Dave Winer is skeptical about the product working "for most people". NB: Photo above is from Dave.

Summary

It's going to be an exciting week for technology. If Web Technology is your thing, stay tuned (and subscribe if you haven't already) to Read/WriteWeb for as-it-happens analysis of Web Tech news from Macworld and CES.

]]> tag:72.47.210.69,2007://1.5246-comment:41852 Comment from Dan Grossman on 2007-01-07 Dan Grossman http://www.dangrossman.info Just watched the live webcast of Bill's keynote address. I don't usually pay much attention to these types of events but with this being such a big year for Microsoft with Vista, Office, Xbox 360 and Zune all coming out at the same time, thought it might be interesting.

I was surprised to see several features of Windows Vista shown for the first time ever at such a late time. Instant search of all documents and information across the network is neat but nothing to get too excited about. I was impressed by the ability to set any video as a desktop background in Vista Ultimate, as small a detail as that appears.

One new web technology demoed was the ability to fly through any city using Windows Live Earth using an Xbox 360 controller plugged into a Vista PC. Supposedly this is available right now. It was pretty amazing seeing how fluidly the 3D world drew itself as he moved through the city considering the whole thing runs in a browser that needs to be fetching the graphics the whole time.

Windows Live didn't get a whole lot of coverage; most of the talk was about integration of the Xbox with Xbox Live, using the Xbox to download TV and movies, using the Xbox to play games with people connected through Vista, and using the Xbox to play new HD DVDs.

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