Mobile Phones Fail to Make Waves

Thursday, Jan. 7, 2010

Mobile Phones Fail to Make Waves

I'm slightly underwhelmed with the mobile phone showing at CES this year. Given, it is hard to make waves with a smartphone these days. They all look the same: touchscreen, camera, media player. Some have a slide-out keyboard, some don't. Some run Google's Android operating system, some don't. Still, I have to admit, so many of them feel the same. They're either the iPhone or they are iPhone-like. I hate to admit that, but in seeing phone after phone at CES and other trade shows, I have to wonder, what is "it" that we are looking for to make the next big thing in mobile phones?

Here's what is not the next big thing is mobile phones: projectors. LG showed off a phone that has an attachable projector that can project anything from the phone on to a flat screen surface. Nice, but not a huge deal. And I can see that going all wrong with those photos that are NSFW, youknowwhatimean!?

Motorola announced the Backflip this week. It flips backwards, making the screen a media player, ideal for watching video or listening to music. It runs Google's Android operating system. It's a nice phone, but it is getting slightly drowned out in the hysteria about Google's Nexus One phone, announced on Tuesday.

The Nexus One is a nice phone, although it is no "Jesus phone," which is what tech geeks call the iPhone, implying that it can do no wrong. (It can. I'm an iPhone user.) The Nexus One is just the next step up in Google's Android operating system. Google is calling it a "superphone." I don't think I'll ever use that nomenclature. The distinguishing factor is that Google does not want to lock consumers into a carrier or plan so it will sell the phone itself on google.com/phone and allow consumers to choose a plan to their liking.

And then there is the smartbook, which is a cross between a netbook and a smartphone. It looks like a laptop but it is always on, always connected. Some people will find some use for it in their lives, although I suspect the netbook will just get "smarter" and stay connected. It isn't where phones are going. It is where computers are going. So if you're waiting to buy the next jaw-dropping new phone, you most likely will be getting a flavor of the same brand. Unless you buy into the projector idea. In which case, use with caution.

Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2010

Computers and Televisions Collide

You're TV is now your computer, and your computer is your TV. We may need a new name for devices that have screens because soon they'll all do the same thing. How about just "screens?" It doesn't have a very nice ring to it. I'll think about it or take your suggestions in the comment section.

LG and Panasonic both announced that they will build Skype into their televisions. LG will build a Webcam and microphone into the set, while Panasonic will require a separate device to send video and audio to your callers. At last year's CES, we saw Web-enabled TVs that can get online to bring you real-time weather, sports, traffic, and news, so the addition of video calling means that essentially the TV is a computer. It isn't personal or portable, but we have netbooks, notebooks, tablets, and smartbooks for that.

Speaking of tablets, I really like the Lenovo U1, which we were able to preview at a kickoff event on Tuesday night. The screen comes out of its shell and becomes a separate, self-contained, self-powered touch-screen tablet PC. I haven't found much need to be touching my computer programs but it can come in handy if I want to doodle or move around photos and videos, I suppose. One thing that bothers me about tablets it the fingerprints. When you turn a tablet PC back to regular notebook mode, or in Lenovo's case, replace the screen in its dock, it is chock full of fingerprints that I can see staring me in the face when I'm working. Maybe these devices should come with wipeys instead of styluses.

I also got my hands on the Entourage eDGe, which is an e-reader that has a touch-screen computer screen on one side and an e-ink reader on the other. I was really looking forward to seeing this device because I like the idea of interacting with a book by writing notes in the margin or double clicking a chart or graph and finding the information presented in real-time on the Web on the tablet side. It makes a book less of a static piece of information and more of an interactive and up-to-date document. I liked this device, I was just slightly disappointed with how heavy it was. E-readers should not be cumbersome or heavy. I suspect the next generation of the eDGe will be lighter and thinner.

And I've said it once this week but I am sure to be saying it again and again: 3D is in. It is the new black. It is everywhere. And yes, you do need to wear the glasses for it to work. I was especially interested in ESPN's announcement that they are launching a 3D channel this summer, starting with the World Cup. They will only commit to this channel until June of 2011 but I think they'll stick with it beyond that timeframe. (I wonder if CBS will join this bandwagon any time soon?) There are so many 3D TVs on the market and consumers seem to be excited about it. As a broadcaster, I'm not sure I like this idea. Do you really need my news reports in 3D? But as a sports fan, I love the idea. (San Francisco Giants - it's our year!)

Steve Ballmer takes the stage to keynote this evening. This is the coveted timeslot that Bill Gates once occupied. Ballmer may or may not announce the Microsoft Courrier, which is rumored to be a dual-screen tablet PC. Courrier or not, Ballmer is usually a hoot. We'll let you know. In the meantime, think of the new name for devices with screens. "Screens" is just not satisfactory.

Loaded: Google's Nexus Phone

I reported from the CES floor (video) on Google unveiling the Nexus One, ESPN adding 3D, and a new line of Internet radios that can link to your Twitter account.

Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2010

Google Phone Hullabaloo

It is not often that Google does something that tries my nerves, but this week is an exception.

Google will announce the Nexus One, their latest and greatest smartphone running the Android operating system, today in the San Francisco Bay Area. Now, that is just downright rude. Why make this "big announcement" on a day like today, when just about every member of the technology press is en route to Las Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show? And why make such a hullabaloo about the whole ordeal when it is just another HTC-made Android phone, like the G1 and the myTouch before it? Why Google? Why?

Not that this phone isn't worth a double take. It truly has some great features. It runs Android 2.1, the most advanced version of Google's mobile operating system. Google hopes Android will be to mobile phones what Windows is to your PC -- the default operating system. It isn't there yet, but it has promise. The Android experience is easy to customize, easy to use, and you can find a plethora of mobile applications, which of course are all the rage these days.

Android 2.1 is said to be speedier, although we have yet to test that at CNET. It is also said to have a live desktop, which CNET's mobile phone reviewer, Bonnie Cha, describes as a desktop that will move when you touch it like ripples in a water backdrop. OK. Big whoop. And an even bigger big whoop if it takes 2 percent off of my battery life just for ripples in a pond. No thanks.

The Nexus One is also supposed to be sold directly from Google unlocked, so consumers can have the choice of carriers and plans, although it may also be subsidized by T-Mobile. Another perk of using an Android phone is tight integration with your Google accounts, making for easy syncing of contacts, calendars, and mail. This is something I appreciate about Android more than anything else but again, not worth the hullabaloo.

Of course, Google has yet to confirm this phone as of the writing, but the phone was leaked all around the Web this weekend. It's a pretty sure thing at this point. Still, announcing this phone today, right as the Consumer Electronics Show kicks off and right after the holidays is perplexing. Most of the journalists I know had already made CES travel plans and therefore had to scramble to figure out who would cover the Bay Area Google announcement. It made for some frantic Christmas-time e-mailing. And the timing is blatantly reminiscent of the 2007 announcement of the iPhone, when Steve Jobs unveiled the device during the Consumer Electronics Show. And let's be frank: This is no iPhone. Android just isn't there in terms of elegance and media play yet.

CNET is sending Tom Krazit to cover the announcement today. He graciously took my ticket so that I did not have to fly to the Bay Area before Las Vegas and for that, I am grateful. Myself and the rest of the CNET crew will likely see the Nexus One in Las Vegas later this week at the show. But we will still bellyache about the timing of the announcement for a few more days because A) The tech press likes to bellyache and B) We tend to be jaded and petulant. But that is what Google gets for such inconvenient timing and making such a big deal about a phone that really is not that big of a deal.

I'm sorry, but it's true.

Monday, Jan. 4, 2010

CES or Bust!

The CBS and CNET teams depart for Las Vegas tomorrow to bring you extensive coverage of the Consumer Electronics Show. And when I say extensive, I mean extensive!

CNET will have live, streaming coverage the entire week of the show. We'll be featuring First Look videos of the new products we find, as well as live filming of all our technology news shows, such as the one hosted by yours truly, "Loaded." We'll also have coverage on "The Early Show" and your local CBS News affiliate.

Complete Coverage of CES 2010

You can wait to see what's what, but here are my predictions about the high-tech themes that will be big this year. Of course, there's always a surprise, like last year's LG Watch Phone, which I predict will never hit the market in the U.S. I mean, how much do we REALLY want to be like Dick Tracy? Actually -- don't answer that!

It ain't easy being green, but the industry sure is trying. We'll see gadgets that charge as many electronics as humanly possible with as little energy as possible. We'll see gadgets that are packaged with less bloated cardboard boxes and soy-ink manuals. We'll see gadgets made from recyclable material. Green is the couture label that makes a gadget seem cool. The problem is that "green" doesn't really mean anything measurable or standard just yet -- but, hopefully, the industry will figure out how to validate these claims by next year.

Netbook, smartbook, tablet, nettop. What the heck is the difference? A netbook is a mini-laptop that is cheap and light. A smartbook is a cross between a netbook and a smartphone in that it's always on, always connected on some mobile network, and has a long battery life. A tablet is a touch-screen or stylus-controlled computing device that is also mobile. And a net-top is a low-wattage desktop machine that you share with your family and is mostly made for Web surfing and not much else. We'll see all of the above in abundance at CES.

3D: We saw a good amount of 3D last year, but we'll see even more this year, since these technologies have actually hit the market. I'm not just talking about 3D TV's, either. Think 3D laptops, desktops, Blu-Ray players, and camcorders. Media are going three-dimensional. It might be time to start planning your outfits around the multi-colored glasses!

E-readers: Thank you, Amazon Kindle, for breaking barriers on this market -- but we want more! We want touch-screens, color screens, video, backlighting, open operating systems, and open-format books. I love my e-readers, but I will admit that, at this time last year, I wasn't convinced that the general population wanted these one-use devices. Well, people do! E-readers were the hot ticket this holiday shopping season, and electronics makers want to pounce on this. My concern is that the Kindle is the iPod -- the proper noun for e-readers that becomes the de facto device. I've seen some impressive competitors, but you've got to work pretty hard to compete with Kindle. I'll be interested to see how many actually can and do.