You’ve got the big show and an awful lot of folks feeling like it is all on the line. That is going to lead to some of them looking for a shortcut, something that will keep the intensity up while glossing over the magnitude of it all. 10% unemployment rate will drive many of the rats that have a job to do some pretty stupendous things. And get on crack. Here is what I learned in Vegas.
- Gaga for gadgets?
- Monster for Monster
- From CES 2011: 3M gets one-upped
- Gadgetell goes Zune
Gaga over gadgets
Lady Gaga seemed to be everywhere at CES. From chillaxin with Monster Cables to claiming the corner office with Polaroid, she left her mark on the show. Is she really that hot right now?
The Monster deal makes sense to me; they do celeb versions all the time, Gaga’s is no different (minus the RED tie-in, props there). But Polaroid? They appointed her Creative Director of Special Products. Will she occupy the office between Marketing Especial Hombre Eric Estrada and EVP of Stuff You Kinda Forgot Was There Tito Jackson? To my knowledge Polaroid hasn’t appointed Estrada or Jackson to these posts but it seem arbitrary to stop with Gaga.
I am not sure I want products designed by Gaga. I mean, I don’t want Justin Timberlake adjusting the brakes on my car any more than I want Flavor Flav designing my next set of skiis. I am sure Polaroid has a better excuse than just marketing. Right?
Monster is so hot right now
One cool thing about CES is the social aspect. This year, CES brought Gadgetell, Appletell and Gamertell writers together to cover the multifaceted show. Bring blogging geeks together and we’ll typically talk about a range of stuff and find lots of common ground. Not so with Jake Gaecke.
Jake’s an Appletell writer, so off the bat you know he’s got fanboi in his blood. But seriously, we couldn’t have a conversation that didn’t involve him brining Monster up. It didn’t matter whether we were talking about tablets, atomic testing, or the food served: he swung the conversation back to Monster. Monster, Monster, Monster.
We tried to shock it out of his system with things like, “Jake, I just read Steve Jobs is retiring this year,” or “Apple is never ever releasing a tablet.” He wouldn’t bite, he just kept going by telling us how much better our lives would be with Monster headphones. If Monster is reading, and I am sure you’re not, please contact Jake to get him a sample set of headphones.
CES 2011 prediction: 3M gets one-upped
Our Shawn Ingram told us about 3Ms touchscreen: “What sets the 3M monitor apart from most other multitouch displays is the fact that it supports up to 10 points of interaction at the same time. That was so you can have every finger on both hands moving independently and have to PC recognize each one of them.”
Our prediction is next year a host of companies from China will try to one-up 3M’s toy. They’ll crank it to 11.
Gadgetell <3's Zune
You’ll notice we didn’t do many booth tours on the site, opting for personal in depth coverage. There were a few notable exceptions and Microsoft’s Zune is one of them. One of the most polarizing gadgets going, you probably won’t see too many Zune booth tours on the web. Why is that? Cause Robert Nelson, our editor, is a Zuney toon.
The man loves Zune. Loves the touchscreen version, loves the subscription and loves being the only one in a 100 mile radius with one. So he fought the crowds of the always packed Microsoft booth complex and brought you these images. Lovely stuff, right?
Is Robert on the list because he loves the Zune? Nah. Is it the booth tour in a year of no real booth tours? Nah. Is it just for the fact that he’ll admit to loving the Zune? I am not saying.
Very funny. There were plenty of other things to talk about at CES, which I did and continue to do. I'm just extremely impressed with Monster's audio right now. And besides, what would you write about without me around? You love me.
Just a few points: Monster already gave Jake TWO sets of headphones for review. So, Monster, if you're still reading, those Turbine Pro Coppers are really, really nice.
Also, 3M has upwards of 10-point multitouch displays, but the 10-point is the one going out to consumers soon. They had a nice big one with 40 points, which was pretty cool.