CES has started. Tech mecca in the city of sin.

CES, the Consumer Electronic Show, is going on in Las Vegas. This is a yearly show during which electronics companies show off their wares that they will be debuting during the next year, hence the name.

This year, they seem to be focusing on more practical things this time around. HDTVs are getting bigger, better and coming with internet functionality. Blu Ray players are also getting into the internet connectivity game, especially those from LG. LG recently started a partnership with NetFlix to provide streaming to their players as well as to their TVs. The line between different mediums is coming down and I for one am excited about it.

I'm not moving to Australia

When it comes to the internet, it seems more and more like our friends down under have people in charge that either don't know or don't care how it works. From overly aggressive content filtering to low broadband speeds, I didn't think it could get any worse. They love to prove me wrong. They will now be starting trials to block all Bittorrent traffic to and from the nation continent.

Bittorrent is a protocol for transmitting data. Essentially, you have data broken up into pieces and sent to users. In turn, each user transmits a portion of the data to the next user and so on. It takes the strain of downloading a file and spreads it out over all the people downloading it. A very good method of transporting large files. Unfortunately, it has caught a bad rap because it has become the favorite tool for software and media pirates. Now, the knee jerk reaction for people ignorant of the technology is to marry the protocol with the illegal acts.

So the country of Australia now suffers from lack of knowledge their public servants have regarding the internet. I'm sorry for my friends over there. I can only hope that someone sets them right before the country is irreparbly damaged.

Windows XP lingers on

Looks like XP isn't going anywhere for a bit. It was supposed to have its run end on January 31st but will now be extended to May 30th (great day). Seeing as Windows Vista has had little to no market traction and with Windows 7 is coming out soon, I figure folks will just be upgrading directly to 7. I'm not so sure how much the netbook category will affect it. I will be curious to see how this all plays out.

Wii obtained

Thanks to dealspl.us and Amazon, I finally managed to get my hands on a Nintendo Wii for mom. Now I just have to resist telling her or playing with it before I give it to her.

Maybe I could get away with "testing" it...

Verizon LTE next year?

Verizon CTO Dick Lynch (yeah...) said yesterday that LTE, the next step in wireless broadband, will be starting service sometime next year. Of course, that allows them up to December 31st, 2009 to implement this, but I'm still happy to hear it. And they plan on using the 700 MHz broadcast band they purchased the rights to this year to do it. This will allow the signal to travel through buildings without much impedement.

I have been hoping for this kind widespread broadband connectivity for some time and it looks like 2009 is the year all this will come to fruition. And coupled with Clearwire's WiMAX and the proposed Wi-Fi from the FCC, it looks like there will be a good deal of choice. Now we just have to hope that these services will be competitive with each other pricewise.

Fingers crossed.

You're killing me, Nintendo!

A few months back, during a family gathering, my mom had her first encounter with the Nintendo Wii. The whole group ended up playing Wii Sports which amounted to me versus everyone else. My mom and I ended up bowling together and she got a real kick out of it. She's been talking about the Wii ever since. For some context, this is the person that thought my Dreamcast was "Dreamcatcher" and thought PlayStation was a Chuck E Cheese's competitor.

Needless to say, I was juiced that my mom liked a video game system, even if it was only the one game. So after she had independently brought it up on multiple occasions, I figure I have the perfect Christmas present lined up. Then started the near impossible mission of tracking one down.

It has been nearly 2 years since Nintendo released the Wii and I would have a much easier time tracking down Bigfoot than I would getting my hands on a Wii. I'm not discounting it's popularity, but this seemingly artificial scarcity is perplexing. Coupling that with the fact that most of the ones you can indeed buy are only available with a bundle makes for a much harder sell. Why spend $100 more on the bundle when the base system has just what I need?

I am not surrendering though. Thankfully, the parents are going to Barbados (I know, right?) and Christmas will be taking place in January. Plenty of time to track one down. I hope.

Alright Microsoft, it's time to step up.

The iPhone now has 16% of the smartphone market. They entered this industry a little under 2 years ago. You're going to have to wow us now. Don't keep bringing this miniaturized Windows experience that makes me want to throw a fit when I want to toggle Bluetooth on and off. And don't let HTC, an OEM, trump you on making your own UI useable.