CES: More cool stuff

There's always some fantasy that turns into reality everyday. Those fantasies usually come first in a movie, and with passion do tech companies turn them into something that simply seems second nature. Today, we have yet another iconic gadget turned reality, and it's the Watch Phone, courtesy of LG.

While there have been watch phones in the past, they've been big and bulky and clearly have drowned from the public consciousness. With this watch phone, it's all different. It's sleek, it looks cool, and it just looks awesome.

I mean, I'm not gonna be first in line because simply putting a wristwatch onto your ear would look damn silly, but the features are simply as brilliant as Dick Tracy's. I mean, first you get a touch screen based interface, and then there's the phone part, of course, then there's the music player and hell, a camera (with megapixels that have yet to be determined)!

Additionally, for your text messages, the watch will read them out loud for you. It's not yet known whether there'll be a speakerphone, but I suggest getting a Bluetooth headset because it has a feature that even the iPhone doesn't even have: stereo Bluetooth!

That is awesome, but impractical.

So let's see some more practical stuff then- like the Samsung P3.

OK, maybe it's just a music player that is reminiscent of the iPod touch. It plays movies, music, and shows photos. But here are some things the iPod touch can't even have because it's in the iPhone (oh wait, the iPhone doesn't even have them either): stereo Bluetooth, FM radio, built-in voice recording, haptic feedback (the thing vibrates when you touch it), a great customizable widgets interface and wait for it- a frigging phone.

Technically, the P3 is not a phone. But here's the thing: if you go through a few menus and select Mobile Phone Bluetooth syncing, you don't even have to use your phone anymore. Instead, you can receive text messages and receive calls because the P3 has a built-in speaker and microphone. It's like the surrogate of your phone! But don't take my word for it, watch it in action.

Interested? Well, like the iPod touch, it'll max out with 32 GB of capacity with 4GB, 8GB, and 16GB capacities to choose from. Prices unknown as of now, though.

Not practical enough? Already have an iPod? Well, then I don't know... Let's just throw practicality out the window, and say hello to glasses-powered 3D gaming by nVidia.

The glasses aren't as geeky as the red-blue glasses of the 50's, and the feature is already compatible with several current-gen games. All you need, however, is a special monitor, I think. Just shell out for that and $199 for the nVidia kit, and you're all set for that 3D LAN party.

There are sliders everywhere so you can adjust several settings, too, but if you're interested in this, just remember the Virtual Boy.

Surprisingly enough, 199 US dollars is kind of inexpensive, but my hearing may be wrong.

Perhaps that thing is too cheap for you, and you want to hear something outrageous. Fine. I'll give it to you.

What's this? A picture frame? Nope, it's a portable Blu-ray player- the world's first.

You can swivel the screen to make it look like a frame or a laptop, and... there are connections on the side.

Panasonic managed to fit the power of Blu-ray into this thing, and it'll sell for 799 US dollars- equivalent to about 37627 Philippine pesos. OK, perhaps it's not THAT outrageous when you consider that it's a Blu-ray player, but think about it like this: it defeats the purpose of Blu-ray.

How? Well, it's like this: High-definition is made for big screen TV's, so being able to experience high definition is next to impossible in a portable device. In short, you're better off buying a significantly cheaper portable DVD player, as it's more practical, and you won't notice the difference at all.

That is unless the device can output to a TV. That changes everything.

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*If you've been tracking CES, you may ask: Where's the Sony VAIO Lifestyle PC? Well, that netbook is pretty lame in my eyes. Stylish, but lame, like the MacBook Air, only significantly harder to use. Seriously, would you like to squint while using Windows Vista AND get used to that really small joystick in replacement to the touchpad? I don't think so.

LA and Vegas

April 21, 2008 7:18AM Monday, Philippine time (April 20, 4:18PM Sunday, American time)

After almost 10 hours of delay, we finally got to board, and eventually depart, the HKIA. Well, the row we sat on still had no audio in its entertainment system, so we had to deal with the boredom by reading (I read Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere) then watching a foreign film with English subtitles (Julian Schnabel's The Diving Bell and the Butterfly- a great movie).

Anyway, when we finally got down to the Los Angeles Airport (LAX), we had to walk down a series of non-working walkalators and wait a line to go to the baggage claim (because we had to put fingerprints and take a picture as stated by US Aviation Law). We then had the chance to get out of the inspection stages and look for a ride to our hotel. After an hour in a car, we got to the Lincoln Plaza Hotel. It was already 2am American time by then.

Hours later, we woke up to eat a very, very light breakfast and go to our bus to go to Las Vegas.

Actually, I've just arrived in Vegas and we're gonna be waiting for 6:30pm American time so that we can tour the casinos. Unluckily, the Wi-fi here (4 Queens hotel) is not free unlike in Lincoln Plaza so this post, for most of the 3 days we're staying in Vegas, will be long and filled with the word "UPDATE". Photos will be added in 3 days.

UPDATE
The Casino Tour (April 20/21, 2008 American/Philippine time)
Ever watched the original CSI? How 'bout the crappy Nicholas Cage movie Next? Well, you'll probably notice backdrops of Las Vegas being shown, and we're going to the places found in the backdrops. We went to Treasure Island to see the show Sirens of TI but to no avail because of windy weather, we went to the Tropicana to shoot some pics, we drove through New York New York to see the replica of the Statue of Liberty, the Mafia-owned Flamingo and came in the Wynn and the Venetian (the same as the Venetian in Macau, only classier) with their multi-million real flower gardens and greenhouses and faux Victorian villages. Lastly, we went to the Belagio to look at the famous and beautiful water fountain show. We got back to the hotel at about 10:40pm American time, and watched TV then slept.

April 22, 2008 Tuesday, Philippine time (April 21, 2008 Monday, American time)
We had to wake up early and catch up with the bus for Grand Canyon, Arizona but we weren't gonna stay overnight there despite the long drive. However, we first went to see North America's largest man-made lake which has a name I forgot. This lake connects to the Colorado river (I think) which is located near the Hoover Dam which is also a sort of boundary between the state of Nevada and Arizona. We didn't stay in Hoover Dam for long, just 10 minutes so we can pee and take pictures. It is actually notable for being the shooting spot for 007: Goldeneye as well as last year's blockbuster Transformers. It may seem old because it is, but it's still enough to make a futuristic robot movie!

Anyway, after a long ride in the bus again, we got down in the desert full of Joshua trees to ride yet another kind of bus- an Indian bus. No, not the Indian living in India, but the Indians in Pocahontas. You see, the West Grand Canyon is also the home of the so-called Hualapai tribe and is powered by solar energy because of their lack of resources. But this isn't important now, is it?

There were 3 designated points in the area: Point A, the gift shop; Point B, the Eagle Point; and Point C, the I-Forgot-Point. We didn't do much in Point A, so after riding the bus to Point B, that was when amazement was evident in the big crowd. Why? It seems that Mother Nature's carving of the American eagle is just damn amazing and it took 9 million years, too. After that, we went to the Skywalk which is basically a transparent platform that enables people to see the view of the Grand Canyon below. Cameras, cellphones, backpacks, anything couldn't be brought because the staff at the Skywalk itself are the ones in charge of the pictures. It's a bit expensive, especially the 100 dollar USB disk package thingy, but what the hell, you only live once.

We did nothing in Point C as well except wait for my sister and mother to scan the jewelry being sold there. Afterwards, we ate in Point B adjacent to the dancing Indians.

"Time for the Friendship dance! Ouuwahwahkeeeeeeeehhhhhhhhh!"

After eating, we went back to Point A, played DS 'till 2;00 and rode the bus back to Vegas. We got back at 5 and we instantly ate downstairs in our hotel, the Four Queens hotel, in a pizza place. The oil in that thing will just make you puke, though.

6:00 and we went out to wait for the bus to take us to Planet Hollywood so that we can watch Steve Wyzick's Real Magic. I guess watching magicians in the act live is different from that on TV, obviously, and it's great. It's definitely great for the kiddies (my little brother's still talking about it!) and it's entertainment for adults either for the mild sexual innuendo in the jokes or for the ladies wearing short, short skirts and barely concealing tops.

The show finished at 8:30 and we got back to the hotel by 9. But before that, we finally got to see the Fremont Street Experience which is basically a blatant ad for LG Electronics. But still, I gotta admit, who knew a ceiling with hidden lights could do that. It's not that much of a must-see, but if you're in Fremont Street, it's free. After that, we came in a gift shop nearby to find some jerky because my brother's godmother told us it was delicious, but we couldn't find that specific, so-called Las Vegas Jerky. It wasn't especially helpful when the Chinese tour guide simply laughed at our question though. Still, we tried some branded spicy jerky that was terrible.

We watched CSI: Miami, looked up what the time for American Idol would be the following day and watched the news. We slept afterwards.

APRIL 23, 2008 Wednesday 2:22AM, Philippine time (April 22, 2008 Tuesday 11:22AM)
I woke up at 6:30 and watched Good Morning America in ABC. After taking a shower, me, my dad and mom went out to walk and explore Fremont Street and buy breakfast in McDonald's. After eating, we went down to get in the bus and went to Tropicana Casino to pee. An hour later, we went back to the bus, and now we're riding towards LA. So yeah, we're going back to Lincoln Hotel Plaza to rest up for the big day tomorrow. But I'm getting way ahead of myself now because we're still in the bus, watching Live Free and Die Hard. So for now, I leave you... that is after I charge this thing.  

The Underdogs

The mass consumer market will probably have had at least one of these products already: an iPod, a Windows PC or a Nokia phone, so they tend to ignore other alternatives and patronize these stuff. This is where this post comes in. Don't get me wrong 'coz I also own all of these stuff but it isn't very wrong to deviate from them every once in a while...

IN THE SOFTWARE DEPARTMENT:
Browser
We all know Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox, but do you know Opera? I've been using it in my computer ever since I've found about its existence on the mobile phone, then on the computer. It's quick, it's lightweight and it saves your last session automatically (you can turn that off though) as you click that red exit button. It's pretty convenient especially when installing browser plug-ins like Flash, etc.. In the mobile phone, it uses a pointer in its beta and is more cost-efficient for your data plans because it shrinks a website to a more mobile version and you can just magnify it. This all happens because of its special rendering engine which is fast to boot! The experience is almost comparable to Apple's Safari Mobile! Nintendo also uses this browser in the Nintendo DS and Wii but come at a price. Other iterations (mobile and computer) are free and have support for multiple platforms and phone models (almost all). The only problem I have with Opera is filling "forms" such as creating a new blog post or "about me spaces". The HTML goes haywire for reasons I don't know. This is probably a factor that made users elude this great browser.

Operating System
The ever-present operating system Windows is waning in terms of user count while Apple is once again gearing up for another Mac OS X release named Leopard. But have you ever heard of Ubuntu?

It's fast, it's downloadable, it fits into an CD (the download will be less than 700MB) and most of all, it's FREE! Since Free Open-Source Software (FOSS) is being heavily endorsed by different institutions, especially to the government, why not help advocate the movement by getting this freely distributable operating system? You can install it on your PC, Mac or even a PS3!

A con here is that Linux, where ubuntu is based, in general is strictly business or everyday surfing (sans Adobe Flash, but there's a workaround). This is probably one of the reasons why people don't really use this very flexible and formidable platform. Heck, a distribution of Linux can even fit in a 64MB flash drive and have some space left! (It's called Damn Small Linux.) For now, Ubuntu, though large after installation (4GB) is already small compared to Vista (10GB) and is the most used free Linux distribution around the world. You can download a free NEW version in tomorrow (as of this writing). You'll most probably need a download manager though.

Media Player

You probably know what the heck a program called iTunes already is. Wanna get out of that large base it has? Download.com recommends WinAmp and VLC Media Player. Personally, I recommend RealPlayer due to the built-in YouTube/web video grabbing function and its function to play most video formats (now including Flash video, of course.). For in-demand streaming web videos or pre-downloaded trailers, Quicktime is the way to go.

IN THE MP3 Player DEPARTMENT:

Ah, the ever ubiquitous iPod has now become

reversible with the term "MP3". But several so-called "iPod killers" have emerged and is competing against the giant in unfortunate futility especially since they have features that have the potential to topple Apple with these features. But as sales and the new Touch can testify, this won't be happening anytime soon. But if ever you are one to NOT be in desire of joining the hugely bloated bandwagon, other brands will gladly cater different features to you.

Microsoft's Zune can actually be a great example. You can synchronize music through

Wi-Fi and share music to other Zunes (but it has restrictions). Sadly, many people do not own Zunes due to a few reasons like the Microsoft brand itself, etc. That's why there is also another

wonder called the Sansa Clip. It features a great sound quality, huge file format support and great value in an inexpensive package to boot!

If you don't want the iPod Touch, there's also a Samsung YP-P2 tha

t offers the same thing (and more) in a similarly sexy package. No Safari though.

(PICTURE CAPTION: The Samsung YP-P2)

Cellphone

Nokia is the norm for almost everyone today, but Sony Ericsson (with Walkman phones) and Motorola (the RAZRs) are quickly catching up. Aside from them, there are other brands caught in this crossfire. Most notably, LG. It has a new 3G For All phone which is cheaper than other phones but provide the same features so anyone can experience mobile internet which claims to be at DSL speed as well as video call other people. Another commonly ignored/unknown phone brand is the Dopod which boasts of a myriad of features as a smartphone in a relatively light, cool-looking package.

Gaming Consoles

The Wii and the XBox 360 are the ones that are really racing for the title of Winner in this new generation of the console wars, therefore rendering the PS3 the underdog of this pack. I don't wholeheartedly recommend buying it since it's too rich for anyone's blood despite the many, many, many price drops and pull-outs made by Sony. Still, the tables may turn when the price point of the PS3 reaches to the very affordable scale but it has to contend with the Wii60 combination first. It does have some decent games and a few exclusives coming out next year like Final Fantasy, et al.