Government Technology - April 2008 - (Page 38)

emerging tech Air Guitar Rocker If toy guitars and video games are too realistic for you, try the ultimate in air guitar accessories, Air Guitar Rocker. essentially weatherproof. As long as high definition isn’t a requirement, this little camera beats carrying around a handheld recorder. Depending on the model, buyers can expect to pay from $500 to $700. made up 99 percent of the international exhibitors. Row after row, they hawked low-cost power supply units, PC cases and Webcams, as well as components and cables of all varieties. There were also several children’s toys, some of which were genuinely terrifying. One was an iPod dock for tykes that comes in the form of a pig-insect hybrid mutant. With huge, black eyes and a glowing mouth, those not traumatized by the aesthetics could insert an iPod into its back and control the volume by touching the ears. By the time it was all over, attendees probably were glad to go back home where the people are few and the gadgets fewer. One of the most hilarious gadgets of CES came courtesy of the makers of the insanely popular Guitar Hero video game series. In Guitar Hero, players strum along to popular rock songs using a game controller that is a pseudo-guitar. Guitar Hero III is a bestseller, and developers gave their official backing to a product that made its debut at CES — Guitar Hero Air Guitar Rocker. Players now can pantomime their way to geek rockstardom using only a special bracelet and The War Is Over belt buckle with a builtThe format “war” between Blu-ray Disc in speaker. and HD DVD has Somewhere in the come to an end. In cavernous Las Vegas mid-February, HD DVD Convention Center was developer Toshiba the “international” part announced it would of CES, where goods withdraw its product from companies that from the market. lack a strong presence Analysts cite Blu-ray’s in the United States technical superiority, are showcased. After a support from thorough inspection, it Hollywood studios, and Sony’s PlayStation seemed China, South 3 as decisive factors. Korea and Taiwan CES is an exciting — and tiring — experience. coffin came when Warner Bros. announced it too would become Blu-ray exclusive after switching away from production of both formats. In February, Toshiba announced that it would cease production of HD DVD players. With their massive exhibition booths almost side by side, the Blu-ray camp was constantly abuzz with attendees, whereas the HD DVD display was a virtual ghost town. Many in the geek set decry both formats as obsolete in favor of streaming media, but the industry seems to acknowledge that slow consumer adoption means widespread application of streaming high-def content is a long way off. There were countless other devices at CES to take note of — home media servers, GPS devices and mostly useless robots — but high-definition technology ruled. From the monster displays at the Panasonic, Sharp and Sanyo booths to wireless HDTV sets for those who are fed up with a rat’s nest of cables, high definition truly defined the 2008 CES. APR_08 Another ubiquitous doodad was the personal video screen. Seemingly every sixth booth at CES had its own version of what was essentially a pair of glasses with built-in video screens and little speakers. Most accept inputs from a variety of sources, such as TVs, video game consoles, DVD players and video iPods. Some were of better quality than others, but most of them succeeded in giving the user an engrossing experience by simulating the sound and sight of a home theater. Perhaps the biggest story of CES was the latest development in the high-definition DVD format war. Though claiming only a sliver of the home video market, Toshiba’s HD DVD and Sony’s Blu-ray had battled for next-generation supremacy. Both formats offer beautiful images, but the higher-capacity Blu-ray disc held onto a commanding lead, thanks largely to the Sony PlayStation 3 video game console’s built-in Blu-ray player. Though more expensive to manufacture than an HD DVD, Blu-ray won exclusivity deals from a majority of Hollywood studios. A day prior to CES opening, what observers believed was the final nail in HD DVD’s Microsoft’s Surface technology is a touchscreen tabletop PC that users control with their hands and fingers. Perhaps the only real drawback to CES was its sheer size. A few days out of the office might seem like a good time, but it turned out to be more taxing than relaxing. The show required attendees to literally walk miles to take it all in. After a few seconds spent at one booth wondering, “What the heck is this thing they’re showing off?” it’s time to move on to the next gadget. The full four days wasn’t enough time to see all of CES, and at the end of the day, most people wearily trudged back to their hotel to reflect on the enormity of it all. CES was an exciting — and tiring — experience. By the time it was all over, attendees probably were glad to go back home where the people are few and the gadgets fewer. GT 38 http://www.govtech.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Government Technology - April 2008

Government Technology - April 2008 Contents Point of View Big Picture The Last Mile On the Scene Four Questions for... Freeze Frame How Safe Is Your Data? Easy Street Gadget Overload Indiana Overhaul First Person: A Better Bill Data Defense Strength in Numbers Public Storage Products Two Cents Spectrum Personal Computing signal:noise

Government Technology - April 2008

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