LIVEdigitally

Category Archives: General

I Dugg something: Borat is the new Mahir!

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Jason Calacanis wrote a simple post with a picture of Mahir, and it reminded me how much the “Mahir craze” had me going.  I had Mahir wallpaper, burned a Mahir CD, and even had a Mahir lunchbox.  No, not really on the last one, but I did think it was utterly hysterical and recall laughing to the point of crying over and over again.  Thanks for the reminder, Jason.

ps – this is my second foray at Digging something.  Am I a Top Digger yet?

pps – was I supposed to use Netscape instead of Digg?  Does it matter?

links for 2006-10-26

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Gadget Search: Testing Google Co-op

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For those of you who live in caves, up on trees, or under rocks, Google launched a Custom Search feature this past week (lots more coverage here). The basic concept is this: anyone can go to Google co-op, login, and create a new custom search with their own favorite sites and some predefined search categories (called refinements).  So here’s the LD Gadget Search:

Try searching for some kind of, well, gadget.  Go ahead, it won’t hurt.

Ok, if you don’t want to do so, I’ve gone ahead and done some searches to try it out.

For my first test, I tried PPC as my search term.  In gadgetland, we know PPC means PocketPC (search results here), but check out if you search for PPC in all of Google.  Pilgrims Pride??

Second try, searching for the Slingbox.  LD Gadget vs Google general.  Well, in this case the search sites are basically news/reviews/blogs/pricing sites, and don’t include any manufacturers, so my custom search did not outperform the generic one.

Third test, searching for iPod prices.  I used the ‘Prices’ refinement (which I built with a few comparison and shopping sites) to get these results, versus searching for ipod prices on Google.  I think my customization here gave significantly worse results, and will need to go see if its something I should do different (bad grammar out of courtesy to the Apple marketing department).

Fourth up, looking for Zune news.  I figured I’d try a hot term, and built a ‘news’ refinement (results here) to compare against Google.  Now these results are quite interesting, as the generic search surfaced the dozens of new Zune news sites which have popped up.  Personally, I prefered the custom results, as I am more interested in Engadget’s update than I am in adding ZuneNation to my news sources (no offense or anything to that site, I just don’t feel like adding more sites to my already overlong bookmarks and links lists).

I’ll keep working on the LD Gadget Search to see if I can make it a really useful resource over time.  In the meantime, please feel free to add any suggestions to the implementation.  Also, in the very nature of the “co-op” it’s easy to have additional folks come in and edit the sites and settings, so come on in, the water’s fine!

links for 2006-10-25

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Do you Need HDTV? Absofreakinglutely!

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I was perusing Dave Zatz’ site this morning and noticed his new contributor Mari (congrats!) mused on HDTV with the post “Does Mari Need HD?”

I’ve had a DVR for five years now, but I still haven’t picked up an HDTV. Honestly, I have trouble believing I need it and trouble believing it will make that much of a difference in my TV-watching career. Which is why Dave Winer’s recent commentary got my attention: He didn’t offer any great new analysis, but he proclaimed HD is “a life-changer.”

JT HDTV (4)I couldn’t agree more.  But I somewhat understand Mari here, because I feel there’s a big “my living room effect” that needs to occur before you can really understand how much you need it.  Especially as all the HD tech can be confusing – plasma or DLP or LCD?  HDMI or Component video?  Cable vs OTA vs Satellite – blech, that’s a lot to learn about and even then you have to go throw down about $1500 to really get started.  I did write a post to help explain HDTV technology, but I acknowledge the buying process is still much more painful than it should be.I’ve watched HDTV demos at shows like CES and CEDIA for the past 7 or 8 years.  Cool.  Beautiful looking.  I’ve been to the headquarters of companies such as Sony and Pioneer in Japan, saw the state of the art displays and sound demonstrations.  Awe-inspiring stuff.  I’ve walked the aisles of Best Buy seeing all the maxed-out brightness on display.  Very very nice.

And then I had a moment where I was able to get a 32″ LCD extremely cheaply, and I took the plunge.  A week later and I’m watching my Syntax Olevia set connected to my Motorola DCT 6412 dual-tuner HDTV DVR.  And I’m transported into a new state of TV. During hockey, I can see all the game.  The nature shows on Discover HD are unbelievable.  Regular dramas look like movies.  Here are some of my quick pictures of my setup, and here are a few from my friend Dave.

To be clear: ALL HDTV looks better than ALL REGULAR DVDs (and HD-DVD/BluRay look about equivalent).  So when ABC aired Pirates of the Caribbean a few weeks ago, it looked better than the picture of the DVD, even on my upscaling Samsung DVD player.

The entire quality of the experience is so much better that standard definition TV is becoming harder and harder to watch.  I actually started dropping shows from my DVR’s subscription list just because they weren’t broadcast in HD!  I have about 20 channels today, of which 3 were added in the past few months, and I’ve been told more are coming soon.  Also, HD is going to be one of those driving factors as to why TV still has a bit of a pulse, as opposed to those who think it’s dead.

JT HDTV (2)Watching HDTV is like putting on glasses when you need them.  Would you take your glasses off while driving down the street?  Doubtful, but you might not have realized you need to wear them.Ultimately, I think the biggest way people get won over to HD is not by reading posts like this, but by being in someone’s house and watching it.  Not just that it’s on the in background, but watched.  So Mari (and other nonbelievers), pick your favorite “mainstream” show (CSI, Grey’s, Heroes, etc) and for the next two weeks, try to find a friend who has HDTV and watch it with them. 

That just might help you find the need for the glasses.

Checking out at shop.org

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While in New York a couple of weeks ago, I had a chance to spend a part of my day at the shop.org Annual Summit.  The event brings all the latest e-commerce technology vendors and thought leaders together to help online retailers advance their wares.

IMG_0892Like any good tradeshow, the show floor was full of many many wonderful vendors showing many many wonderful goods and services.  And free pens, notepads, t-shirts, and squeezie toys.  Some of the companies I had heard of before (Commission Junction, eBay, ShopZilla, Shopping.com), and a few I hadn’t heard of.  So I talked to them to learn more about how the face of online shopping is changing.

IMG_0875IMG_0876IMG_0893IMG_0891IMG_0880IMG_0881IMG_0884IMG_0894IMG_0895

IMG_0878First up was Nielsen//Net Ratings, who showed me their MegaPanel product (here’s a PDF version of their brochure).  The company is taking their tried and true practice of getting a panel of users and tracking their behaviors.  In this case, the panelists install a piece of software which is able to detect activities spent at online retailers.  According to the booth rep, the system then tracks users as they visit sites, add products to their shopping carts, and check out.  It also tracks various referral networks at the same time, so a vendor, say Amazon.com, can get a better sense of how good a job their Google AdWords are doing.  Seems like a pretty good service for an etailer to try out.

IMG_0882Next up was inQ.com, whose motto is “put salespeople on your website” and guess what they do?  They have a simple script that a vendor can add to their site that allows for chatting during the shopping experience.  The product is called chatCommerce, and their key value-adds are (1) they customize the interface to blend in relatively inobtrusively with the Web site, and (2) they do all the work.  It’s their sales team that get trained on the company’s products, and are responsible for helping close sales.   The company representative I spoke with said that vendors are seeing a 20% bump in sales, and the best part is, the companies only pay out based on additional sales as a result of the chat sessions. 

IMG_0883The next vendor I spoke with is myRichFX, who have a catalog of products that help get catalogs online.  Basically if a company has a huge inventory of different products, say Disney, it can be a challenge to create a very rich, visual experience for consumers to browse their online catalog.  The company’s solution has a variety of different components, which surfaces to the end-user as a flash-based environment with a wide variety of interactive ways to surf through the catalog.  I saw a few demos, but you can check out what they did for the NHL here (big surprise that I’d pick the hockey-related demo, eh?). The company has dealt with projects from 60 to 6000 pages, and also has some B2B offerings in the mix.

IMG_0885Next up was TheFind.com, a Web 2.0 venture for helping customers find product information.  During the demo I saw, the demo dude and I tried a few different searches, including my wife’s Cocoa Nuts and the Slingbox. One did fairly better than the other. While the site used all the latest and greatest Web 2.0 technologies (rounded corners, AJAX widgets, and the site is of course in beta), I struggle to see how this is much better than, say, Amazon.com.  When I asked that exact question, I was told the results are broader, deeper, and generally better, but I don’t think that’s enough for me.  I think the reality of the service is it’s better for products that Amazon doesn’t carry, because their ability to crawl the net seems very impressive.  Either way, I do agree that the overall online shopping experience still has a long way to go, so we’ll wait and see how TheFind does over time.

IMG_0886A mere three booths away from onQ.com was LIVEperson (love that name and font treatment!).  The two companies are competitors in the same area of adding live chat to the sales experience, but instead of effectively outsourcing the sale, LIVEperson provides a technology platform that they license to vendors.  I must say I like both models and think there is plenty of opportunity for both companies.  I think it comes down to the type of product and/or service a vendor is looking to sell – in some cases having 3rd-party salespeople works great, in others it doesn’t.  As a good friend of mine often says: that’s why there is chocolate and vanilla.

IMG_0887I really like the business model over at hitwise, because it’s so simple:

  1. Build a great technology platform for competitive intelligence
  2. Show a company their competitors’ information
  3. Go to that company’s competitors, show that they are using their platform
  4. Repeat step 2 above ad infinitum
  5. Rule the world

Plus I like the slogan “data is the new black.”

IMG_0889A gentleman was there from Google Checkout, showing how they fit into the grand scheme of e-commerce.  I mentioned to him that my wife had tried taking a look into the service, but really couldn’t figure out how to get up and running and what the service offering was.  Unfortunately, rather than acknowledge a problem with how they position and market the service, he seemed to have an “oh well” kind of attitude.  I’ve been told this is just the “Google way” which I find disappointing.  I’m sure Google Checkout is doing just fine, but I’ll wager it could do even better if they were to take the time to find out why they aren’t getting even more traction.

IMG_0888ShopLocal was demonstrating their newest product, SmartMedia (can’t find any links on it on their site, sorry).  SmartMedia is effectively “like a print ad insert” made available as a banner ad (or other formats as well) on a Web site.  When you hover your mouse over a SmartMedia ad, it’ll show you the products on sale in your local stores, as opposed to online.  Also, it can be combined with both offline and online promotions, in order to bridge the gap of seeing ads in one place, but not being able to act upon them until you are elsewhere.  Interesting concept, I could see it being useful for items you want to have now.  Why wait for UPS when you can drive to the local CompUSA…

IMG_0890Last up was PowerReviews, a company providing a platform for outsourcing consumer-to-consumer product opinions and reviews. I’m a huge fan of peer-based product reviews, I think they are almost as strong a factor in consumer buying behaviors as professional reviews are.  I know I check the stars on Amazon before buying anything, and also pay attention when on Travelocity or CitySearch as well.  With the PowerReviews system, any site can turn on end-user reviews, and the content gets deployed not just at the target site, but also on their own user community.  Nice concept, I hope to see it take off.

Looks like there’s a lot of energy into improving the online shopping experience.  Other companies presenting at the show had services ranging from video search to virtual models (for seeing how big your virtual butt looks in those pants) to search engine optimization services.  Lots of those last ones.  Interesting show, I’m looking forward to seeing which of these new technologies get deployed, and which ones power the next boo.com.

Thoughts on Fall TV 2006 – when did TV get this good?

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For the past three years, my wife and I approach each Fall season with one thought in mind: let’s try not to pick up any new shows.  We have a DVR (Comcast HD – Motorola DCT6412), and have a dozen or so subscriptions, and we just don’t want to spend more time in front of the set than we already do.  Well, the Fall lineup appeared, and with it came a decent set of new shows.

Let’s start with last years’ subscriptions (not necessarily in priority order):

  • Saturday Night Live – sure, it’s 90 minutes, but with a DVR, it’s really about 25 minutes total
  • Grey’s Anatomy – not my pick, but the wife and all the friends love it
  • House – I can’t get enough of the “mysterious ailment drives patient into hospital, doctors wittily convince House to take the case, initial obvious treatment appears to work but almost kills the patient, side antics with some moron with a sexually-related issue that’s instantly solved in a derisive manner, main patient approaches death, inter-doctor conflict ensues, then 6 minutes before the end of the episode House stumbles upon the solution, fade out to cool classic rock music.”  Yeah, it’s formulaic, but I like it.
  • Boston Legal – Shatner and Spader. Nuff said
  • Criminal Minds – This is one of the shows I like to have on the DVR to watch via Slingbox when travelling.
  • The Apprentice – Its our guilty pleasure.  Each year since the first we keep meaning to remove it from the list, but somehow it never disappears.  Plus I auditioned for it once – yeah, it’s true, I admit it.
  • Scrubs – Great show with very underrated writing.
  • Globe Trekker – Nice to see the world we live in, even if it’s not in HD (Equator on Discovery Channel may replace it soon)
  • World Poker Tour – I still like watching TV poker, but this is the only one whose reporting is tolerable (can someone PLEASE replace the WSOP guys, they’re just horrid)
  • My Name Is Earl – Best new show from last year, Jason Lee has found his calling.  Unfortunately it’s a scummy guy-turned ethical, but he’s darn good at it.
  • The Office – Loved the BBC version.  Hated Season One.  Now it’s the best comedy on TV.
  • 30 Days – Of the whole list, this is the one I’d call a must-watch.  Morgan Spurlock’s “reality” show pitting individuals against very alienating situations is very eye-opening.
  • Arrested Development – So good I still watch it. Seen every episode. Willing to see them all again. 
  • Simpsons – It’s really here for nostalgic purposes, as it’s been lousy for a few years running.  I figure the whole season has about enough material for two entire episodes these days.
  • Family Guy – Not as good as the first two years, but has more individual LOL moments than anything else I watch.  Although I didn’t appreciate the so-called “Season Finale” last year, which was really just the Stewie movie divided into three parts.

See, it’s a long list!  Granted, a few of the shows (WPT, Simpsons, SNL) I/we don’t care if they get wiped when the DVR runs out of space, but there’s still just way too much television there. And, yes, there are new ones this year:

  • Psych – I really enjoyed Monk for a year or two before I got tired of the same routine (although Tony Shalhoub is just great). I find Psych is kind of a “Monk 2.0” with a different type of quirkiness.  Fun show that doesn’t take itself too seriously, and has some clever moments.  Especially the musical numbers during the closing credits.
  • Studio 60 – It’s good, but not as great as we all want it to be.  The pilot was excellent, but it’s been a few notches below ever since.  Amanda Peet is completely unbelievable in her role, and we need to see a lot more of Timothy Busfield and a lot less Steven Weber.  But I’ll keep a-watching for now.
  • Standoff – The interaction between the couple is a wee bit, shall we say, nauseating, but everything else about the show is great.  I doubt it’ll make it, but I hope it stays alive.
  • Heroes – The best show on television today.  It’s like X-men lite.  Or a more serious Greatest American Hero.  Or Lost without an ever-expanding mystery (nope, I don’t watch Lost.  Why?  Well, I got burned by Twin Peaks, of which I was a huge fan back in the day.  When I have positive confirmation that the entire Lost storyline will make it to air, then I’ll go back and catch up with the DVDs.  Until then, I wait for the mist to clear up a bit).  Actually, it’s not like any of those – it is a truly unclassifiable show. I’d watch it for two hours a week if they’d make it that long. Other than a tiny bit of overacting by a few of the actors, it’s great. If you don’t watch Heroes yet, you are missing out.  It is the best show on television today.

That’s my list or now.  I watched two episodes of 30 Rock and I can’t figure out how such a good premise and cast can be so lame.  Twenty Good Years didn’t even have Twenty Good Minutes, and I felt like Tambor and Lithgow must’ve cringed every time they heard the embarrassing laugh track.  Didn’t want to bother with Brothers & Sisters, or Six Degrees, or The Nine – I hear they are okay, but I’m just saturated in each category they target.

UPDATED: for an excellent counterpoint on the health/quality of TV today, check out Steve Gillmor’s “TV is Dead” post.

Carnegie Mellon turns planes into boxes

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I am a proud CMU alumnus. When I was there, I always had the sense that I was surrounded by incredibly smart people. Engineers, mathematicians, economists, heck, even the drama students do great things (especially my bud Adam Donshik).

I was browsing YouTube’s popular videos today, and in between clips from Saturday Night Live, the Daily Show, and Mentos funniness, I noticed this amazing video of a system generating 3D images from 2D photographs. I must say, it’s much cooler than being responsible for the emoticon!

Help your USB key find its way home

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Aside from the occasional digital camera, I rarely lose stuff.  Granted, I have a pile or two of gadgets that have misplaced power adapters (why is it so out of line for companies to label AC transformers?  it doesn’t really cost much more, and it’s such a nice touch), but for the most part, I have a controlled mess.  But when I read an article today on how to place a “warning” on a USB drive, I thought it was a brilliant idea.  It’s got a little “geek-speak” but the directions are straightforward enough.

Although if I were doing it, I’d probably try to find a way to get a picture of my face in the warning dialog.  I think the personal touch is more likely to evoke a response from people.

I think it’d be a nice idea for someone (Google) to use some of their (Google) ridiculous amounts of online storage (Google) to create a virtual “lost and found data” service.  Ideally, it would let people post a “lost USB drive, really need the spreadsheets” or “stolen laptop, please upload pictures” message, and others could anonymously post the data.  After my friend Brad’s laptop was recently stolen (not to mention my digital camera!), I firmly believe the bits and bytes are worth more than the components themselves.  The site could even have bounties (via Paypal or other) to really incent people to use it (since good will seems harder and harder to come by).

Anyone know of such a service?  Think these guys would be up for it? If not, anyone want to start one?

Careershifting

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After two (and a bit) great years, I’ve decided to throw my virtual hat into the ring (is that the right euphemism?  I don’t usually get them right), and am leaving Sling Media.  It was an excellent run and experience there, and I know the company is going to continue to build great products long into the future.  I still recall the day Blake called me up, and insisted we go for a lunch.  When he showed me his TiVo being placeshifted to his laptop (with “duh-doo!” full sound effects and everything) I knew there was no way I’d turn down the opportunity to be involved with the exciting venture.

Building a SlingboxIn my time at the company I’ve learned a lot and been exposed to quite a few new experiences.  I joined Sling Media initially as its VP of Product Management, and had the opportunity to work with an all-star engineering team to bring the Slingbox from prototype (something Blake and his brother Jason Macgyvered up in their homes) to a market-ready product.  The biggest challenge of course was making the PC software (we call it a SlingPlayer) as easy to use as possible. As you know, the Slingbox was incredibly well received by both press and consumers, which was a great “reward” for all of us.  My next challenge was working with the team to help design and build the SlingPlayer Mobile software, taking all the rich PC experiences and bringing them to a 2-inch screen.  Again, I think the company knocked it out of the park with the finished product.

JT at CESIn my second role at the company (as VP of Market Development), I was thrust into the lion’s den, responsible for customer interaction at the SlingCommunity user discussion forums, as well as working with bloggers, press and media.  Some called me the “Slingvangelist” and a role that could probably be a nightmare for some was a very fun and rewarding experience for me.  I like to think that I learned how to be both thin- and thick-skinned all at the same time – where you take everything personally, but then don’t let it stop you from doing the right thing when you need to.

In the roles above, I feel I learned and accomplished a tremendous amount.  But I’m also one of those people who needs to keep learning and facing new challenges.  So it’s with extremely mixed emotions that I have decided to move on to seek out those new challenges.  I am leaving on great terms with Sling Media, and know they are going to continue to lead the industry in digital media convergence and placeshifting technologies.

JTI am not exactly sure where I’ll end up next, I’m going to spend much of this month (and possibly next) looking around for what I most want to pursue.  I have a few opportunities to consider (and in a bizarre coincidence, they are all exciting already), but in the meantime I’ll do a little consulting (still paying the San Francisco rent), and you can expect to see a lot more activity here on the blog! 

I’ll be updating my bio shortly, and my Ether line is already up and running.

Interview with On10

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Tina Wood from Microsoft video blog network, On10.net, was down in the Bay Area a couple of weeks back, and got a chance to come see Sling Media HQ.  While visiting, we did a pair of interviews, and I think they came out really nicely.  Here’s part 1 and part 2 of the videos online.  Check me out in all my bearded glory, but be warned – it’s a total of about 15 minutes of me yammering away!

My So-Called Digital Life

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Javits CenterFinally!  I’ve wanted to use that subject line since I started the blog (yeah, I know others have used it too, but I discovered that after the fact)!  Well, I made it to the Digital Life show in New York City this week, took a few pics, and here’s the report…

The show opened on Thursday, and even before the doors opened, a huge line built for people who really wanted to get in.  This topic will come up a few times, but I think a lot of industry people miss the fact that this is an Waiting in line to get in...exciting show for consumers. Quite a few of my colleagues mentioned to me they didn’t see anything new, or there wasn’t much exciting gadgetry on display, but they forget that the average person out there does not see nearly the same stuff people like me get to see.  Show someone an HTC Excalibur (T-Mobile Dash) and they typically ask what is that???  I’ve read about it for months, and started using one weeks ago.  That’s what makes Digital Life fun – you get to see consumers’ reactions to the same technology that’s become almost mundane for us industry types.

That said, I personally wasn’t over-the-top excited as Barry Myers (the big brains behind the show) wished Sonic the Hedgehog a “Happy 15th Birthday” but a lot of the kids around sure got a kick out of it.  Sonic’s aging well, by the way, doesn’t look a day over 12.

 Barry Myers wishing Sonic a happy 15th birthday Sonic at 15

Video game tournaments aboundThe show was large (not CEDIA-large, but large enough), about 2/3 of the floor was dedicated to booths, the other 1/3 for gaming tournaments. Looked like the kids were really enjoying the gaming, again my assumption is that this was one of the first times most people actually got to play Xbox 360 in high-def (well, other than those in debt of course) or see the PS3 in person.  I even saw an area for “amateur” gaming, but judging by my ridiculously poor performance in Halo 2 against my 11-year-old cousin, I ran for the hills.

DigitalLife show floor DigitalLife show floor Boost Mobile lounge DDR Gamers!

Toshiba boothMany larger companies had booths, including Intel, Microsoft, HP, Alienware, Toshiba, Best Buy, etc.  It’s interesting to watch these companies try to learn and react to Digital Life in their attempts to build the right booths.  Toshiba’s booth looked like the same thing they use for CES, with the addition of a “Deal or No Deal” game (called “Mobile or No Mobile”), and Intel’s booth was all about futuristic tech.  AMD had The Quadfather (ugh – come on AMD, we like you and root for you, but nobody wants puns!), and HP had some medley of printers, displays, and pink stuff. I think Microsoft did a great job at showing off the two things the average show attendee was likely most interested in: XBox and Vista.  Sure they had some other demos incorporated as well, but the messaging was clearly consumer-driven.  Good job there.

AMD: The Quadfather U3 booth - Got Cash? EtchAMac EtchAMac Alienware Booth Namco booth Mr and Mrs Pac-man Mobile Super Pac-Man PlayStation 3 demos Jason Mewes at AlienwareGyration booth

Some of my booth/visit highlights:

  • WowWee boothWowWee (the makers of the Robosapien product line) had a simple booth showing the robots in all their AI glory.  I really like this company, and am looking forward to seeing how they expand their product line next year. 
  • PC-BOT from White Box RoboticsWhite Box Robotics was located in the Ziff-Davis “digital lounge” where they were showing their $5000 “PC-BOT.”  My friend Steven Jones (from TechLore/Capable) thinks it’s a wonderful idea, but I’m mixed.  There’s clearly no consumer application here, so we’ve got to look at it as an industrial device.  I just don’t see why I need a “robot” that is really a computer on wheels with some sensors when I can diversify that into one computer (or even more than one) and distributed sensors and networked cameras.  With the “robot” approach, I have a very expensive thing to fix when it breaks, when it’s diversified I can cheaply and easily replace broken modules.  But maybe I’m not seeing the bigger picture here, any comments on this from the peeps out there?
  • Waterproof UT Starcom phoneUT Starcom was, unfortunately, not showing the SMT5800, but they did have this waterproof cell phone instead.  Meh.  I guess it’s good for all those people who keep dropping their phones in the toilet, or maybe my friend Ben who thinks his phone is a good baby chew toy…
  • Slappa DJ CD caseSlappa showed all their awesome CD/DVD cases and laptop bags.  I really like this company and think they make some of the best products in both categories.  Got a chance to talk to them, nice people.  Check out their latest entry, a CD case specifically designed for DJ’s (not 100% sure if that link is right).  Want to know why it’s smart/cool?  They worked with DJ’s to design it.  It’s super easy to design products in a vacuum (Sony Network Walkman, hello?), and I respect the smart companies who understand their customers and target markets.
  • Mio DigiWalkerMio Technology showed a few of their “Digital Walkers” – GPS systems with a few extra frills.  I like the user interface and the well-done integration with Windows Mobile, but (as I mentioned to their reps), I really want to see them throw the whole phone integration in place.  Even as an unlocked GPRS phone, they could get a lot of traction in an HTC/Imate-like approach to the world.  Keep an eye on em (although since I still haven’t played with one, my Garmin Nuvi 350 is still my personal pick).

Sony ReaderMy personal “best in show” pick absolutely goes to the Sony Reader product.  Now I’m not saying to rush out and buy one yet, as I haven’t used it personally, but it is just soooo pretty.  Their user interface is a bit clunky (which, being a Sony product, might be a little redundant), and the buttons don’t feel right, but the size and screen are otherwise perfect.  It’s light-weight enough to hold comfortably, but I would love to see them add a simple strap on the back to easily keep it in your hand (would be very helpful for the people I know who fall asleep while reading).  Most important is the screen – it looks like paper.  It might be a generation or two until the product really works as it should (tbd), but it’s an amazing thing to see.

Sony Reader  Sony Reader Sony Reader

Michael Gartenberg being interviewedMy last batch of pictures are all a little more personal… First, Michael Gartenberg gets interviewed where he is most likely prognosticating on gadgets, gizmos, and whatnots.  I didn’t see the taping, but I’ve got to assume he received no fewer than 7 calls on his 3 phones during the 5 minute shoot.

Digeo box and Slingbox PRO on demoNext there were a couple of Slingbox demos.  First, we had the Slingbox PRO on display in the ZD digital lounge (hooked up to a new Digeo Moxi box).  Also I spent some time with Matt Whitlock (from SlingCommunity and TechLore) who interviewed Brian Jaquet (Sling Media’s Director of PR) about the upcoming SlingPlayer Mac software.

Matt Whitlock interviewing Brian Jaquet Brian Jaquet showing SlingPlayer Mac

Dave Zatz and his groupiesI also got to walk around with Dave Zatz for a bit (read his moblog of the show here). Highlight moment was goign to the iBloks booth, where we watched a couple of go-go dancers shaking their stuff.  I perched in front of the booth while Mr. Z walked into the middle, and we snapped a fantastic pic of the dancers trying to figure out what the heck he was doing there.  CLASSIC!

Toeman Sr. and McGruff the Crime DogLastly, my Dad happened to be in New York at the same time, so I had him come by the show for an hour or so and we walked the floor together.  This was especially fun for me, as I rarely get the opportunity to really show him anything about my industry.  Sure he knows what a Slingbox is, and he gets that a lot is afoot in the digital media space, but this was his first tech trade show.  He was genuinely interested in walking around and seeing new stuff, and that experience was really insightful for me to watch.

Javits Center at sunsetI’ll reiterate what I said at the beginning of this post:  DigitalLife is a great consumer show.  If you are an industry guy or gal, it’s not going to show you new tech.  Instead, you’ll see your customers’ reactions to the products you build.  And that, my dear readers, is truly priceless.