CES 2012- Page 5 - CNET Blogs

Hollywood hasn't given up on Web rentals or Netflix

The headlines from CES about Hollywood's digital efforts are likely to make readers believe that the major film studios are fixated on selling movies instead of renting.

Readers might also have the impression that the studios' strategy on UltraViolet (UV), the plan to promote the use of digital lockers, was hurt by Netflix's decision to drop participation in UV.

Both are true to a point but much more nuanced.

I wrote this week that Netflix decided not to renew its membership in the consortium behind UV and some pundits are taking it as a sign that UV is … Read more

How the saddest man at CES found friends

LAS VEGAS-- If there was one thing I was committed to this morning, it was to seeing the saddest man at CES.

You might remember him from yesterday. He was the unfortunate stage presenter who, on behalf of Sharp's fine televisions, found himself talking only to himself.

No matter how hard he tried -- and he tried -- people kept walking on by toward Samsung, Toshiba or Starbucks.

He even turned his back on the main aisle and vainly talked at those behind him. They kept their backs turned to him.

So this morning I went in search to … Read more

Intel smartphone chip No. 1 in some benchmarks, says report

Intel's new chip for smartphones handily beats some of the fastest phones on the market, according to chip review site Anandtech.

Intel's Atom Z2460 "Medfield" delivers "tablet-like scores" on the BrowserMark benchmark, wrote Anand Shimpi. "The Galaxy Nexus running ICS (Ice Cream Sandwich) comes close, but once again Intel expects that on the same OS Medfield should be faster than any of the currently available SoCs (system-on-a-chip)," he said.

Intel announced the Medfield chip Tuesday at CES. The system-on-a-chip will be used in upcoming smartphones--and presumably other devices--from Lenovo and Motorola.

And … Read more

YouTube aims to seize Web video growth with Hollywood content

LAS VEGAS--Maybe it's a sign that the Consumer Electronics Show is winding down when the keynote speeches start to state the obvious and break no news.

In the final keynote of this year's massive confab, Robert Kyncl, vice president of global content partnerships at YouTube, told a packed Las Vegas Hilton Theater this morning that online video is massive and growing, and that marketers are figuring out ways to harness it. Kyncl noted that YouTube attracts 800 million viewers per month, who watch 3 billion hours of video in that time.

With that growth, YouTube sees huge financial … Read more

The best of CES 2012

LAS VEGAS--If it's January, it must be CES.

The Consumer Electronics Show (or CES, as it's affectionately known) is the technology industry's annual megaconvention, bringing together more than 140,000 attendees to see the latest and greatest products, services, and apps--the building blocks of our increasingly tech-centric, hyper-connected 21st century culture.

For 2012, the tech experts at CNET have once again had the privilege of managing the official Best of CES awards. This year, our team of editors has identified the most promising products in 10 categories--and named one of them as the best overall product of … Read more

At CES, FCC chair warns of mobile 'spectrum crunch'--for the third time

LAS VEGAS--In a keynote address yesterday, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski sounded a warning for mobile broadband users. "We're threatened by a looming spectrum crunch," Genachowski said. "This is the dark cloud around the silver lining."

The explosion in innovation in mobile computing, evident everywhere here at CES, could come to a crashing halt if the government can't provide more bandwidth to mobile broadband carriers and their customers. And that, Genachowski said, would threaten U.S. jobs and technical supremacy.

Trouble is, that's precisely the warning Genachowski has delivered in his previous two appearances … Read more