CES, Day 2

2nd Day Of Events

The 2012 International CES formally opened TUESDAY morning with CEA Pres./CEO GARY SHAPIRO asking for recruits to join the "Nerd Army" to fight the  SOPA and Protect-IP acts and JACOBS MEDIA Pres./CEO PAUL JACOBS touting his company's work in emerging economies and its Snapdragon processor for mobile devices, and predicting that MICROSOFT's next WINDOWS iteration, WINDOWS 8, will be a "game changer," able to run on ARM processors (he demonstrated the OS running on a Snapdragon-powered tablet).   The keynote also included a demonstration of LENOVO's new Snapdragon-powered smart TV with voice control.

DAIMLER AG Chairman and MERCEDES-BENZ CARS Head DIETER ZEISCHE gave a keynote address late TUESDAY morning, showing off a new SL convertible, the new version of the mBrace telematics system (with app support including social media), and a car-sharing app, CarTogether.

The opening day drew large crowds to see items like several iterations of glasses-free 3D TV and ultra-high-definition TV (mostly 4K, with SHARP displaying an 8K set).  Radio representatives on the floor of the show include iBIQUITY DIGITAL's HD RADIO, in the same spot as last year and showing new car models equipped with HD and some new receivers, AUDIOVOX, SANGEAN, and the CROSLEY line of retro audio equipment.  MICROSOFT drew crowds with its demonstrations of an early beta of WINDOWS 8, and several manufacturers are showing "ultrabooks," WINDOWS-based notebooks aping APPLE's MACBOOK AIR.

Among the day's panels, a session focusing on "cars online" included research on the top 5 and bottom 5 of "what consumers want" from in-car systems (top 5: navigation, weather, traffic, remote updates, and parking information; bottom 5: location updates, email, buying music, social network updates, and Twitter updates) and statistics showing traffic deaths dropping precipitously despite the introduction of texting behind the wheel, leading to a discussion of whether the push to outlaw all cell phone use while driving makes sense.  A panel on advertising opportunities afforded by the advent of apps for tablets and smartphones was largely a repeat of the discussions at panels on MONDAY.

WEDNESDAY's schedule includes appearances by FCC Chairman JULIUS GENACHOWSKI and Commissioners MIGNON CLYBURN and ROBERT MCDOWELL, Sen. RON WYDEN (D-OR) and Rep. DARRELL ISSA (R-CA) discussing the piracy bills, and another panel with ISSA joined by Reps. MARSHA BLACKBURN (R-TN), JOHN SHIMKUS (R-IL), CLIFF STEARNS (R-FL), and LEE TERRY (R-NE).

Pure Music Puts Cloud Into Cars

Wireless music and radio system manufacturer PURE used to CES to preview "Pure Music,"  a cloud-based on-demand music service that allows the user to discover, explore and listen to millions of music tracks through any of PURE's wide range of wireless music and radio systems, a smartphone and a computer for a monthly subscription.

Pure Music allows the user to organize and play as many tracks and albums as they want on multiple devices, including PURE's range of eight Internet-connected digital radios (One Flow, Evoke Flow, Oasis Flow, Avanti Flow, Sirocco 550, Siesta Flow, Contour and Sensia 200D Connect), PCs and MACS via the Pure Lounge Internet radio and media portal (www.thelounge.coM/us ) and on smartphones running the Pure Lounge app.

Pure Music will go live in NORTH AMERICA later in 2012; for details click here.

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