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Steve Ballmer's presentation at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas was free of the dancing, screaming, sweaty antics he's sometimes known for when he takes the stage at conferences and conventions. Instead, the Microsoft CEO's first CES opening keynote speech laid out his company's vision fo...
Toshiba kicked off its CES press conference by reminding the audience of the ad space it bought right underneath the ball at last week's New Year's Eve celebration in Times Square. Perhaps the company liked the idea of kissing 2008 good-bye -- it was around this time a year ago that Warner Bros. dec...
Wires will find few friends in Las Vegas this week. Companies showing off their wares at CES are committed to cutting the cord and going wireless, whether you're talking about home network connections or high-definition TV content. Wireless HD was one highlight of LG's showcase here Wednesday mornin...
As of a few nights ago, it was still possible to get a room at a decent place on the Las Vegas strip at a bargain rate. That was a good sign for travelers but a bad sign for the Consumer Electronics Show -- not to mention the city's hospitality industry. When everything falls into place, CES is supp...
It looks like recording labels are willing to give music away for free if it means not having to deal with iTunes -- the No. 1 online music vendor and the No. 2 nemesis of music execs, due to its rigid pricing. While iTunes is clean and easy to use, it's also pretty sterile. If you know what you wan...
I certainly don't want to give the impression that I'm too old-school for this new-media, all-digital, high-definition world. Like every other red-blooded American male, I loves me some special effects; the more explosions, computer-generated graphics and visual fireworks the better, as long as they...
When it first came out, the main thing that drew me to the Nintendo Wii was its potential for first-person shooter games. Finally, here was a console on which I could play a "Metroid Prime" game despite my infirmity. By my infirmity, I mean my inability to play an FPS game with any degree of skill o...
At its E3 press event, Sony Computer Entertainment of America opened up a new platform for its PlayStation Store on the PlayStation Network -- a movie and TV show download service. It wasn't announced at the end of the event to create some big closer, and it wasn't accompanied by a bombastic demo li...
"Elder Scrolls: Oblivion" has its stuttering, jittery skooma addicts. "Haze" has its soldiers pumped up with nectar to enhance their combat abilities. "Grand Theft Auto 4" has Jacob, a Rastafarian who is constantly smoking weed. Even Mario had a taste for mushrooms that made him grow and flowers tha...
"Rock Band." "Guitar Hero." "SingStar." These music-oriented video games have become fixtures in popular culture, appearing in movies and on television, and sparking a new musical movement. Younger players are not only gaining exposure to a wider variety of genres and artists, but also getting a bas...
Tomonobu Itagaki, renowned producer of the "Ninja Gaiden" series and head of Tecmo's Team Ninja, has resigned effective July 1, 2008 -- obviously timing his announcement to coincide with the release of "Ninja Gaiden 2," Team Ninja's latest contribution to the action/adventure genre of the video game...
I remember being at the 2000 Democratic National Convention and watching Joe Lieberman give his speech accepting the nomination as Al Gore's running mate. Contrasted with the opposing lines of bandana-faced protesters and riot-geared officers, his speech left me hopeful and uplifted. I recall I felt...
It's heartening to see that Mark Zuckerberg is following my advice and seeking a sit-down with Google to hammer out their differences over this Friend Connect thing. It would be heartening as well to see Facebook coming to the defense of my private data as forcefully as it has been -- if only it act...
It seems as though everyone wants to be both social and portable these days. Google, Yahoo, Facebook and MySpace all have recently trumpeted their latest efforts at openness. Are they really the same? In some cases -- Yahoo and Google, primarily -- the OpenSocial framework is providing a set of stan...
It was Monday morning, and Haiyong Xie was running late. His flight to Los Angeles had been delayed, and then he had to face LA's beastly morning traffic. Xie, of Yale University, was on his way to the P2P Media Summit at the Hollywood Renaissance Hotel to take part in a panel discussion about the P...