"is it just me or was ces bad news for everyone?"
Well, I'm back home now and can sit and reflect for a moment on what I saw and whether it was worth the cost and time to go to CES.
I've said in another thread that I go with a mission to get some issues or conflict resolved that I just can't seem to do here through store visits or web surfing. CES, in the past has been the answer.
I would say that if I were looking for new stuff with HD the show was a waste of time. Nothing new to see with 1080p, just more of the same. HD-DVD vs. BluRay? Still the same fight with no resolve. HD Camcorders- The New Sony but I knew about that before too.
Automobile electronics- More of the same. More GPS devices, more options but nothing really new, same for amps, mobile video etc. Looked for in car web browsing using EVDO broadband- Nothing! Learned from Kenwood, they did release a new DVD-ROM for my GPS- That was good news for me.
But my main mission was to find the perfect cell phone - PDA with EVDO and that I accomplished with satisfaction! I got plenty of hands on testing of a number of questions I had regarding the Treo700w. Questions that could not be resolved unless I actually bought one. Satisfied I bought one Treo700w with good discounts. Also I learned that based on how I will be using the PDA phones, my wife and I would probably do better having different formfactors. Therefore I found another phone that will soon be out by Verizon that is better suited for me than the Treo700w. All in all, this education made the trip worth it. I depend on a good cell phone with PDA and reliable internet connection for a part of my business. Without it, or bad connections and I could have issues that cost me severe penalties. So, finding the right solution, even redundancy backups is very important. Having broadband wireless is more of a convenmience since hunting down a wifi zone has become way too much of a challenge now than it was 6 months ago. EVDO worked flawless with average of 800kbps speeds for uploading fast and without errors. It was like being here in the office.
ces was good news for me and while the dbs shift in power is always fun to follow, I really don't care if I get my service from E* or D* as long as I get plenty of HD in decent quality. Plus the equipment works without annoying lockups and picture/ sound problems. All I can say is MP4 better work without a ton of Gotchas.