Getting Ready For CES

Hard to believe that its less then a month until the 2010 International Consumer Electronics Show kicks off. As I normally do every time this year I started getting ready for the big CES show today.

In the past to cover the event for my website and for you reader of “The Satellite Dish” I have gone out of my way stocking up on all kinds of electronics gizmos to cover the event as best I can for everyone.

And as tradition goes today I started getting all my electronic gizmos all ready for the event, but this year I am leaving the big pro HD camera home and instead am using a lot of equipment I normally have in my pockets everyday.

While in the past I have shot everything in HD, most of the videos were edited down and shown in SD on YouTube, so for that reason this year I am going to be shooting most of my video using my iPhone 3GS. I recently picked up an interesting device called a Owle Bubo which is a black piece of crafted metal which I can slip my iPhone into, it then gives me handles and an external mic for easy operation, its even tripod mountable. In addition it has its own changeable external lenses and filters making the video look even more professional I have been testing out this combination for a few days and have been impressed with the quality.

I do realize some things will need to be shot and shown in HD so for that I will be carrying a pocket HD recorder.

Today I ordered a mic cable for my iPhone so I can use the Owle Bubos external mic as a hand held unit. I also ordered a LED light which easily attached to the top of the Owle Bubo unit. Almost pro quality video using only equipment that can fit in any carry on. In the past years I have gone with 3 suitcases of stuff that are just electronics… but not this year.

Once again this year it looks like Dish Network will be getting a majority of my attention as I am hearing DirecTV will be a no show again. I really want to cover DirecTV more but they are hard to cover if they are not there.

Going to these shows is a strange thing for me, because I never know how the satellite companies will accept me, some years they have their arms open and other times they think I am an annoyance. I know I am outspoken and expose the good and bad about both companies, but I do my best to be honest and call things as I see them.

I do hope that the satellite companies know that I go to these events to promote them and to learn, in fact I can go as far as saying I do this at my own expense. It costs me thousands to cover these events just to promote these companies, and sometimes I wish the satellite companies saw this and understood it. I am not paid to attend these events by MultiChannel or by SatelliteGuys, I do these things out of my own pocket to promote them and so I can bring you all the news from where its happening.

Besides seeing my friends again from Dish Network I am also looking forward to meeting with George Gonzalez and the folks from XStreamHD. We have heard from XStreamHD at the past two years CES shows and up until now the product has been vaporware, however I am hearing at the next CES they will be showing off an actual production product in their booth and will also be announcing their official launch date. (Something us hard core satellite / high definition fans have been waiting for!)

XStreamHD is a satellite service without channels, they will give their customers a true at home HD experience with movies, music games and more in full 1080p HD and 7.1 channels of DTS-HD Master Audio via satellite.

Looking at the XStreamHD website I am excited to see that they are looking to make their product the centerpiece of your entertainment system and the fact that you will be able to use DLNA compatible home electronics such as a Sony PlayStation 3 to access XStreamHD content. In addition you will be able to store all of your photos and music on XStreamHD’s hard drives and be able to access them anywhere in your house. I have just recently started playing with DLNA equipment and have been loving looking at family photos while listening to my music collection on TV’s around the house.

So while DirecTV won’t be there I am hoping to have a great show with the satellite companies that are there. And I also feel good that I will be able to cover the event in good quality without lugging three suitcases of equipment around with me.

If you know of any interesting satellite or industry related stuff I should check out and report on from CES (or a good party) please email me at thedish@satelliteguys.us.

As I get ready its hard to explain the joy I guess when getting ready for CES, it really is a lot of prep and getting ready for something that normally boils down to a 20 minute press conference and 15 minutes of usable video. Viva Las Vegas!