Archive for the &;2009 Consumer Electronics Show&; Category

Technology Lifestyle MagsDisappearing

May 4, 2009

And a good thing, too. I have before me a copy of CE Lifestyles, the February 2005  issue. The cover photo is a bodacious babe smiling a come-hither smile at her digital-camera wielding boyfriend. To further convince the fickle consumer, the cover price reads $5.99   $1.99.   Now apparently called First Glimpse, you can subscribe for just $29 a year. For years, publishers thought the combination of fetishized cool consumer electronics and hot cover babe would turn people men onto the so-called &;CE Lifestyle.&;  Why do these publications never take off?  Now, of course, advertising is a memory, as are freelance, photo and model budgets.  But that&;s not the real reason. A long time ago I went to a presentation by some of the editors of Entertainment Weekly.  EW itself is in trouble now, but not because it didn&;t follow the editors advice.  In terms of coverage, he said, &;Movies are best, then music and television.  Then sports.  Last is technology.&;

Tags:Consumer Electronics, death-of-magazines, technology-journalism Posted in 2009 Consumer Electronics Show, CES, technology-journalism, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment &;

FyreTV&;s Wireless PornServer

January 27, 2009

There seemed to be plenty of leakage at the Consumer Electronics Show this year from the Adult Entertainment Expo.  (And vice versa; Fox Home Video was promoting the &;legit&; release Choke, starring Angelica Huston and Sam Rockwell, by distributing faux anal beads at the adult show.) A case in point is FyreTV (www.fyreTV.com) which used one of the press parties at the &;legitimate&; show to demonstrate what it proudly called &;the world&;s first wireless IPTV set-top box (or BoXXX, as they would have it) for streaming DVD adult content.&; The wireless &;BoXXX&; ships with any new subscription, which starts at $9.95.   The company signed to provide content from such stalwarts of the industry as Vivid, Wicked Pictures, Evil Angel, Seymore Butts and Sin City, among many others.  Is there a catch?  According to one spokesman I talked to, it&;s no &;all the porn you can eat&; plan.  The $9.95 basic service offers just 100 minutes a month, giving users an incentive to limit their &;viewing&; to 3 minutes a day.   Just don&;t fall asleep&;

Tags:Adult-Entertainment-Expo, BoXXX, CES, Choke, Consumer Electronics, FyreTV, porn, Sam-Rockwell, technology, technology-journalism Posted in 2009 Consumer Electronics Show, CES, porn, porn-industry, Television | 2 Comments &;

CES 2009 Cuts Room Rates: Signs of theApocalypse

November 21, 2008

In another sign of the economic apocalypse upon us (thanks Henry Paulson, another parting gift from the Bush Administration and the &;worlds most economically developed man&;)  the Consumer Electronics Association notified preregistered attendees of significant price cuts on ten different Las Vegas hotels.  No more the &;biggest and best CES ever?&;   With Best Buy swooning, Circuit City expiring and all the manufacturers suffering, even long-time CEA head Gary Shapiro will have a tough time putting lipstick on this pig.

Tags:CES, Consumer Electronics, Henry-Paulson Posted in 2009 Consumer Electronics Show, Consumer Electronics | Leave a Comment &;