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AN IMPRESSIVE SHOWING
Listed under: Comments
Published: Monday, March 09, 2009
Well, it's CES Vegas time again – where did that whole year go, then?!
Having taken my usual 10-hour flight with Virgin, I've been walking the floors of the industry's biggest consumer show... and discovering that it is a slightly scaled down, less visited event this time round. Microsoft’s Bill Gates is conspicuous by his absence, and Microsoft's stands are a lot smaller than in recent years. On display was the forthcoming Windows 7 OS, demoed on large 42-inch touchscreens. I have to say I liked it – it reminded me of a large version of an iPhone. You could use your finger to open and browse your desktop, and it was very smart.
Elsewhere was a piece of technology I watched with great interest last year: Microsoft Surface – a tabletop touchscreen. I remember sitting at a demo thinking about what it could be used for in the real world. Well, this year I stumbled across it being used in the RIO hotel bar. There were five MS Surface tables in place, with about 20 cameras, on first look, fitted to the ceiling. I had a play with the interface and it was great. First up on the menu was the option to take a virtual tour of the hotel’s amenities; next up you could choose another table in the bar and look at who was there via the IP cameras bolted to the ceiling. This reminded me of the night clubs where you could use phones at the table to ring other tables. Once logged on, there was also a messenger service – I can imagine this would be great for the young 20-year-old that was too shy to chat up the girl at table two! Moving onto another menu you could order some drinks, so myself and a couple of CI colleagues thought, great tool, LET'S try it out! Thoroughly impressed, we selected our drinks, pressed send and sat with big grins on our faces waiting for someone to arrive with our drinks. Guess what happened? YES, you guessed right, nothing happened! It seems, like far too much technology, the Surface table looks great but does not deliver the goods. What a shame, as I would have been suitably impressed if a waitress had dropped off the vodka and cokes to our table!
nothing to report
Technology is a mystery sometimes; I love it but worry how it is released to the market too early. Sometimes it is a challenge, and if you take it too seriously you will crumble. The CES show this year did not have anything major to report on. Panasonic had some super slim screens and a gorgeous looking stainless steel surround, and Samsung had their latest screens. All looked stunning running 1080p, but there was a noticeable lack of crowds competing to get a look – it really looks like the American recession is biting hard. Elsewhere, DTS and Dolby Digital had nothing new to show, not even any new demo disks to bring back to the UK.
Checking out my Microsoft Inbox, it is bulging with emails (I always wonder why I get so much junk email, and how do they know my Sunday school name is DAVID???) about the ISE Amsterdam show – it looks like this is fast becoming the biggest show in the CI calendar. The snow caused mayhem at the airports, but once there, WHAT an excellent show. To my surprise it has even grown on last year, and seems to be THE choice of the manufacturers. Aquavision were showing a nice 40-inch waterproof Full HD screen – we usually use Aquavision screens on our installs and find them a great company to deal with. AMX were showcasing their award-winning 5.2-inch Modero touch panels: they looked stunning in gloss black with lightning fast processing of commands, and are also available in a hand-held version with 802.11b/g two way wireless communications.
A quick look at Future Automation stand revealed another couple of new products, including a fully adjustable projector mount and some neat, new plasma lift mechanisms. I am just hoping you will be able to buy plasma screens in the future, as Pioneer have just announced that they are pulling out of the market. Looks like quality does not always rule and the cheaper plasma manufacturers are the only ones left in the game.
customer care
Many companies seems to be selling very similar products these days. What makes you choose one company over another? Well if you are like us, you'll choose service over price all the time. I love the companies who can turn your order around in 24 hours; it always makes your life so much easier if you don’t have to lie to your client about the product which has not turned up! It is turning into a cut throat business, though, as customers are paying more and more attention to price over the benefits of quality and service.
As companies get swallowed up by bigger organisations, the personal touch is often lost, meaning the client or customer never feels as special. As an example, one hotel/restaurant I loved to go to near my home was recently bought out by a big American hotel chain. I went for a meal last weekend: the place looked the same but it had changed TOTALLY! There was no one there to take your coat, we sat in the lounge and were ignored for 10 minutes; the menu had changed and there was nobody looking after us. I know it is a far cry from our business, but if my employees had treated us the same there would be some sore back sides. You should never take your eye off the ball; big companies are not safe in this climate. Even so, the cheese board was excellent. NOT SURE if the waiter made up the name Stinking Bishop, but it was nice on my cracker.
I look back at the guy who set up the hotel – a local man who bought the land for just £1 from the local council, but with a clause that he had to spend £1-million on developing a local business that would employ local people – very important in an area whose coal industry had collapsed when all the pits were closed. I tip my hat to him, as he made it a big success. It was a lovely place to stay and eat.
apple of my eye
Finally, what's new in the DSE camp that I am playing with? Well, I’m loving the iPod touch with a passion. I've just got into downloading games and applications, a favourite being a pint of Carling which you can pour yourself and pretend to drink. Check it out at the iTunes store – just type in “pint” in the search box.
I have got to say I am well impressed with this piece of kit; it is miles ahead of everything else. I did have a customer in the demo room this week who asked, “Why can’t I have a keypad on the wall that looks and works like my iPhone?” I have got to say I did not have an answer, as the resolution and ease of use of this inexpensive small piece of kit is awesome. I am toying with the idea of buying sticky back plastic and putting six of them on the wall connected to amps, thus creating the first six zone iMULTI ROOM! Apple need to look into this, as I am sure it would be a huge success. After all, the customers are asking us for it, and whatever anybody says, Apple and the iPod will never be forgotten for changing the way we buy and listen to music.
Other multi-room companies have embraced the iPhone and iPod touch, producing software for you to browse your music collection – Control 4 and SpeakerCraft being two that we have played with. But, if all else fails, you can always plug your headphones into your iPod and walk between the rooms in your house as if you have full blown multi-room audio!
Dave Slater is MD of DSE GROUP incorporating DSE DIGITAL.
His article was submitted on 13/02/09
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: +44 (0)191 491 4141 .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) http://www.dsegroup.co.uk
Elsewhere was a piece of technology I watched with great interest last year: Microsoft Surface – a tabletop touchscreen. I remember sitting at a demo thinking about what it could be used for in the real world. Well, this year I stumbled across it being used in the RIO hotel bar. There were five MS Surface tables in place, with about 20 cameras, on first look, fitted to the ceiling. I had a play with the interface and it was great. First up on the menu was the option to take a virtual tour of the hotel’s amenities; next up you could choose another table in the bar and look at who was there via the IP cameras bolted to the ceiling. This reminded me of the night clubs where you could use phones at the table to ring other tables. Once logged on, there was also a messenger service – I can imagine this would be great for the young 20-year-old that was too shy to chat up the girl at table two! Moving onto another menu you could order some drinks, so myself and a couple of CI colleagues thought, great tool, LET'S try it out! Thoroughly impressed, we selected our drinks, pressed send and sat with big grins on our faces waiting for someone to arrive with our drinks. Guess what happened? YES, you guessed right, nothing happened! It seems, like far too much technology, the Surface table looks great but does not deliver the goods. What a shame, as I would have been suitably impressed if a waitress had dropped off the vodka and cokes to our table!
nothing to report
Technology is a mystery sometimes; I love it but worry how it is released to the market too early. Sometimes it is a challenge, and if you take it too seriously you will crumble. The CES show this year did not have anything major to report on. Panasonic had some super slim screens and a gorgeous looking stainless steel surround, and Samsung had their latest screens. All looked stunning running 1080p, but there was a noticeable lack of crowds competing to get a look – it really looks like the American recession is biting hard. Elsewhere, DTS and Dolby Digital had nothing new to show, not even any new demo disks to bring back to the UK.
Checking out my Microsoft Inbox, it is bulging with emails (I always wonder why I get so much junk email, and how do they know my Sunday school name is DAVID???) about the ISE Amsterdam show – it looks like this is fast becoming the biggest show in the CI calendar. The snow caused mayhem at the airports, but once there, WHAT an excellent show. To my surprise it has even grown on last year, and seems to be THE choice of the manufacturers. Aquavision were showing a nice 40-inch waterproof Full HD screen – we usually use Aquavision screens on our installs and find them a great company to deal with. AMX were showcasing their award-winning 5.2-inch Modero touch panels: they looked stunning in gloss black with lightning fast processing of commands, and are also available in a hand-held version with 802.11b/g two way wireless communications.
A quick look at Future Automation stand revealed another couple of new products, including a fully adjustable projector mount and some neat, new plasma lift mechanisms. I am just hoping you will be able to buy plasma screens in the future, as Pioneer have just announced that they are pulling out of the market. Looks like quality does not always rule and the cheaper plasma manufacturers are the only ones left in the game.
customer care
Many companies seems to be selling very similar products these days. What makes you choose one company over another? Well if you are like us, you'll choose service over price all the time. I love the companies who can turn your order around in 24 hours; it always makes your life so much easier if you don’t have to lie to your client about the product which has not turned up! It is turning into a cut throat business, though, as customers are paying more and more attention to price over the benefits of quality and service.
As companies get swallowed up by bigger organisations, the personal touch is often lost, meaning the client or customer never feels as special. As an example, one hotel/restaurant I loved to go to near my home was recently bought out by a big American hotel chain. I went for a meal last weekend: the place looked the same but it had changed TOTALLY! There was no one there to take your coat, we sat in the lounge and were ignored for 10 minutes; the menu had changed and there was nobody looking after us. I know it is a far cry from our business, but if my employees had treated us the same there would be some sore back sides. You should never take your eye off the ball; big companies are not safe in this climate. Even so, the cheese board was excellent. NOT SURE if the waiter made up the name Stinking Bishop, but it was nice on my cracker.
I look back at the guy who set up the hotel – a local man who bought the land for just £1 from the local council, but with a clause that he had to spend £1-million on developing a local business that would employ local people – very important in an area whose coal industry had collapsed when all the pits were closed. I tip my hat to him, as he made it a big success. It was a lovely place to stay and eat.
apple of my eye
Finally, what's new in the DSE camp that I am playing with? Well, I’m loving the iPod touch with a passion. I've just got into downloading games and applications, a favourite being a pint of Carling which you can pour yourself and pretend to drink. Check it out at the iTunes store – just type in “pint” in the search box.
I have got to say I am well impressed with this piece of kit; it is miles ahead of everything else. I did have a customer in the demo room this week who asked, “Why can’t I have a keypad on the wall that looks and works like my iPhone?” I have got to say I did not have an answer, as the resolution and ease of use of this inexpensive small piece of kit is awesome. I am toying with the idea of buying sticky back plastic and putting six of them on the wall connected to amps, thus creating the first six zone iMULTI ROOM! Apple need to look into this, as I am sure it would be a huge success. After all, the customers are asking us for it, and whatever anybody says, Apple and the iPod will never be forgotten for changing the way we buy and listen to music.
Other multi-room companies have embraced the iPhone and iPod touch, producing software for you to browse your music collection – Control 4 and SpeakerCraft being two that we have played with. But, if all else fails, you can always plug your headphones into your iPod and walk between the rooms in your house as if you have full blown multi-room audio!
Dave Slater is MD of DSE GROUP incorporating DSE DIGITAL.
His article was submitted on 13/02/09
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: +44 (0)191 491 4141 .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) http://www.dsegroup.co.uk
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