Half Marathon Is Ovah and I Am Spent!

The first few weeks of each new year usually are a blur to me. A few days after the ball drops I find myself cheering and celebrating a Longhorns bowl win. I then jet off to Las Vegas for the huge Consumer Electronics Show - a tiring 4 days of walking, talking, meeting, greeting and traveling.

If that doesn't take enough out of me I then have to do my final prepping (hydrating, carbo-loading) for the Aramco Houston Half Marathon the following weekend. That weekend has come and gone and now, just now, I can move forward with the new year.

We broadcasted our show on Saturday from the marathon Expo at the GRB. Aramco Services was kind enough to host our radio team and we met a lot of the 25,000 or so runners who planned to pound the pavement the next day.

Sunday morning came and 1:41:47 after the start gun fired I crossed the finish line. If you're keeping stats that's a whopping 7 minutes faster than my time in last year's race.

Back to regular programming next week...

Day 1 at CES is ovah

Loooong day in Vegas. This show can kill ya. Miles and miles of aisles in the LV Convention Center. I spent almost 7 hours in that cavernous place and barely scratched the surface of seeing and meeting all the exhibiting companies.

A few trends I noticed:

• The economy is cutting in to the attendance; both exhibitors and attendees. Traffic near the convention center was smoother than in years past. People traffic in the aisles seemed lighter. There was much less press releases and media folks in the press room.


• Thin is in. LG, Sony, Panasonic and other companies rolled out some razor thin LCD TVs it was hard to take photos of them from the side. They are expensive but very sexy.


• Wireless continues to cut those cords. Wireless power charging, wireless auto Internet, wireless home door locks. We don't like cables but these new wireless devices to come down in price before they take off.


• Green is good. Companies are now touting their lower watt-usage on TVs and other appliances. Still not sure exactly how much one can save on watching a TV that consumes 125 watts vs. 185 but it could be a sharp marketing move.
  

I haven't seen anything that is absolutely a must-have or killer device. But I did have some awesome tortellini Thursday night that I will remember for quite a while.

If you are my FaceBook friend you should be seeing some of the photos I have been uploading from the show. If you aren't; come on...let's be BFF!

Viva CES!

It's the first week of the year and you know what that means. Tax prep time! Just kidding (kind of). It's the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas!

Getting my checklist together which includes...comfy shoes, broadcast equipment, lists of companies I plan to meet with, list of parties and events, energy drinks, money, How to Beat The Casino at Craps book and my return plane ticket.

Thousands of companies will be exhibiting new gadgets, software, games, autos and other things we will "need" in 2009. It is my job to decipher the truth, dispel the rumors and get to the bottom of things we really want this coming year.

As usual I will be blogging, emailing, Facebooking, Twitting and doing live interviews on radio and TV back to my markets in the Southwest. Plus I will be broadcasting my radio show LIVE from the show floor on Saturday. I'm your one-stop CES Mr. Know It All so keep logging in and tuning in to your usual High-Tech Texan media outlet.

Looking for something in particular at this year's show? Email me or post it here and I'll do my best to report back. Viva Las Vegas!

FYI...We are in the process of transferring our domain to another server so our real website will be back online within a day or two.

New Year. Special 4 Hour Show.

Happy freakin' New Year. Or should I say "Good Riddance 2008." We can only hope the economy stabilizes a bit in 2009 but I say hold on and tighten your seat belts.

I'll jump start the new year this Saturday with a special, extended 4 hour show on The 9-5-0. Due to some programming changes I will go one extra hour until 3pm CDT. Help me fill the time with calls and emails.

I'll be reviewing the technology landscape of 2008 (good and crappy gadgets, websites and more), making a few predictions what we will see in the next 365 days and listening to what you got for gifts this holiday season. Can't figure out how to work it? Call me and we'll try to help.

Next week we broadcast the show live from Las Vegas at the Consumer Electronics Show - always a good one.

Live from Houston Marathon Expo

Back from the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas so tune in today and catch all the updates and inside info of what we saw. And there's nothing better than running a marathon right after you spent 4 days in a crowded, smoky, alchohol-filled town.

I'm actually running the half marathon on Sunday and to get in the spirit we will be broadcasting today from the Houston Marathon Expo at the GRB. If you plan to come downtown to pick up your running bib or if you just want to see some health-related companies come down and join us for the show from 11a-2p. We will be in the Aramco booth towards the back of Hall D.

One of the trends that was prevalent at CES...touch controlled gadgets, not unlike the iPhone. Many new phones, PDAs and remote controls will have smooth glass screens with virtual keypads.

Toshiba was showing off a new way to control devices WITHOUT a device. Here's a shot of me working a DVD with simple gestures of my hand. A small camera at the top of the laptop captures movement of your hand and fingers. This is one of the many innovations that were on display that are not on the market yet and gets you to wonder if they ever will. Or are they a one-time mock up put together to garner PR for the company (congrats, Toshiba. It worked)

Oh yeah, don't forget...CHOCOLATE RAIN!!

Send Money!

#1, I haven't done well at the craps tables in the 8 hours I've been here.

B) I saw me some cool new gadgets at CES and they ain't gonna be cheap.

The official convention does not begin until Monday but today was pretty full. Popped in to Bill Gates' keynote speech where he said Microsoft will continue to dominate the world once they figure out how to catch Google.

Watched Dr. Dre and the CEO of Monster Cable (on a Segway) debut a new line of Bluetooth stereo headphones.

Bumped into Carson Daly as he was headed to his booth to pimp some new website he is doing.

And look here, it's Paul Hochman of NBC's TODAY Show. Nice guy but he's got to lose those geeky glasses.

For much more frequent updates check out Twitter and my new Utterz account for instantaneous photos from the show.

Now on Utterz

Off to CES in Vegas. You can follow my posts on Twitter and photos/audio on Utterz.

What happens in Vegas gets blogged, Twited and Uttered.

Happy New Year!

1/1/08. Did ya get what you wanted for the holidays? Have you returned anything (or everything)? Cashed in those gift cards?

I've been hearing from a lot of people and, for the most part, everyone seems happy with their gifts. I'm still sending suggestions on what to buy with those gift cards. Slingbox anyone? Other options I like...

In other news, T-minus 413 days until the end of analog TV broadcasts. The Department of Congress finally launched a site with information about digital converter boxes. If you have any type of cable, satellite, U-verse or digital system, there is not much need to sweat the February 17, 2009, cut off date. Even if you have an older TV set that is hooked up to one of these content delivery systems, you are good to go.

But for those Luddites who pull down their local TV signals via rabbit ears, I might suggest logging online (if they have a PC) or calling 1-888-DTV-2009 to request a $20 coupon for converter box. Coupons will be mailed by this March and be valid for 90 days. If not, then I guess the only electronic medium for you will be radio. And feel free to tune in to The 9-5-0.

I'm off to the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas this Sunday and will report back all the news that's fit to blog. Let me know if you are interested in a particular product or rumor and I will try to check it out.

New Show Time, CES

I knew it would come back to haunt me. After "working" a whole 2 hours a week for the past 4+ years, I now get to yap six days in a row. And boy are my vocal chords tired.

Been holding down the M-F 9a-11a spot on TalkRadio 950 KPRC for a few weeks now. It's fun talking to people about regular stuff - should English be put on the Friendswood ballot as the city's official language, will the Democrats create a universal tax for online purchases next year, what's your fave Xmas TV special? No, no and Charlie Brown.

I've also been doing my Saturday 12p-2p technology show which means Sunday I get to rest. Which means yelling at the kids and cheering at football games - so much for my vocal chords.

Things will slow down soon as my schedule settles down. Beginning next Monday, December 18, my daily show moves to 12p-1p. You'll hear more technology news and info as I get back to being my normal self. And the countdown is on to my final Saturday show. My last live show will be Saturday, December 23, while we do a "Best Of" on Saturday, December 30, when I'll be wathing the Horns in the Alamo Bowl.

Cool stuff coming up, though. I'll be going to the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas the first part of January. Always a fun place to meet companies and get a peek at new gadgets for the upcoming year. I will be shooting my TV segments for the nationally syndicated Hot On Homes program and will broadcast my radio show live from the show floor. Send me suggestions on companies you would like me to bring on as guests. And yes I will try to bring back samples for everyone!