Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

We got our paws on the new Bang & Olufsen Serene mobile phone at the company’s press conference the other day.  The design is a little funky, since they said it was made to be held with the rotary-looking keypad up by your ear.  This way, you don’t smudge up the screen.  The device has a motorized hinge, and when it’s on the dock, will flip open when the phone rings.  Quite unnecessary, but very sweet.  Click on for more pics of the device…

Didn’t have a chance to make it out to CES? No sweat, we got you covered with our series of product Peep Shows and Booth Tours. Here is Sony’s booth, all in one post, for your viewing pleasure. I have to say that I loved their booth last year and I thought that they did a great job once again in 2007, but you be the judge.

They didn’t even have one out of the glass case for the public to play with at CES, but we somehow snagged a hands-on with Samsung’s new SCH-i760.  The device is a QWERTY slider with a touch-screen, similar to the HTC Apache.  No real specs have been announced yet, but we’re assuming it will be a media device like their new BlackJack.  Click on for more hands-on pics with the i760…

And it back in the glass case…

My apologies for the poor picture quality.  All I had with me was my point and shoot crapper.

Samsung has three “Ultra” sexy cellphones [Gadgetell]

Photo courtesy Engadget.

Come one, come all, we’re getting ready for another Gadgetell Live-blog - this time with Apple CEO, Steve Jobs.

Welcome to the live coverage of Apple’s Macworld 2007 keynote presentation. Speculation has been high and rumors flying for weeks on end, what will we be seeing today? Stay tuned and keep tabbing away at the F+5 keys (to refresh the page) for live, up to the minute updates.

8:55 AM - Jobs is set to take stage in 5 minutes.

8:59 AM - The keynote will begin after everyone is seated - just a few minutes to go

9:00 AM - Someone just pointed out that Steve Jobs brought his family to the keynote

9:06 AM - Attendees still taking their seats

9:08 AM - *Crowd cheers*

9:14 AM - Steve on stage

9:18 AM - Jobs: “We’re only talking about the Mac today”

9:20 AM - iTunes: over 2 billion songs sold

9:21 AM - iTunes: 58 songs a second, 5 million a day.

9:21 AM - 350 shows on iTunes now, 50 million TV shows sold

9:22 AM - New movie partner - Paramount. Over 250 movies offered now.

9:25 AM - New iPod ad shown with colored silhouettes on a black background

9:25 AM - Now Jobs is targeting the Zune “Only has 2 percent market share”

9:28 AM - Apple iTV, Apple TV. SPECS: USB2.0, RCA, Component Video, 720p HD, 40GB HDD, B,G and N wireless, Intel Powered - Uses standard Apple remote.

It has an Intel processor in it, and will auto sync from your Mac/PC.

9:30 AM - Apple TV: Use iTunes to sync movies from Mac to iTV - place what movies you want on iTV’s local store. Auto Syncs to your computer - STREAMS HD content

9:32 AM - Apple TV Demo

9:40 AM - Apple TV $299. Shipping in February - taking orders starting today

9:41 AM - Apple logo on screen (2007). Jobs: “every once in a while a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything. Apple has been very fortunate recently...”

9:42 AM -
1984 - first mac
2001 first ipod
today - introducing 3 revolutionary products

9:42 AM -

1. Widescreen iPod

2. Mobile phone

3. Internet communicator

9:43 AM - But these three products will not be separate..one device for all three functions.

9:46 AM - revolutionary interface - interplay of hardware and software
showing treo & blackberry, etc.

9:48 AM - Use fingers to operate it. Uses multi-touch and works like magic. It ignores unintended touches, and is patented just for Apple.

9:49 AM - iPhone runs OS X.

9:50 AM - It has everything you need, core animation, desktop class applications on phone, and networking.

Syncs with iTunes, just like iPod. Syncs all your media on your iPhone.

9:52 AM - Has a cradle to sync just like an iPod dock.

9:53 AM - 3.5 inch screen - highest res screen ever shipped. 11/16” thin, it even has a 2mp camera on the back.

9:54 AM - Proximity sensor. When you bring it to your ear, it automatically turns off display and sound.

9:54 AM - It can tell if held in portrait vs landscape - rotate it.

9:55 AM - You can touch your music with Coverflow to help find it faster.

10.00 AM - iPhone Demo

10.04 AM - It’s a Quad band worldphone with Wi-Fi and bluetooth. Only features EDGE

10.06 AM - To make a call: push phone button on bottom (on screen) and the screen changes like coming out of dashboard, scroll through contacts, push person’s number to call.

10.08 AM - Simply hit another button to add someone and start a conference call.

10.10 AM - First call to Ives and Schiller - On Speaker phone. “Not too shabby”

10.11 AM - There is a button for multiple session SMS messaging.

10.12 AM - When typing messages, letters come up to face you like old typewriter, cool effect. When you send them, they make the familiar iChat sending sound.

10.14 AM - Photos: Just like iPhoto - Finger navigation. Auto rotation of pictures

10.16 AM - Email: POP or IMAP supports both Rich Text and HTML

As a bonus, Yahoo mail is providing Full PUSH IMAP mail to all phone customers for free (Something that is not available to any Yahoo customer).

10.18 AM - Web Browser: Safari (Full version with Java)

10.20 AM - Mail looks just like Apple’s desktop mail

10.24 AM - Again auto sensing devices orientation switched how a webpage is displayed: Shows New York Times as an example

10.25 AM - Change webpages by using the coverflow view to get to different page.

10.26 AM - Side Note: Apple stock currently up $2.43.

10.27 AM - Widgets: Uses standard MacOSX widgets

10.29 AM - Shows Google intergration to the iPhone, find a location and click the phone number to dial

10.31 AM - Google CEO Eric Schmidt on stage now.

10.34 AM - “This is the first of a whole new generation...” -Schmidt.

10.41 AM - Draws comparisons to other ‘smart phones’ on the market.

10.44 AM - iPhone Features: 5 hours of battery life, 16 hours just for audio, bluetooth headset (optional), multitouch screen, precision enclosures, sensors, desktop-class apps, and widescreen interface.

10.45 AM - Innovating like crazy,
over 200 patents in it.

10.47 AM - Price: 4GB model - $499, 8GB model - $599.

10.48 AM - Available: shipping in June. Europe by Cal4 this year, and Asia in 2008.

10.50 AM - Carrier is Cingular - purchase at Apple or Cingular stores.

10.59 AM - Apple Computer, inc renamed to - Apple, inc,

11.00 AM - The Keynote should be finishing now, but it looks as if Steve still has a lot more coming..stay tuned.

11.03 AM - John Mayer - Playing Live Music

11.10 AM - Steve back on stage, Thanks for joining us. Show is over - James Brown’s “I feel good” comes back on - the keynote is now over.

Ladies and gents, welcome to another Gadgetell Live-Blog.  We’re now waiting for Robert Iger, President and CEO of Walt Disney Corp., to come out on stage.  But first, I’m sure we’ll be blessed with Gary Schapiro’s presence.  So stay tuned for that.

They’re now playing a CEA promo video that is playing off of Monday night football.  Gary Schapiro, along with many famous people, said “Lets get ready for Monday night Keynote"… then they just had ESPN announcers that were at Monday Night Football game building it up (since Disney owns ESPN).

4:46 PM PST - Schapiro and Iger just took the stage, made a few jokes, then Schapiro just left the stage.

Continue after the break…

As we’ve mentioned in our other keynote coverage, the Internet is absolutely horrid in here so we may lose you, in which case we’ll upload the post after the show.

4:49 PM PST - We just finished up watching a Disney promo video including Pixar, XGames, Soap, Disney Radio, Disney World, ESPN, etc…

4:53 PM PST - “The best way to combat piracy is to bring products to the market in a timely manner.” Disney content has been downloaded over 120 million times on iTunes since its introduction a few months ago.

They’re now showing a trailer for the new movie Ratatauille - which has amazing animation (Pixar).  It appears June 29 in a theater near you.

4:58 PM PST - Iger is now going over Lost and how it’s the show on the most platforms.  Talking about Disney.com - and on mobile phones.

5:00 PM PST - They just showed “The Last Episode of Lost” - which was a clip of the characters from the show talking about CES - it was hilarious.  Kate and Jack from Lost are now on stage.  I feel like we’re sitting in an Inside the Actor’s Studio here.

5:06 PM PST - Kate and Jack from Lost just left the stage and Iger has moved on to talk about ESPN and how sports fans are addicted.

Now we’re watching a promo video about ESPN with lots of behind the scenes footage of the cameramen, announcers and crew.

Mike Touriko, the host of Monday Night Football was just introduced.  They’re now taking us live in HD to a game going on right now betweeen Villa Nova and Georgetown.  Now they’re showing us how viewers across 102 countries on 6 continents are watching ESPN right now.

5:11 PM PST - Now they’re running through ESPN.com and showing all of the new features, including Polls, and the My ESPN customization portal.

ESPN 360 is an online version of the TV network that shows tons of shows and events live.  Mike has just left the stage… moving on.

5:16 PM PST - Disney.com - is a “site-map for all things Disney” - they are now unveiling the new website and showing off features.  It is a good-looking, totally Flash layout that has a video player displayed prominantly in the center.

5:29 PM PST - They just came on stage and did a demo of the entire site.  It looks great… for 2 year olds… and gets kids interacting with each other.  Jerry Bruckheimer has just come on stage to talk about Pirates of the Caribbean 3 - Keith Richards (guitar player from the Rolling Stones) is going to be in the 3rd one.

5:33 PM PST - We’re now watching the World Premier of the Pirates of the Caribbean 3 trailer/behind the scenes look.  The movie is coming out on May 25th.

That’s it for the keynote folks.  Thanks for tuning in and we’ll see you at tomorrow’s keynote with Michael Dell.

We’re here live at the CES keynote of Motorola CEO Ed Zander and President of the CEA Gary Schapiro.

NOTE: You know the drill, punch the F5 key for frequent updates - and by frequent, I mean every couple of minutes.

8:40 PM PST - Gary Schapiro has now taken the stage, doing his usual shpeal about the CEA.

Technology companies “changes the status quo"… and “bring new life and features into familiar products.”

Continue reading after the jump…

Note that the connection here is off and on (just like last night’s Bill Gates Keynote, so if we get disconnected, stand by and we’ll update you shortly as we’re saving local copies just in case).

8:47 PM PST - He’s now giving examples of how we have progressed in consumer electronics.  From Cable, to VCR, to Digital Cameras, to Word Processors, to FM Radio.

8:50 PM PST - Schapiro is talking about all of the technologies that they’re partnering with to empower consumers.

“We are now accessing what even the rich could not access just years ago”

8:55 PM PST - Schapiro is now talking about piracy and outing the RIAA / MPAA for their stance.  “Consumers should not be in legal jeopardy if they copy something and keep it in the home."..."That’s why we have launched the Digital Freedom campaign” (http://www.digitalfreedom.org).

“In the end, we will listen to the voices of the machines.”

8:59 PM PST - “And now, I’m happy to present the featured keynote speaker"…

9:02 PM PST - Gary just finished talking and says Ed will come out after a video… of course a promo video with an Ed Zander montage just like the Bill Gates one last night.

9:04 PM PST - Ed just came out rolling on a bike… what a baller.  He also just took out one of the original mobile phones, the Dynatec 8000 I think.  He said..."We’re all into thin… but guess what?  Fat is back.”

9:09 PM PST - He’s now talking about how phones have gotten so personal.  “Nothing is as ubiquidous as this device” (cell phone).

9:12 PM PST - Zander is now talkig about how WiMax is coming… and it’s coming fast.  Sprint/Nextel, he points out, is taking a big lead in this market.

Now he is talking about their new MotaPhone technology and making displays with eInk so you can see them in broad sunlight.

9:15 PM PST - He is now holding an HSDPA 3.6 megabits per second phone.  Talking about how that is the future.

Wouldn’t it be nice to have Mobile Internet in your pocket or in your phone?

9:17 PM PST - Yahoo! and Motorola are now partnering and they’re playing a promo video.  The Yahoo exec will arrive momentarily.

Marco Boerries of Yahoo is now out on stage.

They are announcing Yahoo! Go 2.0 - fully personalizable and open to the whole internet.

9:22 PM PST - Yahoo Go brings the Internet to your phone, not your phone to the Internet. - “Truly the internet in your pocket.”

Marco and his helper are showing off Yahoo Go.  They’re showing the new product OneSearch, which he just announced.  Go will keep your mail fully synchronized.

Local and location awareness are a big part of Yahoo Go.

9:22 PM PST - What about sports?  Marco is now bringing up sports scores and information with “one click” - I’m sure it was more than one click.

You can also manage your personal stock portfolio.

And you can search and it comes up instantaneously with content.  He just searched Boeing, and Britney - must have B’s on his mind.  He just made the joke, “You get search results and pictures - whether you want them or not.”

9:25 PM PST - You can get it at go.yahoo.com from your mobile device (bringing the Internet to your phone, not vice versa) and it will be available on over 400 devices by the end of the year.

9:29 PM PST - ROKR E6 - he just introduced it in Hong Kong - “It’s bigger than Brad Pitt over there.”

Chris White is coming out to announce new CE devices.

New Motorola Active Stereo Bluetooth headsets… They’re waterproof - you can control your music from the device itself instead of using the handset.

9:31 PM PST - Last year they started a partnership with Kodak to get pictures that are trapped on devices onto paper.

9:34 PM PST - White just announced a partnership with Warner Music in 2008.  With them, they created the Moto Experience Pack to get information about emerging artists.

The new Moto RIZR Z6 - New MotoMusic UI - Buy music from over 200 stores worldwide.  Built on their Linux platform - stereo bluetooth.  White says he uses MTV Urge “personally” - I doubt that.

9:41 PM PST - We’d like to introduce our newest acquisition - Good Technologies.

Corp. VP of Good Tech Danny Shader has just joined Ed Zander on stage. They now have full collaboration with Outlook - Good Email.  He’s now looking at his Outlook calendar - doesn’t look at all like the traditional PDA calendar - it has agenda view, visual view, etc.

Notes in Outlook, folders, etc. sync in real-time - “No compromise mobile experience with a killer application.”

9:46 PM PST - “Today we’re announcing our partnership with NewsGator to provide RSS on your Moto phone.

9:48 PM PST - What about multimedia, and how do we tie that into the device?

Security - we encrypt everything that’s on the device.  And if you lose your device, the data can be wiped out over the air..."So what’s left in Vegas, doesn’t stay in Vegas” - [laugh].

9:52 PM PST - We’re now looking at a demo of their new Follow Me technology (same name as Netgear’s exact same service - very weird) - FollowMe Music, and FollowMe Photos - FollowMe TV will be launched by Comcast this year, and Verizon is already doing FollowMe Music.

They’ve blended the remote and the mobile device and made the Mobile Remote.  You’ve got your TV guide on the phone and you can set your DVR from your phone now.  This year, we will have an application where operators can push Ads to you - whoopee!

9:59 PM PST - Live TV is coming to devices like the Q “Soon.” IP Set-top streaming from the home (just like Slingbox).

“What you want, where you want it, when you want it.”

Moto Dual-mode handsets, roam on Cell networks, move into the house and use Wi-Fi.

10:02 PM PST - That’s it folks, he’s wrapping up now, but we wrapped it up for you so you don’t need that.  Have a good one and look forward to loads of news and press conferences later today.

You heard what Bill had to say, now get our perspective (if you so dare). This is also a great option if you didn’t get to listen to his podcast and want the quick rundown…

More to come from CES over the next few days.

This podcast was once again sponsored by GoDaddy.com and comes with a 10% off coupon. It was also made possible by the Samson Zoom H4 and PodServe.

Listen In
[MP3] Direct Download (Right click, select save as).
[RSS] Add the Gadgetell Podcast RSS feed to your RSS reader to have the show delivered to you

Hosts: Doug Berger, Adam Berger, and a guest appearance by Greg Cherniet
Producer: Greg Cherniet
Music: Dvir Tzadok
File size: 38.6MB
Length: 00:56:17

Sponsored by GoDaddy.com:
As a listener of The Gadgetell podcast, enter code GADGET1, that’s G-A-D-G-E-T and the number 1, when you check out, and save an additional 10% on any order. Get your piece of the internet at GoDaddy.com.

Interested in sponsoring the podcast or advertising on the site? Please check out our advertise page or send an email to advertise (at) gadgetell .com.

Feedback is much appreciated. If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions, please email us at gadgetell (at) gmail.com.  Thanks for listening!

On Sunday night at CES, Bill Gates - Chairman of Microsoft - took the stage to discuss recent developments with the company’s products including Vista, Microsoft Auto, Zune, etc.  We recorded everything we could for you up until our battery died (yes I know, it’s embarrassing), but we still wanted to post what we have.  During the show, Adam had some live podcasting in there giving you an idea of what was happening on stage.  We’ve got another ‘cast coming with a roundup of the keynote, and what we did or didn’t like coming soon.  So listen to this one, and stand by for more.  Enjoy!

This podcast was once again sponsored by GoDaddy.com and comes with a 10% off coupon. It was also made possible by the Samson Zoom H4 and PodServe.

Listen In
[MP3] Direct Download (Right click, select save as).
[RSS] Add the Gadgetell Podcast RSS feed to your RSS reader to have the show delivered to you

Hosts: Doug Berger, Adam Berger, and a guest appearance by Greg Cherniet
Producer: Greg Cherniet
Music: Dvir Tzadok
File size: 38.6MB
Length: 00:56:17

Sponsored by GoDaddy.com:
As a listener of The Gadgetell podcast, enter code GADGET1, that’s G-A-D-G-E-T and the number 1, when you check out, and save an additional 10% on any order. Get your piece of the internet at GoDaddy.com.

Interested in sponsoring the podcast or advertising on the site? Please check out our advertise page or send an email to advertise (at) gadgetell .com.

Feedback is much appreciated. If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions, please email us at gadgetell (at) gmail.com.  Thanks for listening!

It’s Sunday night here at CES in Vegas and we’re ready to give you today in review.  We sat in tons of press conferences today and the Bill Gates keynote address - which we’ll get to in the next couple of episodes.  If you missed any news today, you can head over to our Dedicated CES page at ces.gadgetell.com.  Have a good night - or day if you’re listening on Monday.  We’ll be bringing you more live from the show floor, so stay tuned.

This podcast was once again sponsored by GoDaddy.com and comes with a 10% off coupon. It was also made possible by the Samson Zoom H4 and PodServe.

Listen In
[MP3] Direct Download (Right click, select save as).
[RSS] Add the Gadgetell Podcast RSS feed to your RSS reader to have the show delivered to you

Hosts: Doug Berger, Adam Berger, and a guest appearance by Greg Cherniet
Producer: Greg Cherniet
Music: Dvir Tzadok
File size: 17.0 MB
Length: 00:24:47

Sponsored by GoDaddy.com:
As a listener of The Gadgetell podcast, enter code GADGET1, that’s G-A-D-G-E-T and the number 1, when you check out, and save an additional 10% on any order. Get your piece of the internet at GoDaddy.com.

Interested in sponsoring the podcast or advertising on the site? Please check out our advertise page or send an email to advertise (at) gadgetell .com.

Feedback is much appreciated. If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions, please email us at gadgetell (at) gmail.com.  Thanks for listening!

Ladies and Gents, welcome to Gadgetell’s live coverage of the Bill Gates keynote address.  The man himself is expected to take stage here in Vegas at 6:30 PM to kick-off the 2007 Consumer Electronics Show.  Are you ready for a good ole’ Bill Gates keynote?  Yeah, us too!  Remember last year when he talked about integrating the phone with y?  This year, not a whole lot has changed.  Expect to hear a lot about Windows Vista, Office, and of course, the Zune.  We’re banking on Bill to have some A list celebrity with him like last year when he brought out Justin Timberlake.  Maybe he’ll bring out Britney this year… you never know!  I’ll stop blabbing on, but stick around and we’ll begin shortly.

NOTE: You know the drill, punch the F5 key for frequent updates - and by frequent, I mean every couple of minutes.

6:19 PM PST - We just got the announcement “Ladies and Gentlemen… please take your seats, the program will begin shortly.” We’re in our seats now and excited to see what Bill has to say.  Stick around.

6:27 PM PST - Well, the colors on stage are changing, so you know what that means…

6:35 PM PST - We’re now getting a CES introduction… great stuff.  Disclaimer: The connection here sucks so if we lose you, don’t worry, we’re still typing and will post it shortly.

6:40 PM PST - Gary Schapiro, President of the Consumer Electronics Association is now on stage giving his introduction.  The man is on his way…

6:43 PM PST - They’re now playing a montage video of Bill Gate’s past keynotes.  To be honest, it makes him look stupid… but it’s enough to be ironic since we know the man is a visionary.

6:46 PM PST - They’re playing a Windows Vista promo video building up the hype for Bill. 

6:48 PM PST - Ladies and Gentleman, please welcome the Chairman of the Microsoft Corp., Bill Gates!!!

6:49 PM PST - Bill’s cracking jokes about if they’re going to want him back after he’s been running his foundation… because he’ll be more likely to talk about infectious diseases than technology…

Here’s a good shot…

6:50 PM PST - He’s now talking about the “Digital Divide” and how youngin’s now use their computers more than they watch TV.  I know that’s correct for me, but what about you?

6:54 PM PST - There are some key things missing.  People want “Connected Exeriences"… people want to do things across multiple devices.  This sounds similiar to last year’s keynote.

6:55 PM PST - “This is not only the best version of Windows ever, but it’s also the highest quality version ever as well”

6:59 PM PST - He’s still talking about Windows and all of the things that people enjoy doing on their computers these days.

Justin Hutchinsom, the Group Product Manager of Microsoft, is coming on stage to demo Vista… and “we’re going to show you some features we haven’t shown publically yet.

The demo is live on the big-screen, and he says, “Windows Vista is not about searching, it’s about finding.” But I’d say, to me, it’s about searching.

7:02 PM PST - Shaddow Copy is a new feature from Vista… which he says is “better than going back in time"… Good to hear Microsoft has the balls to go after Steve Jobs.

7:03 PM PST - We just took a look at Office 2007, and now we’re looking at Windows Live Search.

He’s now using an Xbox 360 controller to fly around on their Windows Live Local.  http://local.live.com

7:07 PM PST - We’re now looking at a new feature in Vista Media Center called Sports Lounge which is a “sports fan’s dream”

Sports Lounge, Media Center - Windows Vista will take entertainment on the PC to the next level.

7:08 PM PST - Now we’re looking at Photo Gallery on Vista.  DVD Maker in Vista “makes it easy” to burn DVDs.

7:10 PM PST - Groupshot, a new application, will let you merge photos together. The example he used was one girl’s eyes were closed in a picture - and the boy’s eyes were closed in another version of the same picture.  He used Groupshot to merge the two photos into one so it’s “the picture you wish you had taken.” Very impressive.

7:12 PM PST - You can now set full-motion video as your background on your Vista computer.  They showed a waterfall and an animation of people moving around - it looks great.

7:15 PM PST - They’re now showing new innovative laptops, tablet portables, and UMPCs from HP, Toshiba, Sony, and Medion.

The models that he showed are timed to launch with Vista in 22 days.

7:17 PM PST - “Now let’s take a look at some of these Windows Vista PCs” - Video comes on showing the sleek new units from the manufacturers mentioned above.  They’ve got the Ferari laptop (of course - since they sent those out to a bunch of bloggers).  Now we’re looking at VooDoo (which was recently acquired by HP).  Do I sense a hardcore HP/Microsoft partnership?

7:22 PM PST - They just played a promo video announcing HP’s new Windows Home Server (which HP will brand as the HP Smart Server). Automatic backup, connectivity (first mention of Zune).  If you want to grow capacity, you just “plunk the storage in.” I personally like the word “plunk"… very classy!

7:25 PM PST - “A big part of connected experiences is connected entertainment.” Robbie Bach, President of Microsoft Corp just took the stage to talk about connected entertainment.  Integrated concept of hardware, software, and service that bring it all together is ideal.

Lets talk about music - Bill Gates introduced MTV Urge at last year’s CES.

7:26 PM PST - In our segment, we are the #2 player.  “Zune is off to a great start” - hmm I sort of disagree, Robbie.

He’s now talking about the mobility - Cingular’s BlackJack, Verizon’s Q, Cingular’s Treo and T-Mobile’s Dash are now on the screen - he just said “and that’s why we outsell Blackberry in the market.” Very bold statement sir.

7:29 PM PST - There are over 200 million gamers that use Windows machines. 

7:31 PM PST - “Games for Windows” demo is now playing, which pretty much means you can play games on Vista.  Woo hoo!

Xbox 360 - In the first 8 weeks, we sold over 2.4 million copies of Gears of War.  They will have over 300 titles in 2007;

Halo 3 - They just played a promo video - you know, the kind you see between levels in games where it looks way better than the actual game?  That’s the kind of video they just showed.  We’ll have that for you later.

7:35 PM PST - Xbox Live - They want to bring this to Vista.  They’re demoing it with collaboration between Windows Vista and Xbox Live.  They just opened UNO on Vista and are playing between both platforms.

This will roll-out on the Live service, this Summer.

7:39 PM PST - There have been 3 billion hours of Live play on the Xbox - that number is bound to sky-rocket once it’s integrated with Vista.

4 new ways for you to get TV & Movies on Vista. 

1st way to get HD content - They’re now showing the HD DVD player for Xbox 360 - and talking about how the demand for the product is so high that they can’t keep stores stocked.

2nd way to get HD content - Regarding Media Center, they have now shipped 30 million copies worldwide.

3rd way - Video Marketplace on Xbox Live - They’re going over their partners for Movies (HD movies that is).

4th way - IPTV - 2 years ago, they demoed it.  Today, they’re in market with 5 providers (AT&T, etc).  Over the next 3 or 4 years, this will take over.  What about HD DVD guys?

7:44 PM PST - We’re looking at IPTV broadcasting on the Xbox 360.  This is obviously a BIG announcement.  You will be able to talk to your friends while watching TV.  Very impressive.  This will be available holiday season, 2007.  “That brings us full-circle on Connected Entertainment.”

7:46 PM PST - “Connected Entertainment gives you the ability to take content with you wherever you want it and whenever you want it.”

Bill is now back on stage.

7:48 PM PST - “Now we’re going to talk about the car.” He’s talking about their new partnership with Ford.

Mark Fields, Executive VP of Ford, has now taken the stage with Bill.  They’re talking about Sync which integrates all of your devices with your car using “Micrsoft Auto.” He says you can bring devices like “Zunes, iPods, and any others” in the vehicle for connectivity.  Pardon me?  Did he just say iPod?  I guess they’re facing the facts.

7:51 PM PST - Because it’s fully updatable, owners will never have to worry about their devices not being compatible.

Sync will be available on 12 new Ford automobiles in 2007.

“Thanks Mark, it’s great to have you here!” I think that’s Bill-speak for get off of my stage. Just kidding.

7:54 PM PST - In conclusion - They going to demo the “Connected Home of the Future.” Very similar to last year.

He’s now going to take us through futuristic scenerios…

1) Bus Stop - The phone knows his location, he just sits there and it tells you the bus that’s coming, and tells you about nearby destinations that you might be interested in.  He is on his phone looking at a nearby restaurant’s menu.

2) Kitchen - “Another scenerio I have deep expertise in” - hey, at least he’s honest!  He put something on the counter-top and the counter just turned into a screen with a projected image of recipes, etc.

3) Bedroom - An image is projecting on the wall which is based on his personality.  He had a very hip look on the screen when he was in there, and when he mentioned that his grandma was coming to stay there, it turned into a very old traditional green house.

8:02 PM PST - That’s it, “Thank you” says Bill.

Thanks for tuning into Gadgetell for Live Coverage of Bill Gates’ keynote.  Stay tuned for more news throughout the night and for the rest of the show.  Have a good night.