Whats up all of you wonderful Oxygen Live bloggers!  I am so excited to be at CES…  the technology is amazing and there are some really hot men walking around handing out chocolate…. weeerk!  I’m so honored to bring my show ALL ABOUT AUBREY to the network and I hope you all love my journey.  I made sure to bring you a show that gives you the truth about the good, bad, and ugly of my experiences in the music industry…  and i hope you all enjoy watching my come back to the music industry…  and what it looks like when the curtains go down!  Alongside my career, my show covers my personal relationships, family, friends, past decisions, dating life…  and of course my beautiful babies Ginger and Maryann!  I took a real look at myself with this show and tried to give you guys honesty that will hopefully allow you to feel inspired!

Keep Giving,

Aubrey

I’ve written about CES for Scholastic for five years now, but I just learned a few days ago that this is going to be my last CES (at least for now). Next year I’m off to college, and with the later start date, CES just happens to coincide with the first week of the new quarter, so I won’t be able to come in 2012.
Thankfully, it seems that I did not pick a bad year to be my last. Some very thrilling and exciting announcements have happened this year. Why, just two days ago in the Grand Lobby, I watched as a crowd of dozens (LITERALLY DOZENS) stood with rapt attention as Reese’s, the Official Candy of CES counted down to the announcement of something they claimed would “change the way we eat Reese’s forever”.

The excitement in the air was palpable as the countdown went down to 7 seconds, then spontaneously jumped back up to 5 minutes and 20 seconds, only to drop down to 40 seconds again until at last internet personality Chris Pirillo and Jim St. John, VP of R&D at The Hershey Company introduced the most revolutionary technology at this year’s CES – the Reese’s Mini, the world’s smallest Reese’s. The magnitude of this announcement was somewhat lost on me until I heard them say it took them 5 years to get Reese’s to be this small – and only then did I realize the significance of what I had witnessed.  I kid, of course (though, as you can see from the post a couple of days ago, not about what actually happened).

There was, however, something that was very exciting for me later that day. I participated in the Build Your Own PC Race for the fourth time this year, and right before the racers were called up to their computers, I got pulled aside by someone who introduced themselves to me as LJ Rich of the BBC. She did a short interview with me before and after the race, and told me that it would go live on the website. That’s right – I’m going to be on the same website as Doctor Who. Total geek out moment for me.

Just earlier today, I also got to talk to a professor from my future school – Dr. Ge Wang of the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA for short, pronounced “karma”). If you’ve ever played an instrument on the iPhone or iPad, he probably had a hand in it – many of the popular ones, like Ocarina, Magic Piano, or Magic Fiddle were made by his company Smule.One of Smule’s apps, Glee Karaoke, seems particularly appropriate right now since as I sit here writing this post, I’m being graced with the.. varying vocal talents of visitors to the Oxygen karaoke station at the NBCU booth. The interview was one of the most interesting ones that I’ve ever done, and it ended up going on so long that I was late for my appointment here at the Hub – sorry!

I’m going to miss CES. I’ve had some of the weirdest and most exciting experiences of my life here. I’ve had the opportunity to do everything from meeting Elmo to interviewing Steve Ballmer, the CEO of Microsoft, and it’s clear that CES is a place where anything can happen. I guess I’ll just have to get back here as soon as I can.

Is there anyone who wouldn’t love gesture control for TV viewing? No more remotes buried the couch. No more rummaging for new batteries. Well, I’ve seen a lot of gesture control at the show. There’s of course Microsoft’s Kinect on the Xbox. I saw the Keenu 3D motion gesture control, in the Intel booth, which follows the entire body – also for gaming only. I saw the exquisite Sony L Series All in One Computer in which everything is built into the screen. Using the Media Gallery, you wave from one song to another. So -why doesn’t someone just make a device that connects to any TV and allows you to flick your way through viewing choices? Well, turns out someone has. TCL makes TV’s and a gesture control device, among other things. So what’s the problem? They’re only in China with no current plan for coming to the US. Paging Thomas Friedman.

I saw Rim’s Playbook. Classy and sleek, yes. But one of the reasons I love my Blackberry and it can’t be replaced by an iPhone is the keyboard. Would it have been so wrong to have a slide out keyboard?

Now, you know who has a super tablet? Samsung. It’s the Slider tablet. Glorious. A tablet in a clamshell which transforms to a nice full screen keyboard laptop. Due out in Q2, I couldn’t get too much details but I’m watching that space. I just hope they get more apps available.

Onward. With all due respect to the talent and hard work dedicated to making these gorgeous 3D TVs, I’m afraid I’m not going to be an early adopter. I don’t want to wear glasses unless I’m at the beach or in a darkened theater. That’s why I got contacts for goodness sakes! I will tell you that the glasses are better for sure. LG has a beautiful pair that can double as sunglasses. Again, not that sunny during prime time in my living room. I promise to rethink my position when glasses become unnecessary and you don’t have to sit in a perfect line of site.

OLED. Gorgeous picture. And now LG makes one that’s 31”. The largest used to be 11”. But what happened to those OLED laptops that you could roll up like a magazine? Are those even still being worked on? Or did they turn out to be too expensive?

Motorola was a popular booth. They have a nice tablet – the XOOM. And it’s a nice experience consuming media from TV screen to tablet to phone. But what people talked about more is their Atrix smartphone which can be docked to your laptop. Yes, that’s cool. But do I really want to go looking for said docking device for a mobile smart phone?

Ok. Let’s talk about more stuff I love. Smart TVs. They’re one of the stars of the show (along with 3D and tablets). Can’t wait. Just hoping I can upgrade my Sony Bravia, which is already connected to the Internet.

And let’s hear it for Comcast Xfinity which lets you watch on a tablet or the TV. I’d love it even if it weren’t the company about to become very important in my life.
And I have to mention Kodak’s new camcorders. The “Playfull” is tiny and fabulous even if you can’t replace the battery with a charged one. And the “Rugged Playsport” looks perfect for the beach or in other camera unfriendly environs.

One more thing. I rode in a taxi this morning to the Convention Center with Jeremy and Jason of Zeo. What a great tool they’ve created. It analyzes your sleep patterns and then shows you a graph of how you slept that night – when you were in light sleep, when in rem sleep, etc. They said Team Radio Shack was using them to train for the Tour d’France.

And my friends who have worked so hard here to build and run this NBC Universal center created a tour d’force. If you’re here at CES and haven’t stopped by, don’t miss it. It’s 9831 in Central Hall.

One more last thing. Don’t forget to text the word menu to 622639 to subscribe to our alert services. Remember to ask for NBC News Mobile on your cellphone, or smart phone, or wireless handheld device. Check out our augmented reality treasure hunt at 30 Rock after downloading the GoldRun app on your iPhone. And follow me to find out other cool interactive stuff coming soon.

Ciao for now,

Bonnie Optekman
VP, News Technology
NBC Universal
www.twitter.com/boptekman
www.facebook.com/bonnieoptekman

I’m showing off the new Scarlet 3k camera at the NBC “hub”area here at CES

And speaking of NBC, there is a big new show starting this Sunday on NBC called “the Cape” that’s shot on the RED. Looks really amazing.

Thanks to NBC for having me at CES!

Authored by Ted Schilowitz

Popcorn, liquid nitrogen, and a blowtorch . . . The phrase “do not try this at home” comes to mind! But Top Chef’s Richard Blais has the skill to turn those ingredients an tools into some amazing treats … In front of a standing room only crowd in the NBCU booth at CES.

This is my fourth year helping to put together nbcu’s presence at CES and it’s definitely a comeback year for the show, with renewed energy and big crowds. If this is any kind of early indicator for the economy … It’s a good sign!

What’s big? 3D tv is big and tablets are big! More ways to watch video … ALL GOOD !

Continuing on…I ran into some…well take a look…

And you just never know when you’re going to run into some show girls.  This is Vegas after all:

Microsft came out swinging this year with a focused and direct press release that showcased the success of the XBOX360 with Kinect, the launch of Windows Phone 7, and the exciting new advances of Windows 7 OS.   I remember buying my first XBOX in 2001 so excited for the possibilities an ethernet enabled console would bring to gaming.  Fast forward ten years and the XBOX360 an active online gaming ecosystem called LIVE, video entertainment from Zune, Netflix , ESPN and now Huluplus all controlled with nothing more than your voice and hands.  Amazing! The launch of Windows Phone 7 has generated quite a buzz.  Miscrosoft touted 5,500 apps since the fall launch but they have a way to go to catch up to Google and Apple and their combined 400k+ App footprint.  Lastly, Winows OS 7 will not work with SoC and ARM platforms giving Windows the possiblity to work on any device and any platform.  Windows in your car stereo?  It could happen!

If AT&T congestion ever clears up you can follow my tweets @mark_w_norris .  Have a great show!

Steve Ballmer focused the crowd on their coverage of TVs (via the Xbox), phones, and PCs. 2010 saw a lot of progress with the Xbox 360, Xbox Live and Kinect. With the addition of the Zune marketplace and Kinect you now have hand and voice controls of music and movies to go along with the obvious Xbox gaming platform.

With the addition of Netflix, Hulu Plus and ESPN3.com you now have access to movies, TV shows and sports all through the Xbox. One thing not mentioned was that each of those services require paid subscriptions, so buyer beware.

The Windows 7 phone has been launched with 9 different phones, by 60 mobile operators, in 30 countries. They demoed some cut scenes from Xbox Live games on the phone, all of which looked fun but several appear to be “me too” apps compared to Apple’s app store options. Competition in the mobile marketplace is a good thing and proof of that comes in some things not seen on an iPhone. Live tiles on the lock and home screens give you quick access to the most important info (# of emails, texts, voicemails, etc) so you van glance and go. A physical camera button that works even when the phone is locked allows you to go from pocket to picture to post in seconds.

Their last segment on PCs showed some hot gadetry in the form of an Asus dual touchscreen laptop and a Samsung Sliding 7 Series PC that is a laptop the converts into a tablet. So, if you want to get some large format Nintendo DS action, the Asus machine is for you. If you’re like me then the Samsung device will let you have the office power of a laptop plus the kick-up-your-heels comfort of a tablet. I’ll be getting my hands on that later today and possibly putting through an order on Amazon.com!

Now I’m off to the rest of CES, but stay tuned to the NBCU coverage via Twitter (@NBCUCES), Facebook (NBCUCES), and here at http://NBCUatCES.com.

(Blogged from my iPhone.)