sMoRTy71.com: January 2009

Video games surpass DVDs in 2008
A report from Media Control GfK International came out this week that showed that, for the first time, video game sales surpassed the combined sales from DVDs and Blu-ray discs. There were $29 billion (down 6% YoY) worth of DVDs sold versus $32 billion (up 20% YoY) worth of video games.

Of course, dollar value isn't a pure apples-to-apples comparison since most movies cost between $15 and $30 while most games cost between $49 and $59.

A quick look at my consumption patterns show that the DVD-to-video-game ratio wasn't even close regardless of whether you look at total dollar value or units sold.



Here is the list of DVDs and Blu-ray discs I purchased in 2008:

1. Mad Men Season 1 (Blu-ray)
2. Iron Man (Blu-ray)
3. The Dark Knight (Blu-ray)
4. Step Brothers

Here is the list of video games (both console and PC) I purchased in 2008:

1. Littlest Pet Shop (Wii)
2. Wii Music (Wii)
3. Wii Fit (Wii)
4. Mario Kart Wii (Wii)
5. Chicken Shoot (Wii)
6. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii)
7. The Bigs (XBOX 360) used
8. Rainox Six Vegas (XBOX 360) used
9. Gears of War 2 (XBOX 360)
10. Guitar Hero World Tour (XBOX 360)
11. Burnout Paradise (XBOX 360)
12. Rock Band 2 (XBOX 360)
13. Pure (PS3)
14. SOCOM Confrontation (PS3)
15. Call of Duty: World at War (PS3)
16. Hanna Montana (NDS)
17. Left Brain Right Brain (NDS)
18. The Sims 2 IKEA Home Stuff (PC)
19. SPORE Creature Creator (PC)
20. SPORE (PC)
21. SPORE Creepy & Cute Parts Pack (PC)
22. The Sims 2 Apartment Life Expansion Pack (PC)

I am also pretty sure we picked up a couple of random PS2 games over the past year.

This list doesn't count the dozens (and dozens) of downloadable tracks for Guitar Hero and Rock Band we bought in 2008 either.

We also picked up new video game hardware including a PlayStation 3 and the Wii balance board (Because I would like to stay married, I'm not going to attempt to total up how much all of this cost).

So what about you? Did you spend more on video games than you did on DVDs and Blu-ray?

High school yearbook photo challenge
I am fast approaching my 20-year high school reunion (shocking, I know). As part of the preparation, one of my classmates created a website for our class. Sounds nice, right? Unfortunately, she also dug out the yearbook and included our senior yearbook photo on our profiles.

As you can see from the photo, I look a little bit different in 2009 than I did in 1989.

After sharing my photo on Flickr and Facebook this week, I got lots of comments from friends.

"Your parents let you walk around looking like that. Damn."

"I'm rarely stunned, but this is just AWESOME!!!"

"Wow. I had some Rex Chapman curls when I graduated but nothing like that...Did you use mane & tail on those locks?"

"LOL - this is classic; the hair and glasses are killin me!"

"oh my.....ewwwww"

Now, I'd like to challenge anyone who commented on that photo (and anyone else who would like to play along) to post their senior yearbook photos. Can't be as bad as mine, right?

So, Todd Earwood, Jason Hiner, Jeremy Lwanga, Brendan Jackson, Tom Osborne, Kevin Watts, Matt Cleary, Jeniece Jackson and Amy Morton, it's time to dig out those yearbooks.

For bonus points, post a link to your photo on Twitter and tag it #senioryear.

My personal CES 2009 highlights [updated]
One of the things I miss about working at CNET (OK, the only thing I miss about working at CNET -- I kid, I kid!) is not getting to go to CES. I had a blast last year covering the event with my colleagues Jason Hiner and Bill Detwiler. This year, though, I had to live vicariously through them, Dave Zatz, Engadget and Gizmodo.

Although the crowds were smaller and there wasn't big controversy like last year's Blu-ray/HD-DVD news, there were still some very cool products shown. Here is my personal list of favorites.

1. Windows 7 beta
I've had Vista on a couple of PCs here at home since the Fall of 2006. I finally switched back to XP when I bought my Acer Aspire One netbook last month. I am so ready for an new OS that doesn't require 3GB of RAM to run properly.

I am currently in the process of downloading the beta now. Because it is an upgrade from Vista, I will have to re-install Vista on a test machine before I can try it out.

Early reviews are positive. Of course, it would be hard to be worse than Vista, right?

2. Slacker for the Blackberry
Even before last year's CES, I was a big fan of Slacker (I'm listening to my custom hair metal station as I type this). I met with Jonathan Sasse, VP of Product, last year when they unveiled the first generation Slacker Portable.

This year, Slacker delivered the beta version of their much-anticipated Blackberry app. The software turns your Blackberry into a Slacker Portable.


Photo from Dave Zatz. Read his coverage.

The UI and music collection of Slacker are both excellent. And while I love my Slacker Portable, I can't wait to get it on my Storm (The beta app doesn't support the Storm yet).

3. SlingPlayer Mobile for Blackberry
I actually got to see a demo of the Blackberry version of SPM last year when I visited Dave Zatz at the Sling booth.


Dave Zatz showing me SPM for Blackberry at CES 2008

Just days before this year's CES, Sling released the beta to the public. As with the Slacker app, there is no official Storm version yet. Some Sling community members have had success using the Curve version. I haven't been successful in getting it to run for more than a few seconds.


The Curve version of SPM installed on my Blackberry Storm

Sling is working on a Storm version and I can't wait to get it.

4. Eye-fi video support
We are a two Eye-fi household, so I was excited to see the addition of video support. Amy shoots a lot of video on her camera and it is a pain to have to extract those files from the Eye-fi card manually.

Eye-Fi announced that their Wi-Fi SD cards will soon support direct upload to YouTube.

I hope they add support for other video sites like Flickr and Vimeo, but it will be a great start just to be able to transfer video files from your camera to your PC.

5. Dish Network's 922 DVR / Sling HD monitor
Since Echostar acquired Sling Media last year, the company has started integrating Sling technology into their set-top boxes.


Photo from Gizmodo

This year, Dish and Sling deliver a new, "Slingloaded" DVR (ViP 922) which features a 1TB HD DVR with Sling's placeshifting built in.


Photo from Gizmodo. Read their coverage.

While that is pretty cool, the most pleasant surprise was the 15" HD display with Sling integration that allows you to pull in video from the 922 or other Slingbox source wirelessly. Kind of takes the SlingCatcher concept and bakes it into an HD display. Very cool.

Not sure if the 922 is enough for me to switch to Dish; however, I'm all over the idea of a Sling-enabled display.

[UPDATE 1/14/2009:] According to Dave Zatz, the Sling display will only work with the 922 DVR. Won't work with standalone Slingboxes. Bummer.

6. Hava Sociable TV
Hava is one of the companies I met with at last year's CES. I also own the Hava Titanium HD Wi-Fi placeshifting box which is a lot like a Slingbox but with some key differences (like support for simultaneous connections to the same Hava box, free mobile software).


Photo from Dave Zatz. Read his coverage.

This year, Hava announced Sociable TV which will allow users to share live or DVRed content with friends via a web interface. According to Dave Zatz's coverage, Sociable TV "is slated to arrive mid-year, assuming the studios, networks, or lawyers don't intervene, and will include other 'sociable' features such as friends list, text chat, and content starring."

I've been a big fan of the idea of social TV since the relaunch of TV.com at CNET a few years ago. I had suggested to the product them that they could allow users to share what shows they were currently watching and dreamed of a day when friends could actually tune into shows and watch (and interact) with their friends. Looks like we're getting closer to that idea with Sociable TV.

7. Mikz
Keeping with the social theme, I really like the idea of Conveneer's Mikz software. It will allow you to create a social network using the content on your (and your friends') mobile phones. So, if I go to CES or SXSWi and take a lot of great photos or videos with my phone, I could share that with my friends with Mikz. According to Mari Silbey's coverage, there is also a Facebook app in the works.


Photo from Mari Silbey. Read her coverage.

I absolutely love the idea of making more devices "social." Of course, some might argue that a phone is already pretty social with that old-fashioned calling feature.

Mikz was being demoed at Qualcomm's booth and is currently limited to a select Qualcomm handsets.

So that's my list of the new products that I'm excited about from CES 2009. What was the product you're most excited about from CES 2009?

I really like the Blackberry Storm
I finally got around to ordering my corporate Blackberry right before the holidays. I ended up choosing the Blackberry Storm over the other phones we had to choose from (Bold, Curve, Pearl, etc.). I have a Moto Q9h as my personal phone and the Bold just seemed too similar in terms of the form factor. So, despite the mixed reviews, I went with the Storm.

After using it for a couple of weeks, I feel like I made a good decision. I really like it a lot.

The Good
1. The screen
The Storm features a bright, 480 x 360 resolution, 3.25" touchscreen.


Guess it is time to change my background image


It makes e-mails and webpages easier to read than on most traditional smartphone screens. Comparing the Storm's viewing area to that of my Moto Q9h is no contest.


My Moto Q9h next to my Blackberry Storm

2. Touch-click interface
Not sure what the official name is for the interface; however, I like having two different options for interacting with items of the screen: touching (to highlight something) and clicking (to select something). This allows for scrolling screens of program icons (as opposed to the pagination on the iPhone) without any accidental keystrokes. It also allows for dropdown menus that can be scrolled before selecting an item.

I also was relieved to find that the clicking of the screen sounds nothing like the sound effect they use on the TV commercials. In fact, mine doesn't make a sound at all when I click it.

One of my female co-workers found that her fingernails prevented her from being able to press the onscreen icons. So, you may need a manicure before getting the most out of the Storm.

3. The onscreen keyboard
This has been one of the most criticized features of the Storm; however, I have not really had a problem with it. As with the iPhone's keyboard, it took a little time to get used to it. I found that after a couple of hours of use, I had pretty much mastered it.


As long as you don't cross over the center line on the keyboard (between the "T" and the "Y") with your thumbs, your typing will be accurate.

The key to success with the QWERTY version of the keyboard is to keep your thumbs on the proper half of the screen. For example, trying to type a "Q" with your right thumb is only asking for trouble. Use your left thumb and you're good.