CES 2013 showed us how much the industry and consumers have grown to love tablets, phablets and smartphones. The rise of extemely portable, powerful and convienent mobile computing has shifted the consumer landscape to one without desktop computers. Who wants to be tethered to their desk in this day and age when you can be on the go or on your couch. Another contributing factor to the success of tablet computing is processing power. It's hard for me these days to even give meaningful advice about which computer to get with what specs are needed when most PCs do what most consumers want...surf the web, YouTube and email. Not only are laptops and desktops feeling the plummet in sales but the traditional handheld gaming market such as the Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita are also feeling the crunch. My answer to most people nowadays is get whatever is cheap and has a good warranty. Fewer people need gaming big rigs and the PC parts industry has definitely felt the decline in sales. The fall of the traditional PC market has also made big companies such as Dell and HP restructure to try to stay relavent and survive. Microsoft is even struggling as desktop/laptop growth has fallen which has caused lower than forcasted adoption rates of Windows 8. I for one will still be building my own PCs for as long as I can as one of the fewer power-users who needs workstations that can push multiple HD streams while editing video and the storage space that comes with that territory...why do I feel so old all the sudden.
Last month I was invited to the BMW 3-Series launch event hosted by BMW Toronto. The 3-Series is BMW's bread-n-butter car which means the event was completely packed. This event was much bigger than last year's BMW X1 launch. The most notable changes to the F30 iteration of the 3-Series are the wider headlights, that go directly against the kidney grill, and the option of a fuel efficient turbocharged inline 4-cyclinder engine producing up to 241hp. In between the wine, beer and food, I took the opportunity to grill the BMW reps about the lack of a 3-Series coupe in the line-up. Official word was "no comment" but they were hinting that HQ was leaning towards only having even numbers in the BMW series (2,4,6) being coupes and odd numbered vehicles (1,3,5,7) being sedans. I think BMW is diluting their brand by taking a page out of Mercedes' playbook and releasing a model for every demographic under the sun. Why do we even need a 6-Series Gran Coupe...that has 4 doors?! Who really needs a long wheel base 3-Series...just go buy a 5-Series already! This looks like the end of an era for the M3 Coupe. It's going to be a while till I get used to saying "M4 Coupe". *Update: Now BMW's releasing an M6 Gran Coupe? Seriously?!!
The popularity of mobile gaming with iOS and Android platforms have been cutting into traditional portable gaming markets such as the Nintendo 3DS and Sony PS Vita. I'm not a big fan of gaming on my cell phone or any touch screen only device for that matter. Have you ever tried playing a fast action game like Street Fighter 2 on a touch screen and actually enjoyed it? Call me old fashioned but I need buttons! I'm sure once the 3DS and PS Vita hit their stride and release killer apps and games they'll reclaim more of the market share but mobile gaming has the unfair advantage of not being rated by the ESRB. Developers of games on iOS and Android devices can cut corners and release their software quickly as they choose to ignore the rating system. I'm not a fan of rating systems or censorship but I say if Nintendo and Sony have to adhere to the ESRB so does Apple and Google.
At CES 2012 we began to see more 4K "Ultra Definition" TVs on the show floor but do we really need them right now? The highly competitive TV market has manufacturers throwing every unnecessary feature and buzz word at consumers to make them stand out against their competitors. Does anyone actually enjoy watching 240hz TVs that makes films look like cheap home movies? Who's going to buy a 4K TV when there's no content on the market? Blu-Rays aren't going anywhere soon and no one wants to see another disc format on the market. Internet steaming isn't going to fix the problem as we can barely get good HD on Netflix if you even want to call that HD. Streaming 4K content won't happen till service internet service providers get bigger bandwidth in the homes. Cable and satellite providers won't jump for 4K channels because they can use the same bandwidth that 1 channel takes to make more money off of 4 to 6 HD channels. 4K TVs will be useless on sets smaller than 40 inches. We don't even have 1080p content as mainstream yet. Stop selling consumers on 4K TVs and keep it to medical and other professional markets!
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