I have tried accessing the Internet on my mobile phone...honestly, all the mobile phones I have had over the years...and it's generally tough going. That's one of the reasons I really like the Nokia N800, a tablet multimedia computer/device that is easy to use and has a very intuitive interface.

I experimented by having it at my side for the Bears-Saints NFC Championship game. Leaving aside I bet $10 in Vegas for the Saints to win SB41, it was enjoying finding out some details on the players while the game was in play. It was sort of like a disconnected interactive TV application. More on that some other time.

The RSS reader on the Nokia N800 is great and I set up a number of feeds whose headlines come in on an hourly basis. Amazingly, the video and audio on the device works extremely well. My only minor issue (similar to the video iPod) is that there are some on-screen reading challenges for someone with progressive bifocals.

What’s there to say about CES—it’s exhausting, exhilarating, a pain in the ass and there’s a lot of waiting in lines. My feet hurt, but I saw the immediate future of the media-technology world. It’s a world going in opposite directions. We are looking to connect everything together and we’re looking as having the freedom to roam. We want portability but we want to have all our gadgets and gizmos connected to alow us to play anything, anytime, where.

This “clip” is long, but has lots of cool stuff inside. Enjoy.

Allen and Mike take some time out during CES to get a perspective on mobile TV with Daniel House, director of marketing at goTV (wwwgotvnetworks.com).

 

 

The most interesting thing about the Starz announcement of its new download service is that it puts Microsoft back in the spotlight. Will 2006 be a battle between Apple and Microsoft focusing on devices and DRM technology? Apple has a large lead (understatement of the New Year) in the world of devices, but the word on the street is that Microsoft has done a lot to enhance its portable media software technology.

 

Stay tuned.

Wherein Allen and Mike chat the Motorola ROKR with iTunes, mobile music and the Nano.

 

What madness is this?

Allen and Mike present and then challenge the notion of Google offering a mobile phone of their own.  Whether or not you agree with the notion, we think the assumptions that go into our respective opinions are food for thought.