and Back to NY *sigh*

Michael Gartenberg | August 08, 2006, 09:18 PM

It's been a pretty good trip here to SF but I managed to wrap up all of the client stuff early so I'm going to head back to NY first thing tomorrow. I could of course just stay here another day, enjoy the rather amazing weather and then head to the shoutcast party tomorrow night, but instead I'm going back to NY where I can take a few meetings on Thu and do some prep for my trip to Seattle the week of the 21st. Today was a pretty amazing day, not just weather wise, but sadly it was full of meetings that I can't talk about for the moment and in some cases, can't talk about until 2008 :). I do, however, know now with some certainty what I think my phone (s) of the year are going to be come December.

Instead here's a few random comments and links.

On Apple's news – There seems to be some folks questioning a lack of enthusiasm about Apple's news yesterday. Reminder, Apple's WWDC is for developers. Apple has never talked about the iPod or related stuff at this event (except, as I was reminded today to mention the first BMW/iPod integration). Yes, there were some folks who hyped things a lot, with supposed "inside info" but as a general rule, remember that those who know don't speak and those who speak, well… you get the idea.

Thomas Hawk has some good insight about how Vista could make the living room PC a reality. Not sure I totally agree and not sure Redmond is thinking along these lines but it's well worth the read.

Finally Joel Evans, the chief geek at geek.com has a good first take of the Toshiba Gigabeat S. I've been remiss in posting my detailed thoughts, but I agree strongly with Joel. This is a great device that works well with Media Center PCs as well as with WMP 11 and Urge. It's a great form factor and priced well and PMC interface really shines on this device. I've had the chance to use one on the road and while I think battery life is weak for video (as is the iPod) it's a great alternative for those looking for something that's not from Cupertino. Video looked crisp and sound was excellent. For easy transcoding fun, use it and your Media Center PC with MyTV2Go from the folks at Roxio for a fast and seamless video experience.

What's interesting is that despite all the buzz around this device at CES, there's been almost no PR about it and it's not something that's readily available in the retail channel. It's a shame, this device is the device that MSFT had in mind when they started PMC as a project way back when and it really stands out from the crowd of iPod competitors. If you're in the market for a non-Apple device or if you're a fan of subscription music services, this one's worth the hunt to find.