That’s not as in “you can blitz by ads if you hold down the fast-forward button long enough” or “you can make an ad disappear if you mash a 30-second-skip button at the right moment.” This new Auto Hop option on the satellite service’s Hopper DVR wipes out all commercial breaks in some recorded programming. An individual spot no longer has a chance to exert momentary, blipvert-esque persuasion before being skipped past; it never appears.

Auto Hop comes with significant constraints: It only works on shows saved with Dish’s PrimeTime Anytime feature, which automatically records everything aired by ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC from 8 to 11 p.m. on weekdays. And this option only emerges if you wait until the next day – specifically, from 1 a.m. onward – to watch these recordings. But it’s enough to have the networks angry and a little irked. NBC and Fox already refused ads from Dish touting the Auto Hop option.

Dish’s contention is that it’s sensitive to networks’ concerns and is only giving customers another way to practice a longstanding habit. Noting that Dish’s DVRs include a 30-second skip button, product-management vice president Vivek Khemka said in a conference call that “we’re just enabling them to do it automatically the next day.”

An earlier attempt to implement this feature, pioneering DVR vendor ReplayTV’s Automatic Commercial Advance, didn’t survive a change in company ownership. This one looks like it will stick around for longer—ensuring a fresh round of an ongoing discussion: Does giving a human’s job to a vastly more efficient software make that task somehow evil?

Consider three examples from recent stories.

Hiding ads on Web pages

This is the most direct parallel. Nobody has ever made a reasonable case for viewers closing pop-up and pop-under ad windows, and after enough years of sites abusing this privilege, nobody squawked much when browsers added pop-up blocking tools. But what about ads that run alongside stories online? Is it legitimate to use software to thwart the commercials that temporarily fill a page or obscure text?

Two years ago, Ars Technica editor Ken Fisher wrote a post imploring readers of the tech-news site not to use automatic ad-blocking software. I found his logic persuasive then—and, now that I’ve written for the site a couple of times, it seems even stronger now.

But the history of pushy Web ads underlies how fuzzy this line can be. So does the existence of a law, the CALM Act, that requires the FCC to write regulations banning overly loud commercials on TV.

(The kind of compromise one reader suggested on Twitter—charge me extra for commercial skipping, then split the proceeds with the networks—rarely seems to come up.)

Speeding tickets

If a police officer pulls you over for going 81 in a 55-mph zone with a properly calibrated radar gun, you can complain about the fairness of that speed limit but not whether you got caught fairly. But if you replace that cop and car with an automated camera that will mail you a ticket, that’s another discussion entirely. It’s as if that more efficient setup makes things too easy for law enforcement—or, put another way, that they make too much money from speeding tickets.

Note that in CEA’s home of Virginia, the state bans radar detectors. It’s fine if you look ahead to spot a state trooper’s car, but using technology to automate that task won’t do either.

Facial recognition

When Facebook allowed its users to tag photos that featured their friends, nobody complained too much (pictures involving the influence of alcohol excluded). The sum of all that input now amounts to an immensely power, crowd-sourced facial-recognition engine. But when the social network began using software to suggest tags for recently-uploaded photos, Facebook users complained quickly and loudly.

More recently, a Chicago startup called SceneTap has begun using cameras in bars to provide users of its nightlife apps with data about the average age and gender balance of patrons in participating bars. Let’s just say the reaction has not been universally supportive—even though you could gather about the same information by peeking in the door of a nightspot or texting a friend already there.

As the saying on Facebook goes: It’s complicated. What call would you make in each of these four scenarios?

By Rachel Horn, CEA Communications Manager

New job? Big promotion? CEA wants to know! CE Vision is rolling out a new column highlighting job comings and goings within the CE sector. CE Inputs/Outputs will feature new hire and promotion announcements at our member companies.

“We’re witnessing dynamic growth and innovation within the CE industry. The 2012 International CES was CEA’s biggest show on record,” says Cindy Stevens, Vision’s editor-in-chief. “CE Inputs/Outputs will serve as a resource that will enable you to keep track of the people and organizations that make this industry vibrant.”

Keep us informed of what’s going on in your office, and we’ll help spread the good news. Email the latest hiring and promotion news and photos from your organization to inputsoutputs@ce.org.

In March of this year, U.S. smartphone penetration crosses the 50 percent mark, a major milestone for the consumer electronics (CE) industry as companies benefit from selling more products, services, components and accessories for smartphones. This, along with a changing consumer landscape, contributes to the rise of the SoMoLo (social, mobile, local) shopper.

CE brands should keep in mind, though, that more smartphones in consumers’ hands means increased changes in the way consumers shop for any product: Untethered. SoMoLo shoppers roam the aisles of their favorite big box CE retailer for the best deal – whether it’s in that store, another store, online, in-stock, nearby or even within their social network of friends. They share group deals, read reviews and find the exact product they want at the price they want … all without talking to a single store associate.

However, there can be a dark side to this brave new “SoMoLo” world. Consumers have a massive amount of data at their fingertips, but are they actually getting a better retail experience, or just prolonging the path to purchase? And, (of particular interest to me) how does the rise of the SoMoLo shopper shift the role of a product’s packaging in consumer purchasing habits?

The answer is that packaging is now even more important. It helps elevate the connection between the SoMoLo shopper and the retail environment so consumers can actually experience the product in the store. When purchasing big-ticket CE products, like laptops, consumers still feel the need to come into the store to interact physically with the product firsthand, instead of simply purchasing online. That’s an opportunity for packaging and other factors like in-store signage and retailer interaction to influence the purchasing decision.

In the embedded podcast, Retail TouchPoints and I discuss what retailers and brands should know about the SoMoLo trend, and the intersection of smart devices, the retail environment and consumer packaging.

Worldwide sales figures gathered by NPD DisplaySearch and touted in a release Monday, May 14, showed that in the fourth quarter of 2011, LCD sets backlit with light-emitting diodes made up 55.3 percent of the total, outnumbering those illuminated by CCFLs (cold cathode fluorescent lamps).

By the fourth quarter of this year, DisplaySearch predicts that LED sets will add up to 70.4 percent of the market, consigning CCFL TVs to the niche category once occupied by expensive, upstart LED models.

CEA’s January 2012 estimates for U.S. shipments tell a similar story, with LED sets forecast to rise from 9.4 million units last year to 15.3 million this year while CCFL units deflate from 19.4 million to 13.1 million.

That’s a noteworthy achievement, considering that it’s only been three years and change since LED-backlit sets debuted at the 2009 CES  as a high-end option at we’ll-tell-you-later prices.

This transition will force a change in the sales pitch for LED models—which, to stick with the dictionary definition, are no less LCD TVs than the CCFL models nobody ever thought to call “CCFL TVs” or “fluorescent TVs.”

That marketing message for LEDs has been a combination of faster (quicker response times), deeper (darker blacks) or greener (less power use). Not all such TVs share those virtues, in part because of the usual variations in design and build quality and, more importantly, because we’re actually talking about two different types.

“Edge-lit” sets, in which a bank of LEDs around the edge of the screen illuminates the rest of the picture, are cheaper and more common. More expensive “direct” or “array” sets (only .5 percent of the market in Q4 2011, compared to 54.8 percent for edge-lit) have far more LEDs positioned right behind the screen. And they, in turn, can be either white LEDs or sets of red, green and blue diodes.

Analyst Raymond Soneira, president of DisplayMate Technologies Corp., wrote that RFB arrays delivered the most accurate colors in his Amherst, N.H., firm’s research but scoffed at most other LED sales pitches in two e-mails. In particular, he called faster response times a “marketing exaggeration” not borne up in tests and labeled the deeper blacks provided by the ability to turn off part of a TV’s backlight a “processing trick.”

The LED-backlit sets I’ve inspected have all looked terrific. But so does my CCFL-backlit model. That’s the dirty secret of arguments about TV picture quality: For all the time you spend obsessing over these details before a purchase, once you take the TV home its screen becomes your primary frame of reference. You’re not going to plant a second set next to it for comparison purposes.

LEDs can use less electricity than CCFL backlights, but other components in a set can offset that—it’s possible to find LED sets that use more power than CCFL models of the same size, while others draw notably less current. (“Local dimming,” the feature that can enable deeper blacks, can help with that.)

LEDs are often touted as lasting longer than CCFLs—but with the latter’s lifespan being routinely estimated as high as 50,000 hours, you’re far more likely to retire a set because other things on it break or become obsolete.

The clearest case for LED technology is that it can make the entire display lighter and thinner.These traits, analyst and HDTValmanac.com proprietor Alfred Poor noted, have already driven non-LED backlights from the market for mobile devices.

Switching to the newer backlighting technology may not make any one TV dramatically less hefty or thick, but the differences can add up to a serious reduction in shipping costs over timewhich, in turn, should shrink the environmental footprint of the entire business. As the cost differential between manufacturing the two technologies narrows, that savings alone may be enough to conclude CCFL’s employment.

The biggest potential benefit to buyers from the eventual triumph of the “LED TV” may be taking this entire marketing point off the table: When most TVs have this feature, manufacturers will have to compete on quality, price, features or some mix of them. As a customer, I can live with that.

Now how about bringing more affordable LED light bulbs to my home sometime soon?

But the way we get stuff to watch on TV could be up for significant changes. Startups are looking for new ways to deliver TV as we’ve known it, Web services like Netflix and Amazon keep padding out their inventory, and incumbent cable and satellite services look to keep their place in the market.

Let’s talk about that–and, since I’m going to the cable industry’s annual convention next week, you can tell me what you’re hoping to learn from the Cable Show in Boston.

Join Rob Pegoraro  from noon to 1 p.m. Eastern on Friday, May 17.

Click here to join the Live Chat!

By Samantha Nevels, Policy Communications Coordinator

Summer is almost here, and with summer, comes more sun. It’s time we put the sun to work for us and our electronics. How, you ask? Fortunately, many products have been created to use the sun’s rays to charge and power our electronics.

Going on a hike and need to charge your phone at the top of the mountain? Use a product like the Nomad 7 Solar Panel, or the Guide 10 Plus Adventure Kit, both by Goal Zero. The Nomad 7 can collect up to seven watts of power from the sun to charge your phone for up to two additional hours of battery life.

If you’re looking for something just a little more comprehensive, the Guide 10 Plus is for you! It can power your tablet for up to 25 percent longer battery life, AND charge four AA or AAA batteries for use in other electronics. Not only do these products help support your electronics, but they’re slim, simple and easy to carry.

Want something a little smaller to snap onto the back of your iPhone? Eton has created a solar panel charger case that fits right on the back of your iPhone. The Eton Mobius can extend the battery life of your phone for up to five hours of talk time, or eight hours of Internet use. When you’re at that picnic in the park, or bringing your kids to the playground, simply turn your phone upside down and let it charge in the sun. The iPartner is another great on-the-go charger. Simply charge it and attach to the back of your iPhone for extended battery life.

The sun isn’t the only thing that can help power your electronics. Your physical movement can charge that phone of yours. The nPowerPEG uses the energy you generate while hiking, walking, or performing any other activity. It stores the energy for when you need a backup charger for your electronics. Just stick it in your backpack or purse and go.

And remember, while you’re out and about soaking up the sun, be sure to unplug any chargers in your home to save energy and lower your electricity bill. For more information on how to be green this summer, check out GreenerGadgets.org.

To see these products up close, watch the video below!

I could have predicted some trends on display at CTIA (put on by the Washington-based trade association of the same name) without stepping away from my desk. Yes, there’s still an enormous market for add-on chargers and battery packs. Yes, phone screens haven’t finished getting bigger–although at least the plus-sized displays on Samsung’s 4.8-in. Galaxy S III and HTC’s 4.7-in. One X come surrounded by narrow bezels that help these devices look somewhat svelte.

But other developments had some surprises and subtlety to them and deserve a closer look.

LTE is how we’ll spell “wireless”

The exit sign from the current, confused state of “4G” mobile broadband looked a lot closer at CTIA. Where today AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless use the term to refer to three different standards, all are now coalescing around the most honest definition of 4G, LTE (Long Term Evolution). Verizon’s deployment of LTE is well along, AT&T’s is picking up speed, and Sprint and a reinvigorated T-Mobile will be launching LTE networks later this year.

Just as important, the first smartphones using long-awaited, integrated 3G-plus-LTE chipsets (for instance, the One X) are coming on the market. By not needing a separate component for LTE, these phones shouldn’t be pleading for a recharge as often as current LTE models. That’s an innovation I could use much more than battery-draining bandwidth.

Carriers are also taking steps to move voice calls to LTE. Qualcomm outlined a road map to move to widespread “VoLTE” support by 2014; that should help free up bandwidth, although carriers will still be asking for more spectrum and working to offload more traffic to WiFi.

mAh is the new MHz

The most relevant number on a new smartphone isn’t its screen size, storage, or camera resolution–it’s the battery capacity. More milliampere-hours (mAh) are better, but you may have to click through to a fine-print specs page to see this data point.

How much is enough? After trying too many Android phones that couldn’t make it through a full day on a battery in the 1,500-1,800 mAh range, buying anything with less than 2,000 mAh of capacity seems foolish. (Other smartphone operating systems, such as Apple’s iOS and Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7, have been a little more efficient and can get by with lower-capacity batteries.)

I invite–no, I beseech manufacturers to get into a bidding war over this specification. Even if it means making a phone a fraction of an inch thicker.

The smartphone as subscription revenue source

Now that we’ve all gotten used to spending money in smartphone app stores (even if Android users lag behind), you can expect to see more pitches from carriers, manufacturers and developers to sign up for one subscription after another. It’s the same basic concept as the calling-plan options (say, paying extra for ext ended night calling hours) that carriers once put a great deal of effort into selling.

Security software will probably be one popular option. Even if the actual threat from viruses hasn’t been that bad, there’s still a market for find-my-phone services and child-safety tools. Sprint, for example, plans to offer a bundle of those utilities, based in part of Lookout’s security software, for $9.99 a month, and AT&T used the show to pitch a forthcoming “Digital Life” home-automation and home-security service.

Who’s going to keep the iPhone and Android honest? 

The predictable no-show of Apple and the less-expected near-absence of Microsoft and Research In Motion at CTIA’s exhibits made this show a blurry lens through which to see who might give that operating system and iOS some needed competition.

People who saw Research In Motion demonstrate its new BlackBerry 10 software at a conference in Orlando earlier this month seemed impressed, but it will be months before hardware ships–and RIM didn’t have a demo of that operating system at CTIA to distract attendees from the competition.

Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7–a system I’ve liked on phones such as Nokia’s Lumia 900–seems on more solid ground. But while WP7 is becoming an increasingly affordable option, thanks to budget-priced phones like AT&T’s $49.99 Samsung Focus 2, its selection of apps remains far behind. And as I realized from using a loaner Nokia 900 during the show, the quality of such individual apps as Twitter and Evernote also lags.

I had plenty of Android phones to paw over at CTIA, but I can only guess which ones will receive the most consistent software updates. So while I saw one or two enticing possibilities to replace my sad, old phone, I’m not quite ready to say if they’ll get my business.

At the end of the 2011 holiday season, one-third of all shopping visits ended with an average of $125 left unspent. For retailers and brand owners, this is a troubling statistic. Experts have hypothesized that this was driven by a decrease in the overall retail experience, including store associate assistance. Case-in-point: 55 percent of retail associates believe their shoppers are better informed about product information than they are themselves.

What was once an immersive experience has now become more about processing a transaction.

However, consumers still want more from their in-store experiences, and both retailers and brands are trying to reboot this engagement. We all remember the hype around the QR code. But what you might not know is that less than five percent of the American public has ever scanned a QR code. While QR code awareness and inclusion in marketing communications efforts has increased exponentially over the past year, the statistics speak to the disconnect between providing “transactional information” rather than an “emotional connection.”

Today’s consumers are needy, and they require persistent engagement and continually nurtured relationships. To account for this, brand owners – particularly in the consumer electronics (CE) industry – are shifting budgets away from traditional advertising channels into social media. According to Nielsen, Internet ad spending grew by 24 percent over last year. And Forrester Research predicts that online ad spends will finally outpace television by 2016. While marketers excel at providing this experience effectively online, they’re losing sight of the in-store experience.

As we continue to see explosive growth in “hybrid” retail channels (think of kiosks, pop-up shops, social media “stores,” and even online viral campaigns), crafting the right consumer engagement will become even more intricate. These channels – and others that might not even exist yet – will be opportunities to purchase products and even more important, to connect consumers with brands. As the consumer shops across all these channels, it will be increasingly difficult to unify fragmented connection points into an overarching brand experience.

So how do you connect with shoppers authentically within this new dynamic? How do you convert a transaction into an immersive brand experience? And, most important, what marketing platform will be most effective?

I believe that part of the answer is through consumer packaging.

Think of it this way: 100 percent of your brand’s consumers interact with your packaging. No other form of marketing communications can make that claim. All aspects of that interaction need to be finely crafted to become a moment to make a brand impression. How a consumer holds it, opens it, uses it, stores it, reseals it, and finally disposes of it are all opportunities to reinforce the connection between brand and consumer. And we find that in the CE space especially, consumers hang on to a product’s packaging for a much longer time than other product categories.

Packaging is literally the physical manifestation of the brand experience and sits squarely in the middle of the relationship between brand equity and repeat purchase behavior. It literally needs to “make good” on all the brand’s promises and connect with the consumer to drive repeat purchase behavior.

By Gary Shapiro, President and CEO, CEA

By now I’m sure you and your team have been getting calls asking you to showcase your new products at CEA Line Shows. This fast growing media event serves as the headquarters of CE Week – June 25-29.

So I wanted to add in my two cents. You should know why CEA is helping lead this event.

It’s about innovation. It’s who we are as leaders in the new economy. For decades, CEA has promoted the business of innovation, through the International CES in Las Vegas every January, and through public policy and research.

If ever there was a crucial time to make a statement about innovation, and your company and our industry, it is now. We are seeing big changes and growth in our industry and membership. Indeed, our industry is radically changing how home entertainment and information are consumed anywhere/anytime.

What does that have to do with a show in New York in June? There is a simple, strategic value to our industry making some noise about itself mid-year when the media and analysts are listening. The goal is to use all forms of media to make a collective shoutout on behalf of those innovators large and small that need their story heard. With CE Week, we’re creating a straightforward and highly affordable way for all of us to remind consumers that today’s CE industry is a collection of brilliant hardware and software designers working together to make the best possible products.

This event has grown exponentially over the past five years. Last year’s CE Week attracted 2,300 members of the trade along with more than 650 media/analysts – making it one of the CE industry’s biggest annual events. More than 200 companies and 17 event partners converged to showcase the best new products for back-to-school and the holidays.

We have made it as flexible as possible for you to take part. Reserve a booth or simply hold a dinner, party or press conference. That’s why we’re saying BYOB (Bring Your Own Business) to New York in June. Come and showcase or simply come and hang out. If you have something exciting to show off or communicate – that much the better.

If we can provide you with more details about this important event, please contact Shari Sally,
at ssally@ce.org.

See you in New York in June.
Gary Shapiro

I still remember the rush I got when my grandparents gave me one of the best birthday presents I have ever received- a Sony CD portable Walkman (complete with the Spice Girls debut album “Spice”).

I knew I couldn’t be the only one wistful for the gadgets of yesteryear – so I reached out to my coworkers to find out what technologies they miss the most!

I’d really like to be able to once again play Super Mario Bros., Paperboy and Double Dragon on the original Nintendo Entertainment System (only after blowing into the cartridge first, of course). In a fit of nostalgia, I bought one on eBay a few years ago but gave it to my sister. It might be time to reclaim it.
-Jack Cutts, Senior Manager, Member Programs

10+ years ago I got rid of my original (still working) Apple IIe and all of the original software.  I still regret that decision. 

I bought my first laptop in 1995.  Laptop is long obsolete, but I still have the cable I used to chain it to tables in my college’s library on many late nights.

My 1983 boombox was the first electronics device I took apart.  It was not the last to never quite get put back together.
-Shawn Dubravac, Chief Economist and Senior Director of Research

Hands down, the old school electronics device that I miss the most is the original Nintendo! My brother and I used to play like that thing was going out of style (and hey, look what happened)! Has there been a game invented since as fun as DUCK HUNT!? I don’t think so! And the very first Mario Brothers….. I was the champion of squishing those bad-boy mushrooms! The simplicity of the control was key… A, B, up, down and call it a day!
-Allie Fried, Manager, International Communications

The Walkman introduced me to music. I’ll never forget that.

I also loved my parent’s old turn table. It was like magic. Digital things lack soul (that being said, you’ll never find me without my iPhone). But, the older, more analog stuff pulls at my heart strings.

And the original GameBoy and NES. I’m not nostalgic for them because I use them on a weekly basis.
-Lindsay Bianco, Manager, Member Programs

I really miss Nintendo 64, specifically Mario Kart Racing.  Nothing beat a 3 hour 4-player racing session after school and while snacking on pizza bagel bites.  I was always Yoshi!!!
-Amanda Whitt, Senior Coordinator, Conferences

The most nostalgic gadget growing up for me was the Sony MiniDisc Walkman.  While the format did not reach a high adoption rate within the US, I loved the portability and sound quality.  The MiniDisc was most certainly a predecessor to the modern MP3 player and enabled the digital transfer of multiple albums onto a single media disk.  Sony’s offering provided a handy in-line remote control with track information, allowing the user to carry the player in your pocket while on the go.  I enjoyed mine enough to purchase a second NetMD player a few years later.  I still power it up on occasion.
-Bobby Baulmer, Senior Sales Coordinator

Are there any old electronics you’re still pining for? If it’s time to part with some of your outdated electronics, don’t forget to check out our Greener Gadgets database to find eCycling locations near you!

Almost five and a half years later, I don’t know of any current U.S. phones or tablets that ship with this feature.

You can’t blame that on a lack of effort. If anything, there’s been a surplus of it–too many companies pursuing different implementations of the inductive charging concept.

This diversity is good for the lab but bad for the mass market. If I buy a cordless-charging phone, I want to know that the battery icon on its screen will light up when it’s on or near any charging surface (as seen in the photo of a demo at this year’s CES), not just one with the right logo.

But even as we’re getting closer to widespread deployment, this technology keeps hitting potholes on the road to standardization.

That’s an old problem. After years of wireless-power purveyors sniping at each other in the press, I’ve grown accustomed to dueling presentations at CES from the two leading contenders, Powermat Technologies and a newer industry group called the Wireless Power Consortium,

(The recent announcement of an optional cordless-charging center console in 2013 Dodge Darts involves neither contender; Chrysler is using a proprietary system from Sterling Heights, Mich.-based JVIS-USA.)

Last summer, these rivals looked set to end this destructive conflict. Powermat joined the WPC, whose ranks already include LG, Motorola, Samsung, Sony and Toshiba, and said it would make its hardware compliant with the consortium’s Qi (pronounced “chee”) standard.

But Powermat has since left the WPC. Powermat communications vice president Scott Eisenstein said the company exited because it didn’t see progress towards a unified standard “as quickly or as constructively” as it had hoped, although it was still open to making Qi- and Powermat-compatible products for other firms.

That leaves WPC and Powermat working separately on similar tracks. Each aims to move cable-free charging from an add-on–usually, in the form of a replacement phone battery, back or case–to a built-in component. Each also needs to build out an infrastructure of charging surfaces, especially in places like airports.

Powermat, which has historically specialized in the add-on market (last year, it began selling accessories under the Duracell name), is now touting a cheap, compact reference design for an inductive-charging module for smartphones..

Its more high-profile moves, however, have aimed at the other end of the charging equation. Back in 2011, it showed off a charging pad incorporated in the center console of a Chevy Volt and expects to see that ship in early 2013. (A GM publicist didn’t answer e-mails asking for details). And this January, Powermat signed a deal with Madison Square Garden to install charging surfaces in the arena beginning later this year.

WPC continues to refine its standard with tweaks such as an extension of its maximum charging distance (PDF) from 5 mm to 40 mm, or about 1.5 inches. But it already seems off to a solid start in Japan. There, Qi-compatible tables and counters have begun showing up in airports and coffee shops, and its products list includes not just phones from vendors like NTT Docomo but even a Panasonic Blu-ray recorder.

(Why no such thing exists in the States is something I’ll have to address in a future post here.)

But on this side of the Pacific, Qi support in mobile devices has yet to break out beyond add-ons like the $29.99 charging back that Verizon Wireless sells for some Android phones.

Except for some Palm webOS phones, nobody has even tried to make inductive charging a major selling point in a mobile device here. And in that case, it wasn’t enough to rescue a flawed smartphone platform.

Will anybody change that this year?

NPD Group analyst Ross Rubin suggested keeping an eye out for Samsung. “It has the volume to move the needle, is not adverse to implementing more fringe technologies such as styli, is serious about the accessories potential for its phones, and it has a strong interest in differentiation.”

At the time he sent that e-mail last week, Samsung was a WPC member. But a press release sent today reveals it’s also a founding member of yet another cordless-charging group, the newly-formed Alliance for Wireless Power.

In the same e-mail, Rubin also noted how not just cost but marketing has held back this technology so far: “it’s difficult to command a premium for something that consumers use when they’re generally NOT using their handset.”

I hope to have a clearer sense of this technology’s prospects by the time CES 2013 rolls around. But one thing already seems assured: Eight months from now, I’ll still be charging my phone with a cable.

I also recap some of my recent posts and outline what’s next on my schedule. (If you guessed that it would involve smartphones–well, that shouldn’t have been too hard to guess.)

Rob’s April Podcast!

Click if you missed January, February, or March’s podcasts!

Mobile computing and connectivity are top of mind for many Americans, as they increasingly desire online access anywhere they go. There’s no doubt that the excitement over entertaining and useful mobile apps on smartphones and tablets are also driving the demand in the devices on this list. We’re even beginning to see apps on televisions, which may explain the high demand for HDTVs and larger TVs in this year’s study.

Ownership rates for a couple of these most-wanted devices have risen dramatically over the past year. The household penetration rate of smartphones rose from 39% in 2011 to 46% in 2012, while the rate for tablets jumped from 8% of households in 2011 to 22% in 2012. We predict that smartphone and tablet penetration rates could reach 51% and 31%, respectively, in 2013.

The study also shows that 14% of households are planning to purchase Bluetooth headsets, indicating greater attention to solutions for safer driving. Thirty-four percent of households reported owning Bluetooth headsets at the time of the study.

And what do I plan to buy? I’m looking to purchase a new set of stereo speakers for my A/V system, putting me in the 8% of Americans who plan to do so this year. What’s on your CE shopping list?

These are just a few of the products covered in the 14th Annual CE Ownership and Market Potential Study. We measured consumer ownership and interest for over 50 electronic products This consumer research data is available for free to CEA Members and on the CEA Store for non-members. For more information, contact Rick at info@ce.org.

When I arrived at the event mid-day, they had already filled up half of an 18-wheeler with old gadgets and were sorting through several carloads that people had just dropped off. A couple of people were tasked with destroying hard drives with a hydraulic compressor, which looked like a heavy duty hole-puncher. The crushed drives looked quite unusable by my standards; I don’t think we have to worry about that data anymore.

One participant today told me that her company was able to bring dozens of computers that had been sitting in the office after a recent round of PC upgrades. She was very happy that this event was free and that her company was able to responsibly discard the computers.

Spring is a common season for electronics recycling events such as these, so watch for something similar in your area. You can also find a local recycler at GreenerGadgets.org. There are 7,500 recycling drop-off locations in the U.S. run by members of our eCycling Leadership Initiative.

The Power Purge & Shred was sponsored in part by the Consumer Electronics Association.

That doesn’t make it another SOPA or PIPA. But the progress of the first major tech-policy bill to come up since January’s successful campaign against those two copyright-enforcement proposals show how tech policymaking can still be a mess in Washington.

CISPA (H.R. 3523) aims to help companies and the government cooperate to detect and defeat hacking attempts against the nation’s core information infrastructure by sharing confidential information about vulnerabilities and threats. That is a serious risk–more so than the predictions of file-sharing doom waved about by SOPA proponents.

CISPA competes with a rival bill in the House, the Promoting and Enhancing Cybersecurity and Information Sharing Effectiveness Act of 2011 (H.R. 3674, “PRECISE Act”). On the Senate side, the Strengthening and Enhancing Cybersecurity by Using Research, Education, Information, and Technology Act of 2012 (S. 2151, “SECURE IT” for short) and the Cybersecurity Act of 2012 (S. 2105) plow the same ground.

But for now, the attention is on CISPA, which could pass the House by the end of the week.

In that bill’s early form, that would have been bad news. CISPA’s first draft (PDF) employed an extremely broad definition of cybersecurity that included not just threats to transportation, power and telecommunications systems but also the “theft or misappropriation… of intellectual property”–which invited “CISPA Is The Next SOPA” headlines.

It would have then encouraged (but not required) companies to share information about online threats against those targets with each other and with the feds. It promised a blanket exemption of civil or criminal liability for good-faith efforts–”Notwithstanding any other provision of law” that might protect the rights of individual citizens.

CISPA also put few restrictions on what the government could do with this shared data or what agencies could get a crack at it, then included fairly weak accountability provisions.

The question that never seems to have informed that first draft is the one any designer of a complex system should ask upfront: When (not if) part of this breaks, how will the whole thing fail? Is it brittle–will catastrophic damage result–or will it come apart somewhat gracefully?

(Here, I’m borrowing a analytical framework that security expert Bruce Schneier–my personal candidate to run the Transportation Security Administration–has used for years.)

CISPA 1.0 fails that test. It takes little to imagine one careless company or one overly-inquisitive government employee’s actions resulting in the National Security Agency sifting through records of your private online activity.

But so have many other pieces of tech policy. SOPA would have allowed copyright holders to drive sites out of business and deform the basic routings of the Internet–but they would never abuse that authority, would they?

A similar trustworthiness underlies the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s “anti-circumvention” provision, which has been used in attempts to quash inventions that threaten business models more than copyrights. The possibility that copyright owners might abuse a provision that so easily outlaws individual programs or gadgets apparently escaped the DMCA’s authors.

Similarly, the patent system–especially as shaped through court rulings over the past 20 years–shows little grasp of the steep costs of patent lawsuits, the near-impossibility of confirming upfront that a new product doesn’t infringe on existing software patents and the time needed to overturn wrongly-granted patents.

Fortunately, CISPA has been getting the “how badly could this break down?” discussion it deserves after an increasing volume of critiques at tech-oriented sites and then in more traditional media outlets.

In mid-April, the White House took an uncharacteristic swat at it without referring to the bill by name, calling for “robust safeguards to preserve the privacy and civil liberties of our citizens.”

A week later, the Electronic Frontier Foundation published an open letter decrying CISPA from dozens of security professionals (led by Schneier), telecom experts, Internet entrepreneurs and authors.

I’ve been pleasantly surprised since then to hear tech-industry representatives say that CISPA’s authors, led by Rep. Mike Rogers (R.-Mich.) have been responding to their concerns. Amendments to the bill posted Tuesday deleted the intellectual-property provision, limited its liability waiver and cut down on what the government can do with shared information, among others.

Those changes were enough to briefly swing the Center for Democracy and Technology–an early opponent–to a we-can-work-with-this stance, although CDT still opposes how the bill allowed information sharing on matters beyond strictly-defined cybersecurity and makes it too easy for that data to flow to the NSA. The bill’s “notwithstanding any other provision of law” clause also remains.

But then the White House issued a veto threat Wednesday afternoon, saying the revised bill’s privacy protections were still too weak, its liability protection was too broad and it failed to keep the Internet and telecom infrastructure “civilian spheres.” A few hours later, CDT said it, too, opposed the bill, citing a refusal to consider amendments it had suggested.

So this story seems nowhere near over.

A policy debate that assumes tech-industry and digital-rights advocates should be heard represents one big shift from the SOPA state of affairs. But that’s not the same thing as tech-policy legislators remembering upfront that the people who will enforce and employ their handiwork won’t all be as fair and informed as they are.

To restore our economy, we need to do everything we can as a nation to attract the best and the brightest to come and stay in the United States. Innovative immigrants have always been – and will continue to be – central to America’s growth, job creation and global competitiveness.

You can join them. TAKE ACTION TODAY and support the passage of Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren’s (D-CA) Immigration Driving Entrepreneurship in America (IDEA) Act (H.R.2161) as well as H.R. 43, introduced by Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA), which would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to eliminate the diversity immigrant program and to re-allocate those visas to certain employment-based immigrants who obtain an advanced degree in the United States.

Both approaches highlight the value of foreign-born innovators. Bygiving green cards to immigrants with advanced degrees in science, technology, engineering and math, and making it easier for students in those areas to get visas, we can keep the best and the brightest doing business in America.

Contact your representatives today by clicking the option below and tell them to support passage of the IDEA Act and the Immigration and Nationality Act.  Contact your Representative or Senator by email here.

2. CONTACT YOUR CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVES BY FACEBOOK AND TWITTER

You can also contact your representatives through social media, a powerful and effective way to make your voice heard on this critical issue!
Contact your Representative or Senator via social media here.

3. Spread the word on Facebook and Twitter

Encourage your friends and followers to take action and support foreign-born innovators by using the following posts:

Facebook:

I just told my member of Congress that we need to do everything we can as a nation to attract the best and the brightest to the United States. Foreign-born innovators have always been – and will continue to be – central to America’s growth, job creation and global competitiveness. Please join me http://bit.ly/HF4NMV or http://bit.ly/JsSghI

Twitter:

I just told my Rep to support foreign-born innovators. Join me and RT: http://bit.ly/HF4NMV

You have the opportunity to support these efforts on Capitol Hill no matter where you live! Take Action today and spread the word to your family, friends and coworkers.

For many lovers of the performing arts, a new application of technology and broadcasting has brought about a welcome new trend: arts at the movies. Several of the world’s most beloved performing arts companies are bringing productions to the many that previously were available only to the few.

My first experience with arts at the movies was attending a live broadcast of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lucia di Lammermoor last year with my opera-loving parents. Not only could we eat popcorn and drink soda during the performance, but because it was a live broadcast, during the performance intermission The Met: Live in HD brings viewers backstage, showing the scenery changes, talking to the performers, interviewing costume directors, and other behind-the-scenes goodies that those attending the live performance do not get to see. Ever better? A single ticket to the Met costs about $200. A ticket to Met at the Movies? $20 bucks.

I also had a fun experience of seeing New York’s Roundabout Theater’s Tony Award-nominated production of Oscar Wilde’s hilarious The Importance of Being Earnest as well as London’s National Theater’s sparse and affecting King Lear with the legendary Derek Jacobi in the title role, both broadcast live to my local theater. Now audiences everywhere can see the exciting Gustavo Dudamel conduct the L.A. Philharmonic, or the celebrated Bolshoi Ballet perform Swan Lake. Next month, Academy-Award winner Christopher Plummer will appear in Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Originally performed in Canada, now people everywhere will be able to enjoy it, along with a Q&A with the actor himself. You can bet I’ll be among those lining up for that one.

And it isn’t only “high art” available though this medium; Metallica and Red Hot Chili Peppers have broadcast concerts live as well, in full HD and ear-popping surround sound. Fathom Events even broadcasts wrestling.

I still frequent live performing arts. I’m fortunate enough to live in a city that abounds with great theater, dance, and music of all sorts, and I treat myself to these pleasures as often as I can. But besides giving me access to things I wouldn’t ordinarily be able to see without traveling, what I love most about the ‘arts at the movies’ trend is how accessible it is. You no longer have to live in New York, or Moscow, or London to enjoy these spectacular performances, nor do you need to be able to afford the exceedingly high price of entry. For the cost of a night at the movies, people everywhere can enjoy what was once only available in limited quantities to a limited audience and be delighted all the same.

Something fascinating is afoot in the consumer electronics industry. It’s about recycling, it’s about business, and it’s about the environment.

About a decade ago manufacturer and retailer involvement in recycling consumer electronics (CE) was an alien concept. It was something done by local governments, or charities, but it wasn’t something CE manufacturers and retailers did.

Then state legislators started creating mandates for manufacturers to arrange for recycling of old CE. For CE manufacturers, electronics recycling became a compliance issue to manage and a cost to be minimized.

And then, over several years, things started getting interesting. CE companies began to look at this as a broader resource management issue. Manufacturers like Sony and Samsung announced voluntary take-back programs that went beyond these state mandates. Other CE manufacturers jumped into the game. And then Best Buy rolled out a collection program in all their stores, not because any government official made them do it, but because they found a way for it to make sense for their business – and for the environment.

Last November, Best Buy dropped all consumer fees for their recycling program. And now other retailers are getting into the game. There are now nearly 7,500 locations nationwide that recycle old electronics responsibly; find one near you at GreenerGadgets.org. To find out more about the CE industry’s recycling efforts, please go to CE.org/ecycle.

This weekend Samsung is sponsoring a four-day recycling drive for consumer e-scrap at retailer chain HHGregg. From April 20 to 23, consumers can bring their old electronics to any of 208 HHGregg locations and have it recycled at no cost. To find one of those stores, please click here.

Samsung is also sponsoring an ENERGY STAR Pledge Drive at all these locations. Any customer can pledge to consider ENERGY STAR when purchasing CE products, and their pledge forms will be entered into a sweepstakes drawing for one of five Samsung 40-inch LED televisions.

So what’s going on here? No government is forcing Samsung or HHGregg to do this. These companies are finding new ways to make consumer e-waste recycling a part of their business. They care about the environment, and they know consumers do too.  As companies make recycling a part of their business model it brings the power of the CE industry to bear on this environmental challenge. For those of us who have been working on this issue for along time, that is a very interesting – and laudable – development! Stay tuned.

Did you know you could save energy by replacing your old TV with an energy efficient model?

To celebrate Earth Week, CEA is running a contest to educate consumers about the energy efficiency of today’s televisions. Follow CEA’s Facebook page to learn how you can win a 75” LaserVue® DLP energy efficient TV courtesy of Mitsubishi Electronics or a LED LCD Cinema 3D Smart TV courtesy of LG Electronics USA.

If you haven’t entered, it’s not too late! We will announce our next winner on Earth Day, Sunday April 22.

CEA beat out several other environmental campaigns by major national brands including American Airlines and Bayer AG. CEA’s eCycling Leadership Initiative was also awarded an honorable mention in the recycling category.

To raise awareness of electronics recycling, in April 2011, CEA launched the eCycling Leadership Initiative, an electronics industry-wide effort aiming to recycle one billion pounds of electronics annually by 2016. Program execution included a launch press event at the Magnolia Theater of a Washington, D.C., Best Buy store, featuring a Plexiglass box full of e-waste that weighed 387-pounds, which is the amount of e-waste Best Buy collects every minute at its stores nationwide. The campaign also included extensive consumer and media outreach and education, including the launch of GreenerGadgets.org, a website to help consumers find electronics recycling locations near them.

We are excited to win this prestigious honor, and we are thrilled about the progress of this initiative and its associated consumer education campaign. Earlier this week we reported a stellar first year of results. Specifically, participants of the eCycling Leadership Initiative arranged for the responsible recycling of 460 million pounds of consumer electronics last year, a 53 percent increase over the 300 million pounds recycled in 2010. Additionally, electronics manufacturers and retailers increased the number of recycling drop-off locations for consumers nationwide to nearly 7,500 from just over 5,000 a year ago.

To find out more about the initiative’s accomplishments, check out the First Annual Report on the eCycling Leadership Initiative.