Consumer Electronics & Product Reviews

A little more than 246 years ago, our forefathers used the best technology available to inspire colonial proto-Americans to revolt against King George. At that time, the "best" technology available was the printing press and the "best" social network required the use of "word of mouth" in Public Houses. Grog was the lubricant that facilitated this communication and the rest, as they say, is history. Continue Reading →

This past week, DFL (Deutsche Fußball Liga) invited me to keynote at SportsInnovation 2022. With the football (soccer) pitch at Düsseldorf’s Merkur Spiel-Arena as the backdrop, rival teams played live games as various technologies were demonstrated in real time. Here’s a look at some of my favorite tech from the event. Continue Reading →

Netflix says that roughly 100 million households use a shared password. For years it encouraged the practice because the network effect (more people watching Netflix) had a positive impact on subscriber acquisition. That was then. Now, Netflix is facing headwinds. It is losing subscribers and share prices are heading in the wrong direction. So, among other things, Netflix is going to try to increase revenue by cracking down on password sharing. Will it work? And, how will it work? Let’s explore. Continue Reading →

VisaNet can process more than 65,000 tps (transactions per second). By comparison, Bitcoin (BTC) can only process ~5 tps. Therefore, Bitcoin (and other cryptocurrencies by proxy) are inherently too slow for practical use. Before you buy into this apples-to-oranges comparison, let's define the word "process." With a little more clarity, you will be better able to frame your thoughts about centralized (VisaNet) versus decentralized (Proof of Work) crypto transactions. Continue Reading →

Consumers can’t possibly adopt a preference for custom or personalized manufactured goods and services in big enough quantities to upset mass manufacturing and distribution … can they? Continue Reading →

You can attend the “must attend” event during CES® 2022 whether you’re going to Las Vegas or working from home. The Shelly Palmer Innovation Series Summit will stream live on January 5, 2022 at 11 a.m. ET at shellypalmer.com/live. Continue Reading →

Alphabet (Google, YouTube, etc.) and Disney had not been able to reach a business deal, so YouTube was forced to remove all Disney programming from its YouTubeTV service. The two companies worked it out - but let’s examine some options. Continue Reading →

My MetaMask Chrome Extension Wallet was hacked. The ETH is gone forever. Even though I can clearly see that address of the wallet that stole it, there's nothing I can do to get it back. I'm just writing this blog post as a warning for anyone who thinks keeping more than a few hundred dollars in a "hot wallet" is a good idea. I always keep a small amount of ETH in my MetaMask wallet to buy virtual goods and NFTs and game tokens, etc. I have been aware that the wallet was vulnerable to attack, but this hack is remarkable. They must have figured out my password – which is hard to do. Here's a chronicle of the events. I'll keep it updated. Continue Reading →

The interviewer asked, "Is that image real"? There's no way to tell. "What about this video?" It's hard to say. "You can't tell if that's real or fake either." No. Not without analyzing it. "Well, what about the prose? Did a human write this sentence?" It's possible, but it would not surprise me to learn that it was machine generated. "What about the voice in the video?" It's sonically perfect. I'd say 60/40 it's a machine, but I'd need to hear a few more sentences to be sure. "So, what you're saying is that I can't trust my eyes or my ears?" Yes. That's what I'm saying. "Is this the end of truth?" Continue Reading →

CES will return to Las Vegas in January 2022, and we've got big plans (in-person and online) for the show. “We’re thrilled to return to Las Vegas – home to CES for more than 40 years – and look forward to seeing many new and returning faces,” said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO, Consumer Technology Association (CTA). “The pace of innovation has accelerated over the last 18 months, and attendees will see these advancements at CES.” Continue Reading →