Some rants, some tech, some random thoughts…

After a third day on the show floor, I’ve seen most of what I want to see at CES this year. Here’s another quick update of my thoughts for the day:

• I was pleased to start the day off by running into CNET’s Molly Wood and catching up with her briefly. Unfortunately, I missed most of the shows on the CNET stage this year.
• If you want OnStar’s safety, security, and convenience features, but you don’t have an OnStar-enabled vehicle, you can now buy an after-market rearview mirror replacement with many of their best features for $299.
• LG is showing off an amazing windows-based interactive display wall targeted toward classrooms and education.
• LG’s smart TV has a Log In link on its dashboard screen. Good grief, who wants to have to log on to their television? Even on a connected television, that had better only be for initial setup. Have I mentioned how I feel about apps on the TV?
• I also saw an Android TV from Hisense [a company I’ve never heard of before]. That’s Android TV—not Google TV. After playing with it for a few minutes, though, I couldn’t actually figure out how to get to the TV part of the Android TV.
• Kenmore, Samsung, LG, and a host of others are demonstrating connected appliance ecosystems that monitor and regulate power usage and allow remote control, alerts [think: the roast is done!], and diagnosis capabilities. The appliances—some real and some conceptual—will use standard home control protocols like ZigBee and Z-Wave to communicate.
• Ford has released a developers’ hardware kit for the My Ford Touch platform. Oh great…more apps.
• Audi showcased new car tech and a few tricked out vehicles in a whited-out booth area reminiscent of 2001’s Space Station V.
• No word from Verizon on Thursday about the iPhone, but rumors abound as evidence is stacking up for a Verizon iPhone announcement next Tuesday.
• If I have to look at one more tablet….

And finally, unrelated to all the gadgetry, I had the pleasure of taking lunch with a dozen or so incredible people from the Adobe development community, reminding me that meeting, connecting, and learning is such an important part of the CES experience.