By Melanie Lambrecht
The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) relies on volunteers at all levels of the Association for direction, goal-setting and governance. Whether you are looking to help develop CEA initiatives, create industry standards or influence legislation on behalf of the industry, there are many reasons to volunteer in one of CEAs Working Groups, Committees, Councils and Boards.
Members of CEA can review the Call for Volunteers to learn about the Division/Council Boards, organizational activities, and other projects to which you can volunteer your time. You could put yourself up for …

By Guest Blogger, Anne Schelle, Executive Director of the Open Mobile Video Coalition
The first viewers in the country to carry live, local TV broadcasts along wherever they go are beginning to report back on what they like most about having digital television as a mobile option, now that nine TV broadcasters in and around our Nation’s capital have started sending mobile digital TV signals over-the-air. Hundreds of Washington-area viewers are watching TV wherever they go, on specially modified Samsung mobile phones and Dell netbooks that are part of a …

By Allison C. Fried
When my husband and I bought our house last year we had the very cool opportunity to pick out everything inside – from flooring to light fixtures, and doorknobs to appliances. Now, when I go to reheat a meal in the microwave, the darn thing knows exactly what has been placed inside, asks me to confirm via touch screen what it has selected as its settings and then voila – three minutes later we are enjoying the meal! Our fridge has sensors and is self-locking (for …

By Mark Chisholm
Last month’s news that Sony would be discontinuing the production of 3.5″ floppy discs got me thinking about obsolescence in the CE realm, and I began to realize how much I miss a number of electronics from my childhood. While advances in technology have brought with them formats and devices that far surpass their predecessors, a great number of electronics will forever hold a special place in my heart. Never mind the 3.5″ discs – I still miss the 5 ¼ floppies!
When I was moving last summer, …

By Guest Blogger Jack Wrigley, who is responsible for content strategy and licensing as well as strategic business development at XStreamHD.
As a proud member of the CEA MRAV Council and a person on the front lines of developing a whole home solution for entertainment it’s easy to sit in a bubble and assume consumer’s get it, MRAV that is.  If you are like many people, you are sitting there saying, “what is MRAV?” And that is my point. Multi- Room Audio Video can be very confusing but when explained …

 
By Jack Cutts

As a technophile, one of my favorite aspects of working at CEA is the unfettered access I have to industry experts from all across the world of consumer electronics. In my role as Division Manager for CEA’s Automotive Electronics Division, I recently challenged some of our member volunteers to educate me as to what the future of the in-dash head unit would look like beyond 2010. Here is what they had to say:

Barry Vogel – The Ultimate Edge – Oswego, NY:
“Five years ago, a …

By Guest Blogger and CEA Member, Rip Hanks, President and CEO, Centerpin Technology Inc.
Like many of you, I’m deeply concerned about the decisions that are coming out of Washington that could adversely affect our businesses and our industry as a whole. Instead of sitting on the sidelines and not working towards positive change, I joined the Innovation Movement. The Innovation Movement is a coalition of Americans, just like me, who believe innovation is the key to reviving the global economy and creating new American jobs.
But I didn’t stop at …

By Colleen Lerro
I’ve always loved taking pictures since getting my first camera in kindergarten. It was the size of the roll of film that fit into it and had a clear, plastic pop-up viewfinder that didn’t really lend itself to capturing the best shots. A few years later I counted up the coins in my crayon bank and begged my Mom to order me a 35mm camera off of QVC. In junior high, I fell in love with the Kodak Advantix camera with the panoramic picture feature. My first …