Welcome to the 33rd episode of “The Mediatwits,” the weekly audio podcast from MediaShift. The co-hosts are MediaShift’s Mark Glaser and Rafat Ali. This week we have a special show focused on the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) happening in Las Vegas all week. Apple isn’t there and Microsoft did its last keynote presentation there. Is the show losing momentum? Are we all burned out on gadgets and flatter TVs? We talk to two tech journalists on the CES floor, Rob Pegoraro and TechDirt’s Mike Masnick, about the various new TV sets, tablets and smartphones. Plus, Masnick gives us an update about how the CEA and many folks at the show are overwhelmingly opposed to the two anti-piracy bills, SOPA and PIPA, before Congress.
Meanwhile, search giant Google caused a stir by integrating Google+ much more deeply into its search results. The new “Search Plus Your World” has been criticized as unfairly giving Google+ an advantage over Twitter and Facebook in search results. Google responded by saying that it was upset that Twitter didn’t renew its contract to be included in search results. Will this move bring more trouble to Google, with the Feds already investigating the company over privacy issues?
Check it out!
Subscribe to the podcast here
Subscribe to Mediatwits via iTunes
Follow @TheMediatwits on Twitter here
Intro and outro music by 3 Feet Up; mid-podcast music by Autumn Eyes via Mevio’s Music Alley.
Here are some highlighted topics from the show:
Intro
1:00: Background on the CES show
3:00: Journalists weary and tired of CES now?
4:00: The pain of CES
4:45: Rundown of topics on the show
Report from CES
5:15: Special guests from CES: Rob Pegoraro and Mike Masnick
6:10: How is this show different than previous shows?
7:50: Masnick: Thin TVs are impressive
10:40: Pegoraro: Color e-ink readers might boost e-readers
13:30: Masnick: Hard to see disruptive technology at first
CEA opposing SOPA
16:10: Many people at CES are opposing Stop Online Piracy Act, including Consumer Electronics Association
19:20: Why SOPA went too far
20:00: Pegoraro: History of greedy, restrictive bills put forward by entertainment industry
22:05: Masnick: When entertainment biz loses fights, they often still win
Google integrates Google+ in search
24:00: Mark gives background on move by Google
26:40: Why can’t Google put social, private search in a new tab?
29:10: Facebook, Twitter are feeling left out of Google search
More Reading
CNET’s Best of CES at CNET
CES XV at RobPegoraro.com
Tech Charms: Flying Cameras, Musical Purses at WSJ
Desperation Of SOPA/PIPA Supporters On Display At CES at TechDirt
Boo-Freaking-Hoo: RIAA Complains That ‘The Deck Is Stacked’ Against Them On CES Panels at TechDirt
Author of Controversial Piracy Bill Now Says ‘More Study’ Needed= at WSJ Digits
Google’s Results Get More Personal With Search Plus Your World at Search Engine Land
Is adding Google+ to search a red flag for regulators? at GigaOm
Search Plus Your World — As Long As Its Our World at SearchBlog
Compete to Death or Cooperate to Compete? at SearchBlog
Weekly Poll
Don’t forget to vote in our weekly poll, this time about the CES show:
Mark Glaser is executive editor of MediaShift and Idea Lab. He also writes the bi-weekly OPA Intelligence Report email newsletter for the Online Publishers Association. He lives in San Francisco with his son Julian. You can follow him on Twitter @mediatwit. and Circle him on Google+