While we were at CeBIT in Hannover we were also running across booths to shoot some footage we could use to show the viewers what they were missing out. We were at different booths, where people were quite nice, offered to help and to show their products. A thing you’d expect at a place like CeBIT. Then there was a booth in hall 26 where Nokia, the not-so-famous cell phone manufacturer in Germany right now, was playing a big role, as their handsets were a big part of the exhibit. (more…)

Today we spent a fair amount of time at this weeks CeBIT in Hannover. We had several interviews including Intel, Alienware and Hauppauge. All of them are showing quite a lot of interesting new and updated things. Overall it did not seem to be that packed as I expected and remembered it from previous years.
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(First off, I saw this coming but didn’t think it’d actually get me.)

So, today we showed the new Xbox Video Store on our show. I decided to take my harddisk with me as we were showing more than just the store. I took just the disk, because I didn’t want to carry the whole system - why would I. I guess you already know what’s about to happen.

To show the video quality I bought rented “300″ in HD. I knew I was just renting it rather than really owning it. So we played the video on the show for about 20 seconds. The DRM on it lets you finish watching it in 24 hours after playing the file for the first time. So I thought, buy rent and play it after 3pm so I can watch the file tomorrow morning before work.

Well I got home, put the disk on my own Xbox and - well - the license “expired”. I guess you’re not supposed to take your own harddisk around. Why’s that? I’m not copying or - god forbid - sharing it online in any shape or form, I’m just putting it on another Xbox - my Xbox for that matter. I hate this DRM scheme. iTunes’ DRM at least lets me copy my videos and songs on different iPods and/or PCs/Macs at a time. Unnecessary to say that iPods are much more shareable than my Xbox drive. This was the first and probably last time I spent money on the Xbox Video Store. I really should have known better. Shame on you if you fool me once, shame on me if you fool me twice…

Yeah, as you might have noticed I’m currently at the Games Convention in Leipzig. The first three days, wednesday through friday, were pretty empty, but today it’s totally packed. The location really isn’t made for these masses.

We had the opportunity to preview some games that aren’t yet ready for public viewing. Pretty nifty stuff. We spoke to some colleagues and it just became clear, that due to all the personal blogs the regular press is getting into trouble. The “professional media” can’t just take what they get and the publish it two weeks after an event or so. They leave a conference and also have to start writing right away. Time is also the key, more than ever before.

Currently we hide out backstage because - as I stated above - it’s FULL! It takes 30 minutes just to get from one hall to another…

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