Thursday at MWSF

Again, I wound up walking the five really long city blocks to the Moscone Center this morning, right after I posted my last blog. Again, it was a late breakfast at MyMac.com Central (Mel’s Drive-In), and then off to the Moscone West.

The crowds, even this late in the event, were astounding. I think there were many more people at this year’s event than last year’s–even with last year’s momentous iPhone announcement.

The exhibits at the west building were mainly the small developers, many with interesting applications and adaptations of existing and new technology.

First, I saw the Drobo, which received a full review from David Cohen a few months ago. It has been improved with an add-on piece that connects it to a network, effectively turning it into a NAS (network attached storage device). A little bird told me David will have an opportunity in the near future to review the improved version.

Motorola showed off a much-improved version of Timbuktu Pro, which it acquired last year when it purchased Netopia. Timbuktu is the grandaddy of screen sharing programs, and has been around since the 80s, and with this latest upgrade, it’s at or near the top in its category once again.

The Podcasting stage was active with all kinds of great content. I stopped and sat for a few minutes, when they changed hosts, and Leo Laporte of the TWIT network came on to answer questions.

I stopped by a small booth hosted by Netgear to show off their latest NAS devices, acquired when they purchased Infrant last year. They were also showing their new powerline network devices, which now include a passthrough AC plug so you don’t lose access to a power outlet jack. The person manning the booth really didn’t seem to know much about the powerline network devices or the other Netgear products, so I wound up answering questions for a few minutes.

The folks from eCamm were there once again, showing off their neat little iMage USB webcam product–just the thing for Macs that don’t have cameras, and for the most part, it’s plug-and-play compatible with Macs. For those that can’t work with it out of the box, there’s a small downloadable driver available from their website.

The folks from Codeweavers were showing the latest version of CrossOver Mac. They deal with the Mac/Windows paradigm a little differently. Instead of installing and configuring things like Parallels or VMWare, CrossOver Mac lets you install the Windows application and run it within Mac OS X. It doesn’t work for all applications, but it does for most mainstream ones. If you only need to use one Windows app, this might be the product for you.

SuperSync is an iTunes synchronization product that lets you manage and maintain multiple iTunes libraries around your house, on your laptop, or wherever.

Ambrosia always seems to have great products. This time, they showed the latest version of WireTap Studio, a fantastic sound utility that lets you capture ANY sounds that your Mac can play.

Iomega had a big booth showing their latest storage products. Looks like they’ve come back from the near-dead and are making big moves at the big box retailers. Good to see them again.

After all this fun, I returned to the media room in the south hall, where I was asked by MyMac.com writer and iProng owner Bill Palmer to use my camera for a big event. The rock band Shaw-Blades was playing in the JBL/AKG room, and Bill had an opportunity to get pictures of them next to the Apple display on the convention show floor. I accompanied Bill and got a chance to meet Tommy Shaw and Jack Blades. I could not remember Tommy’s last name to save my soul, and at one point, while waiting out in the hall with Bill, I said something like…yeah, Tommy somethingorother. A young lady from Creative Pro with video camera and lots of colorful tattoos on her arms got very animated and shouted “Tommy SOMETHING? Tommy SOMETHING? That’s Tommy SHAW!” I apologized profusely and told her I was a old school jazz guy and really didn’t know any of today’s rock players. When I met the band, I got a change to say a few words to Tommy (Shaw). Tommy obviously did not remember that I had met him about 12 years before, waiting in line at the Iridium bar, to talk to guitar legend Les Paul. We went downstairs and did the photo shoot–very professional and very well-done. I was impressed at how Shaw and Blades were “handled” and how quickly things came together.

We got passes to see their concert, about an hour long, in JBL’s room, off the convention floor. The audience listened on headphones, and was an amazing experience. Not being a rock fan, I don’t know much about them, but I do know good music and good performances, and these guys put on a really great show, and I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to experience Shaw-Blades in this unique and intimate venue. I sat in the front row with Tim, Guy, and Bill, and so was able to take quite a few pictures.

That wasn’t the end of my star-studded day! As the three of us walked up the stairs to head over to the Podcaster’s event at Jillian’s, in the main lobby, it was none other than famed comedian Sinbad, who was holding court with a small group of people. Tim and Bill were able to wangle an interview with him which will appear on this site sometime soon. I even got my picture taken with him. A really nice guy, who has been a Mac devotee for many years. He loves technology, and makes the best use of it that he can for himself, and his family.

After that, we went to the Podcaster’s event, and found it so incredibly crowded that we eventually gave up and made our way back to our hotel. I tried to work on this blog last night, but feel asleep almost as soon as my fingers hit the keyboard. I woke up at 4AM to the haunting strains of Pokemon on the Cartoon Network. No wonder I was having nightmares.

Friday, we’re going to tie up a few loose ends and try to see a little bit of this magical city. It’s been an honor and a privilege to report this show to you and to be on the MyMac.com writing team. I look forward to Macworld Expo 2009!