MIT’s Technology Review just published it’s list of 10 Emerging Technologies for 2008. The one piece that resonated with me is Sandy Pentland’s exploration into Reality Mining especially in relation to social networking, new media and interactive.

Reality mining “is all about paying attention to patterns in life and using that information to help [with] things like setting privacy patterns, sharing things with people, notifying people–basically, to help you live your life.”

This becomes a hot topic for a few reasons. First and foremost is, once again, privacy issues. Data capture is part of our daily lives – credit card usage, cookies on sites, social network profiles, company swipe cards – and as technology continues to slowly infiltrate more of our lives, we become more tolerant and accepting of what information is divulged and distributed. Everyone has see the movies with the FBI trying to trace the criminals phone call with the criminal hanging up just before being caught. However, most people don’t think about that even with mobile phones being on all the time A simple Google search on his/her name would surprise a lot of people.

Reality Mining has been a reality for years. And as mobile phones become more prevalent with WI-FI, Bluetooth and GPS-type systems (ala iPhone,) in addition to the laptops we carry around and use, the continual social network is our daily life. And as mobile technology advances, our blip on the grid becomes more prominent. The Human Cyborg ideal continues to press forward. Professor Kevin Warwick first started research into this in 1998 by planting microchips in his arm for recognition of systems in his lab.

The major benefit of Reality Mining is from an anthropological standpoint. How people interact, where they are and when they are. Tying this information into disease outbreaks, advertising models (when a person sees an ad, what do they do right afterwards?) and general healthcare and “human maintenance.” Smartex in Italy is working on clothing that does just that.

It’s a bit of the God factor (being omnipotent and omniscient) that is also fascinating. Knowing where your friends are at any time, knowing what they’re doing, where to get the food your phone knows your craving. It’s bringing the idea of Facebook, Google Maps, Dodgeball and other sites into the physical space. The ultimate social network. Maybe even a step closer to SkyNet.

Real-time in real-time. Very meta.

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So technically, I’m not at MacWorld, but I’m there in spirit.

Last year, his Jobsness revealed the iPhone, and all but upstaged CES. This year, in case you were wondering, there were some pretty big announcements that will likely touch you in one way or another.

In no particular order, these were:

Movie Rentals
Apple will be delivering movie rentals via iTunes for around $2.99-$3.99. You’ll be able to download rentals, and will have 30 days to begin viewing. Once you start viewing, however, you’ll have 24 hours to complete viewing. Additionally, you’ll have the ability to transfer those movies from device to device — even if you’re in the middle of watching them. Yay portability! And the videos start streaming instantly. At launch, studio partners include MGM, Miramax, Lions Gate, Fox, Warner Bros., Walt Disney, Paramount, Universal, and Sony.

Apple TV
Apple TV will be relaunched as a standalone set-top box capable of accessing the movie store, without a reliance on another Mac on the network to support it. Movies will be available in full HD 5.1. There’s full integration with Flickr, too. All this for $299.

MacBook Air
Ahhh. The world’s thinnest notebook.

It fits into a manilla envelope. Zoinks!

LED backlit display, backlit keyboard too. And fast. No optical (CD/DVD) drive, which is partially how they achieved the size. No ethernet connection either. Just Wi-Fi. And 5 hours of battery life. $1799, and shipping in two weeks.

It’s amazing, but with one major drawback that will keep me away from it. No replaceable battery — or any other parts for the matter. At least none that I can replace myself. It’s what’s ticked me off about iPods all these years, too.

Thanks for the AMAZING blow-by-blow coverage (as usual) of this event go to Engadget (the source of the photos, as well). Way to go, guys.

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For the uninitiated, CES can be overwhelming. Heck — for the initiated it can be overwhelming.

Getting around is a nightmare, trying to find who or what you are looking floor on the multiple show floors can be a huge challenge, and meetings are spread throughout the city.

But there are some amazing sights to behold each and every year, and that’s what keeps me coming back. The innovation and the excitement and awe it brings helps me remember why I love what I do so much.

I walked around CES with my Flip Video Camera from PureDigital and got some great footage of innovation in action.

Check out this video playlist, and let me know if you’ve got questions about anything you see in these videos. I’ll let them speak for themselves in the meantime. They are all important.

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Virgin America has announced that it will be launching broadband internet access on all flights sometime in 2008.

I know what airline I’ll be flying from then on.

Interestingly, according to BoingBoing Gadgets…

But even more interesting — through “Red,” VA will also be offering what amounts to a fleet-wide, airborne social network. Guests on one plane will be able to interact with other guests on that plane — and with flyers on other planes within the VA fleet — using Red. As I understand it, they’ve got some pretty ambitious plans in the works for in-flight interactivity. This could get really interesting.

Interesting indeed.

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In a column over at Marketwatch, John Dvorak explains that Apple should not take a chance on the iPhone because they’ve done everything right to date. He essentially wants Apple to settle on calling the iPhone a ‘reference design’, and let someone like Samsung do it. What they did with the iPod was enter a middling market with a killer device. The handset market, on the other hand, is ultra-competitive, with many chances to fail.

It’s actually a rather convincing argument.

But until or unless the device gets panned by critics and peers, I’m still willing to give Apple the benefit of the doubt here.

But I swear, I’m going to call shenanigans if all that phone does is attempt to get more people to buy things through iTunes, ala the AppleTV.

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