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Brian Tong, host of CNET TV's The Apple Byte, finally makes the trip out to New York for the sole purpose of helping us host the show. Alright, we wish--in reality Brian is out here for a much nobler cause. Today's show is filled with everything you'd expect from Apple fanboys and video game nerds!

(Credit: Brian Tong)

It's always an insane show whenever Brian Tong of CNET TV's The Apple Byte rolls through the studio, and today is absolutely no different. Although we'd like to think that Brian is here just because he loves us so much, it turns out that his trip is for a much greater cause: The big Moon personally invited him out to speak on a panel in front of CBS interns about what it's like being a minority in the media, something that Wilson and I definitely could have spoken about, but clearly CBS wanted a positive influence on the kids. Unfortunately, Brian finally drops some bad news when he tells us that these 13-year-olds are already vying for all of our jobs.

In today's episode, Brian gives us a rundown of his sojourn to E3 and all the recent video game news coming out of the pipe, including Project Natal, Xbox 360 rumors, next-gen console forecasting, and everyone's favorite Nintendo Wii vitality sensor! I wish I could remember what else they were talking about, but I blacked out (on purpose) just as they started talking about E3. Much thanks to B-Teezy for getting up early to do the show!

T-Mobile hits the fast lane in Sin City.

(Credit: Kent German/CNET Networks)

T-Mobile activated its nascent 3G network in another city Wednesday.

Las Vegas now joins New York City as the only two locales to get 3G service. T-Mobile is promising that it will switch on its wireless broadband network in up to 20 more markets by the end of this year, but the carrier has not announced further details. We're hoping San Francisco gets service soon and that T-Mobile rolls out more 3G-capable phones.

Also in T-Mobile news, the carrier announced Wednesday that its Family Allowances program is now available.

Goodbye to Vegas (until CES that is)

(Credit: Kent German/CNET Networks)

CTIA has come and gone and as we rest our tired feet we look back at the cell phone brouhaha that was. Though the show wasn't quite as exciting as the GSMA World Congress, it still produced plenty of snazzy cell phones to behold. And to help you take it all in, we've compiled the top show news into one convenient blog. Also, check out our CTIA show floor slide show.

Samsung had a very good show. Its new Instinct for Sprint won our award for the best cell phone in Las Vegas. The iPhone competitor features a sleek touch screen interface and a boatload of features. We saw only a preproduction unit but it looks very promising. Samsung didn't have much else new to show, but we did get our hands on the Samsung SGH-G810, the Samsung Alias and the Samsung Access, which the company announced four days before CTIA began.

Cell phones forever at CTIA

(Credit: Kent German/CNET Networks)

Kyocera unveiled the most handsets of any manufacturer. New to the world are Kyocera Neo E1100, the Adreno S2400 and the Mako S4000. The company also announced it was branching out into new territory with four GSM phones for Latin America and it hosted an interesting demo of NFC technology.

Things were much quieter over at Nokia and Sony Ericsson. Nokia introduced two CDMA/AWS handsets, the Nokia 1606 and Nokia 3606, while Sony Ericsson revealed that its Sony Ericsson Z750a would land at AT&T. Yet not all was lost at the Sony Ericsson booth as we finally got the chance to take its fancy Xperia X1 for a test drive.

Motorola's main news was that its Motorola Z9 phone is coming to AT&T. After playing with it I had mixed feelings. Though it's attractive and it offers some nice features such as AT&T's new navigation service, it's also more of the same in Moto design.

Associate Editor Nicole Lee spotted a few devices at the LG booth. The company announced the LG EnV(2) for Verizon Wireless and the LG Vu for AT&T. The latter is particularly noteworthy, not only for its stunning design and touch-screen interface, but also because it joins the Samsung Access in supporting the new AT&T Mobile TV service. She also checked out ZTE's new C78 and C79. Sanyo put out a few new devices as well, namely the Pro-200 and Pro-700, both are push-to-talk phones using Sprint's QChat service. It also introduced the Katana LX, which promises to be a shinier successor to the Katana II, plus it has a translucent OLED display. UTStarcom offered a new basic handset as well--the CDM7126 is a AWS capable phone that will be available to both Cricket and MetroPCS in different designs.

As our resident Bluetooth expert Nicole also tracked down some new headsets. She tried the Motorola H690, the Sound ID H300, and the "fashionable" Plantronics Discover 925.

Things were a bit quiet in smartphones, but smartphone diva Bonnie Cha found plenty to see nonetheless. Microsoft announced the latest version of its mobile operating system, Windows Mobile 6.1, which features a number of enhancements to make Windows Mobile smartphones easier to set up and navigate. HTC showed off the GSM HTC Touch Dual and the new Verizon Wireless XV6900. Research in Motion made the carrier rounds with the RIM BlackBerry Pearl 8120 for T-Mobile and the RIM BlackBerry Curve 8330 for Verizon Wireless and Sprint. Yet the biggest smartphone news from the show is that a new player is entering the field. Velocity Mobile showed two brand new devices that it wuill release this year. Bonnie got the full scoop and she was quite stoked on what she saw.

And on the application side, Yahoo unveiled an upgrade to its OneSearch product, which CNET Download.com editor Jessica Dolcourt had the pleasure of trying it out while testing a host of other applications including Dashwire. Also, Vodafone CEO tells us something we already know--that the mobile Internet is for real and that consumers want it--not just some dumbed down version of the Web.

MetroPCS may not have a booth at CTIA but the carrier has arrived in Las Vegas. On Friday, MetroPCS announced it would begin providing wireless service to the Las Vegas area. The carrier also said it would open four company-owned stores by July. MetroPCS already serves markets in Georgia, Florida, Texas, Michigan, and California, and Las Vegas will be its first market in Nevada. MetroPCS does not require contracts, and it offers unlimited minutes as a feature of all its calling plans. It offers mostly Motorola phones but it also carries select models from Nokia, Samsung, UTStarcom and Kyocera.

(Credit: Universal Detection Technology )

What happens in Vegas could be contagious; but don't worry, despite the recent ricin scare on the Strip, your chances of dying from exotic poison or a bio-engineered infection are pretty slim - even at the buffet.

Still, companies are betting their R&D budgets that the government will ante up to protect you from the toxin de jour. Their odds are good. Universal Detection Technology received a rush of orders for its ricin detection kit after a man was found in critical condition in a Las Vegas motel room with a case of suspected ricin poisoning.

"Although no direct links to terrorism has been yet drawn in this recent case in Las Vegas, it is important to note that hazardous materials in the hands of domestic terrorists can be a very serious threat," said UDT CEO Jacques Tizabi. His company stands "positioned to capitalize on opportunities related to Homeland Security."

Not long ago, super staph (AKA Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus) replaced "flesh eating bacteria" in the public's imagination as the most gruesome of killer bugs. For that, UDT licensed and commercialized a technology designed to detect microbial buildup in closed-loop environments like the International Space Station. It's now marketed as the Microbial Event Monitor, a kind of smoke detector for airborne bacterias like super staph.

Let's get medieval. Salt Lake City based Idaho Technology (ITI) sells FDA approved kits that detect plague (Yersinia pestis) and Tularemia (rabbit fever). Both are classified by the CDC as Category A, bioterrorism national security risks. Relax, even the company admits it's highly unlikely you'll step in something and contract a naturally occurring dose of either. But ITI scored big when DOD selected its Joint Biological Agent Identification and Diagnostic System (JBAIDS) as "the" platform for I.D.ing pathogens associated with bioterrorism.

Next up ITI will seek FDA approval for a brucellosis detection kit. (It already has anthrax covered.)

Now for the big guns, Ebola and Marburg: Wonks from the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases have developed virus-like particles (VLPs) that protect monkeys 100 percent against both Ebola and Marburg and they're scaling up production in hopes of beginning clinical trials in humans in a few years, according to Science Daily.

You are more likely to be eaten by a Nile crocodile than bleeding out your eyeballs from Ebola, but why take chances?

(Credit: CDC Public Health Image Library)

After attending CES four times, CTIA eight times, Macworld two times, and several smaller show in between, I thought I have the whole trade thing mastered. You spend the day meeting with companies, wandering the show floor, and battling crowds before returning to your hotel for a night of work. You also go a few days without enough sleep or a decent meal. As I prepared for the GSMA World Congress, I knew it would be different--a different continent, a different culture, a different language, and an international focus. I had no idea of just how different it would be.

Now that GSMA is over, I can say without a doubt that it was the best trade show I've attended. In almost every way, GSMA is better organized than anything we have in the United States, particularly the huge and uberhyped CES. Follow along as I keep score.

T-Mobile's snazzy stand.

(Credit: Kent German/CNET Networks)

Booths:
At GSMA, company booths are called stands. Though such terminology kept me thinking of a lemonade stand, the stands can be massive with a full set of amenities (Nokia even had a doctor on staff). For instance, consider the T-Mobile stand, which was its own building. Floor-to-ceiling windows looked out on a reflecting pool with a sculpture. There was a terrace where you could get a drink. Worried about the chilly weather? Don't be, they installed heating lamps there to keep you warm.

Nokia's hospitality suite.

(Credit: Kent German/CNET Networks)

But best of all, GSMA introduced me to the concept of a hospitality suite. This is something unheard of at American trade shows, which is an awful shame. A hospitality suite is a separate area away from the riffraff of the show floor. It is where journalists and analysts can get product demos and talk with company executives in peace. You can sit down, relax, have a snack, or sip a refreshing beverage (some companies even offered booze). It was a very civilized way to conduct your business of the day. Nokia's hospitality suite spanned almost the entire second floor of the company's stand and was larger than my first apartment. I wondered why the idea developed at European trade shows and I just couldn't figure it out; maybe European journalists are just fussier. One thing GSMA doesn't have, and not that this is a bad thing, are scantily-clad booth babes milling about. Perhaps it's because "stand babes" sounds pretty silly.
GSMA 1
CES 0

Fira de Barcelona With Montjuic above.

(Credit: Kent German/CNET Networks)

Location:
This is a no brainer. Instead of the generic and relatively sterile Las Vegas Convention Center, GSMA is held at the Fira de Barcelona, which sits at the foot of the city's Montjuic area (site of the 1992 Olympics). In between the show buildings is a very cool fountain, while towering above is the beautiful Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya. The show buildings were pleasant, and some even had natural light inside. But best of all, the Fira de Barcelona is near the center of town with easy access via the city's bus and Metro network. And as show attendee, I was given free use of the Metro for five days. CES on the other hand is held in Las Vegas with little public transit outside of the Disneyland-esque monorail. Getting anywhere in Vegas during CES is a gigantic hassle with taxi lines that stretch for days. While I love Vegas for a weekend trip, it can't compete with the beauty and atmosphere of Barcelona. The only downsides of GSMA were the distance (a long flight from San Francisco) and that the area around the show seemed to be rife with pickpockets--poor Bonnie Cha even fell victim--but GSMA still wins this round.
GSMA 2
CES 0

Hotels:
I have to give it to CES for this category as Las Vegas just seems to have more hotels rooms to support the show. When I tried to book a Barcelona room six months ago, almost everything was taken. For those rooms that were available, the rates could cost as much as 800 euros a night (about $1,177). I ended up renting an apartment that lacked a working heater, so it was frigid at night. While Bonnie found a hotel, the Wi-Fi kept breaking.
GSMA 2
CES 1

One of the on-site table-service restaurants.

(Credit: Kent German/CNET Networks)

On-site food:
GSMA wins again here. At CES, the convention center eating options are limited to overpriced fast food stands. GSMA has sit-down restaurants with table service and real menus. Here again, you can get alcohol. The food at the stands was better as well. Yahoo offered several candy bins and gelato.
GSMA 3
CES 1

Show news:
Of course, I have to rate the show news. Yes, I'm comparing apples and oranges here, but GSMA's international focus makes it much more interesting. It puts CES to shame as far as mobile news, which makes sense considering it's a mobile show, but also there seemed to be more a focus on substance rather than hype.
GSMA 4
CES 1

So CES, there several things you could do to make yourself more bearable. You can start by taking lessons from your European friends. After all, it beat you four to one.

There is a 50 percent chance that Lake Mead, which was created by the Hoover Dam and the Colorado River, will go dry by 2021 because of escalating human demand and climate change, according to a study by Tim Barnett and David Pierce of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography of the University of California at San Diego.

Lake Mead straddles the Arizona-Nevada border, and Lake Powell is on the Arizona-Utah border. Aqueducts carry water from the system to Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Diego, and other communities in the Southwest.

The old high water line is at the top of the white band. This was taken two weeks ago.

(Credit: Stephen Shankland/CNET Networks)

By 2017, there is a 50 percent chance that the reservoir could drop so low that Hoover Dam could no longer produce hydroelectric power. Water conservation and mitigation technologies and policies thus need to be implemented now, the study stated.

The disappearance of the manmade lake would create a tidal wave of ill effects for the southwestern U.S. The lake provides water for large cities like Los Angeles and Las Vegas, as well as for several agricultural interests. The power also keeps on the lights in that region of the country. Imagine Los Angeles on a summer day with sporadic air conditioning and only a trickle of water coming out of the faucet. Then imagine that goes for a week.

"We were stunned at the magnitude of the problem and how fast it was coming at us," Barnett said in a statement. "Make no mistake, this water problem is not a scientific abstraction, but rather one that will impact each and every one of us that live in the Southwest."

"Today, we are at or beyond the sustainable limit of the Colorado system," he added.

The level of the lake has been dropping for years. In the photo below, the white band marks the difference between the old high water level and the current one. It was taken two weeks ago. Barnett and Pierce estimated that there is a 10 percent chance that the lake could go dry as early as 2014. The full report will be published in Water Resources Research, a journal of the American Geophysical Union.

Barnett and Pierce examined annual river flow averages for the past 100 years, evaporation rates, climate predictions, water allocation schedules, past water demand, and future projections, among other factors. Water allocation from the dam has been a political flash point for California, Nevada, and Arizona for years.

And the estimate is conservative, the scientists state. The study goes on the assumption that human-induced climate change factors only began in 2007.

Currently, the Colorado River system, which includes Lake Mead and nearby Lake Powell, is running a deficit of 1 million acre feet of water per year. An acre foot of water is the amount of water that it would take to cover an acre of land with a foot of water. It is enough water for 8 million people.

Other studies have forecast reductions of between 10 percent and 30 percent over the next 30 to 50 years in the Colorado River system. Such a decline could affect the water supply of between 12 million and 36 million people.

Venture capitalists, scientists, and others have said water will likely be one of the first manifestations of problems associated with climate change. China and Australia have already experienced droughts and agricultural problems. Several companies specializing in water management, purification, and desalination have received venture capital investments in recent years. Some companies to keep your eye on include NanoH20 (a desalination company), Vidler Water (a water rights broker) and Altela (artificial rain. No kidding.)

In some places, conservation strategies have been implemented. In Singapore, a small percentage of the country's water comes from the NEWater program, which takes human sewage water and makes it drinkable again. In Las Vegas, the water district offers residents money to remove lawns and replace them with desert landscaping. Still, implementing these technologies has moved slow in most places in the world.

Even if mitigation factors are put in place, the study warned that may not be enough to insulate the Southwest from problems associated with droughts.

Las Vegas adds two Ford H2 Ice E-450 buses to its fleet.

(Credit: Ford Motor)

Here's something you can brag about to your family the next time you get back from Las Vegas.

The city has added two hydrogen fuel buses from Ford Motor to its downtown bus routes. Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman hosted an inaugural launch for the press on Monday.

The city of Las Vegas and the Las Vegas Valley Water District's Springs Preserve have already been participating in municipal hydrogen pilot programs. The Springs Preserve hydrogen filling station makes its own hydrogen from water and electricity generated by the station's solar panels.

Now tourists and citizens interested in hydrogen as an alternative fuel source can test out what it's like to ride in such vehicles themselves. The buses will be part of the City Ride program and offer express rides between the city's downtown area and the Las Vegas Premium Outlets shopping district.

The Ford E-450 model, referred to as the Ford H2 Ice, is not a hybrid using hydrogen to power fuel cells, but a vehicle with a 6.8-liter V10 engine that has been converted to run on hydrogen fuel. Las Vegas already has some trucks in its city fleet that were combustion engine vehicles converted to run on hydrogen fuel, but these are the first that will be frequented by tourists and average citizens.

The two buses, which are being leased for two years from Ford for $500,000, are being paid for by a U.S. Department of Energy grant that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid helped Nevada to get.

"First, they will encourage people to use public transportation downtown. Second, they rely on clean energy that won't pollute our air. I am proud to see the city of Las Vegas taking even more steps to reduce Nevada's reliance on oil," Reid said in a statement.