>> we'll bring you two panels from the recent national convention of the american-arab antidiscrimination committee. the first examines civil rights issues facing muslims in the post 9/11 era. after that you'll hear a discussion on political unrest in the arab world. and later the senate returns at 2 p.m. eastern for general speeches until 6 p.m. no roll call votes are expected today. >> well, the consumer electronics association has brought its wares once again to capitol hill for legislators and

capitol hill staff to see. this is the second annual consumer electronics show on capitol hill. and "the communicators" is on site today to talk with some of the exhibiters, see some of the new technology that's coming out. and we're going to begin here at sony with rob manfredo of sony. mr. manfredo, what's new in the world of technology for sony? >> guest: well, for sony this year, peter, 3-d has gotten personal. we've taken, um, the 3-d television technology that you've seen before and brought it to the home in a way that allows people to now create the content themselves. first, we have a 3-d handicam, we also have a 3-d pocket camera and a 3-d laptop that allows people to view, create and actually modify their own 3-d content. >> host: okay. mr. manfredo, we've got to start with this tv up here. now, for viewers just seeing

this without this pair of glasses that you need to wear, it's a little on the fuzzy side. but once you put the glasses on, it's very 3-d. how are these selling? >> guest: they're selling very well. last year we moved a lot of models, and we were very happy with the performance. sony continues to be committed to 3-d and engaging the way that we are developing the content and playing it back. performance just keeps getting better. this is our top of the line model, the hx429. we're talking about $3,000. >> host: and as it goes on, will the price come down as they did on other -- >> guest: prices have already gone down on 3-d televisions. a model like this just a couple years ago would have been quite a bit higher. >> host: how, where was this technology developed?

was it developed by sony? >> guest: it's developed in-house. >> host: okay. you still have to wear these kind of funky glasses here. at what point will 3-d be available without the glasses? >> guest: um, that's pretty much anybody's guess at this point. >> host: is it something you're working on? >> guest: i think every manufacturer is working on passive and autostereoscopic 3-d. right now for the consumer the best possible way is with an active glasses. >> host: i want to ask about the camera you have here, the 3-d camera. demonstrate that for us or show us what it does. >> guest: sure. this is our 3-d bloggy, one of our more popular models in the 2-d form. now you can take 3-d video with

it, and this is an autostereoscopic screen, so you can see 3-d images as you're shooting them without any glasses. >> host: do you need a 3-d tv to view this or a 3-d laptop? >> guest: unless you want to get all of your friends and family around this little screen, the best way to view this after you're done is put it on your laptop or play it on your tv. >> host: given all the new technology that's out there, rob manfredo, are handicams still selling? >> guest: sure, quite a bit. the models are very popular, they keep getting smaller and more powerful. they take full hd video, so 1080p right to your television, so your tv looks like what's coming through your cable. >> host: and why are you here? why did sony come to the consumer electronics show on capitol hill? >> >> guest: sony's a partner with the consumer electronics association. um, we support everything that

the cea does. and, you know, if our friends and competitors in the industry are going to be somewhere, we want to be there too. >> host: rob manfredo with corporate communications with sony, thank you. >> guest: thank you. >> host: well, another one of the exhibiters here at the consumer electronics show on capitol hill is the distracted driving safety alliance. kelli emerick is the executive director of ddsa. what is it all about? >> guest: well, the districted driving safety alliance is a group of industry leaders that have come together along with some of the third party groups that are out there to look at distracted driving as an issue unto itself. we've seen such an increase in people doing other things while they're supposed to be driving, and so how do we talk about that in a way that's meaningful and educational, but also looks at innovation as a possible solution. >> host: and what are some of those technological innovations that can, in your view, cut down

on distracted driving. >> guest: well, there are a couple of different things. first and foremost, education is a really important message because we do want folks to understand why distracted driving is really harmful, and things you can do to prevent distracted driving first and foremost. but let's talk about technology, let's get to it. we have a couple of our member companies that are here with us today. taser has offered a product called protecter, and protecter, what it is, it's installed within your car. it goes directly into the car's communication system, and then it also is paired with your phone. so when you get into the car, it effectivelyies your phone off -- effectively turns your phone off. really for younger drivers that don't need to be texting or talking while driving as their learning. so this is a really wonderful product where you can really control what happens in the car.

>> host: and it's on the market now? >> guest: it is on the market now, yes. >> host: parents buying it? >> guest: in droves. [laughter] >> host: what else? >> guest: in addition to that, nuance communications which is one of our leadership council members, nuance works with ford and the in sync system in the car. again, for more advanced drivers who are capable of talking but doing a hands-free mode, nuance is working with a lot of the auto manufacturers to incorporate that kind of hands-free technology and also voice-activated technology within the car allowing you to still communicate and do things in the car but two hands on the wheel, two eyes on the road. >> host: do you lobby as an organization for texting laws in state legislatures or other kinds of laws like that? >> guest: we haven't lobbied directly in the states, but we have provided information to the states. we really think that educational message is really important in states that are looking at texting laws, you know, texting is really the one that everybody

is focused on at the moment. but there are all kinds of other distractions happening in the car. so while we are definitely in favor of those texting laws, we definitely want to see folks recognize that there are other distractions and other things they need to be cognizant of. >> host: where are your headquarters? >> guest: we're here in washington, d.c -- >> host: who are some of your other partners? >> guest: we're working with loom product which has a product called eyes up, and similar to other the products will help turn off that phone in case you need some help getting to the answer. and then wired safety. wired safety is really an amazing organization. they're the number one online safety group in the world. and they've been around since about 1995. they started seeing dissed driving -- distracted driving as a major issue and really got ahead of all the other safety groups at looking at this about how we can teach kids and parents to use technology in a safe way.

>> host: kelli emerick is the executive director of the distracted driving safety alliance. >> guest: www.distracted driving safety.org. it's a long one, but it's worth it. we'd las vegas to have folks come -- love to have folks come and check us out. >> host: well, one of the leading smartphone manufacturers is here at the consumer electronics show on capitol hill, and keith nowak, one of their public relations directors, is here to talk with "the communicators" about some of the new products htc has come out with. why don't you point out some of your products. >> guest: sure. what's really exciting so -- to us is the advent of 4g. this is the first 4g product in the, out for about a year now. remains a popular device. everybody gets a first taste of what 4g meant with speed, power and having a true broadband

connection in the pocket. this kind of kicked it off. but i think what was really great was recently with verizon wireless we launched the htc thunder bolt. >> host: what does that mean? >> guest: lte stands for long-term evolution, and that's the technology that really most of the world is going to use as they roll out 4g. so this is true broadband speeds. >> host: does that mean the end of cdma? >> guest: well, cdma remains kind of the underlying technology of almost all 4g technologies. but, you're right, cdma, gsm, those will eventually fade into the sunset. lte will become the long term evolution of wireless. your voice will also be going over lte as a data packet. >> host: and will that make international calling that much easier? >> guest: there's still some differences in frequencies to make things tough. it does make things a little

easier, but you are talking about one technology. really the big benefit is less roaming than it is just that idea of having a true broadband connection anywhere around the world. >> host: mr. nowak, you're developing 4g phones here. is there a 4g national network available yet? is. >> guest: there really are. actually, all four operators are, have developed nationwide 4g networks. certainly, they are not in every single area yet, but most metro areas you're already going to have 4g which really does show how much demand there is for et. when 3g networks came out, it took a long time for it to spread to different markets. today's 4g is already virtually in every major and most smaller markets because people are demanding more and more data every day. >> host: are you working on fifth generation yet? >> guest: oh, this is a long-term evolution. that technology will continue to get better, faster as time goes on.

so what you're going to see is less of a paradigm shift in technologies going forward which is going to be stepping up and getting more and more capabilities within lg technology. >> host: keith nowak, it was just reported, and i see a couple of your phones here have t-mobile connections, it was just reported that t-mobile lost a record number of customers in the first quarter of 2011. does the potential transaction of at&t buying t-mobile concern htc as a manufacturer? >> guest: you know, the great thing about htc is we're not, we've never been a one-carrier manufacturer. we've been selling phones in all four major carriers as well as regionals across the united states. so, you know, we're, obviously, watching it very closely, by at the end of the day, we have a great relationship with t-mobile, we sell a lot of phones to at&t as well, so we think we're in great shape. >> host: where's htc headquartered, and what does it stand for? >> guest: it used to stand for high-tech computers way back when before our focus was on

smartphones. it doesn't actually stand for anything anymore. our u.s. headquarters are in bellevue, washington, right outside seattle, and globally we're based out of taiwan. >> host: how many u.s. jobs does htc support, do you know? >> guest: 300-350 people in the united states doing everything from sales, marketing, engineering, product design. the cool thing, all of our product is on our user-experience design done in united states. >> host: keith nowak of htc, thank you for your time. >> guest: thank you very much. >> host: well, one of the well-known telecommunications companies is rca, and rca is here at the consumer electronics show on capitol hill with some of their new wares. dave arland, what are you displaying here? >> >> guest: well, we're showing here today a new kind of television service called mobile digital television, and that's the ability to take the high-definition tv signal in your house and make it mobile so you can take it with you in a train, your car, anywhere that

you go you'll be able to take television with you. it's starting out in portable tv sets that are coming out now from rca. here is an example. this little guy is a 3.5-inch screen, and it costs about $160 from rca portable tv.com. it's got a rechargeable battery, it'll last for about three to four hours, and the big advantage is you can be on the move and go anywhere you want to go. >> host: how's it picking up the signal? >> guest: digital signal, we're familiar with the hi-def transitions that have been happening for the last, you know, several years. adding mobile to the signal is relatively new, it's only been done for the past year. it varies depending on the market that you're at. here in washington we have seven broadcasters who are sending over a dozen channels of mobile. so if you in a car -- if your in the car, the you're in the metro above ground, you can pick up a

perfect signal. >> host: now, can you travel across country with this, or are you going to lose the signal at some point? >> guest: it's sort of like fm radio. mobile television is available from about 75 broadcasters across the country in 32 markets. you can go to omvc.org, click on signal map and get a list of all of the cities, all the stations that are on the air right now. and that, obviously, is growing week to week. >> host: you've got some other products here on the table. what have you got? is. >> guest: i wanted to show you one thing in my hand, and that is a u.s. view receiver. with this guy, this plugs into your computer. there's software that goes with it, it's got an antenna, kind of cute. but with this, any laptop can be turned into a mobile digital tv set. there are also devices like this for the automobile. so if you've got a dvd player in your automobile, you can plug it into the screen, into the system, and you can have television on the go on the road. we also have some prototypes here on the table of new devices

that are coming including a laptop, a netbook from dell that's a prototype here, you can see tv on the screen. and then there are accessories coming for the ipad, for iphone that also

>> host: how do these products that you have here fit with distracted drivers? it's not just passengers that bring the tv with them. >> guest: well, obviously, as it is with anything in the car, it isn't the sort of thing you want to be playing around with if you're a driver. so these are information and entertainment devices for the backseat of the car. there's a lot of people driving around with video systems in their car today for the backseat, for the kids or whatever, and that's really the advantage of being mobile. but it's not only the car. you know, you think about going to the license branch, going to the supermarket, all the places you wait in line when you go, here you can have information with you wherever you are, and we think that's especially critical when you're talking

about emergencies because now with a portal television -- portable television set, be able to have emergency alert service wherever you are and not just in the living room of your house. >> host: some of the new products by rca at the consumer electronics show on capitol hill. well, we're now joined on "the communicators" by matthew strip who's the executive vice president of the global security systems company. what is it that you make? >> guest: we're in the emergency alert warning business, so we provide alert receivers to consumers, to citizens like that use to safe your lives. it was just use inside the tornadoes in alabama to save some lives, and we use fm infrastructure, fm radio broadcast infrastructure. and there's no message fee, so most of the, all of the alert and warning devices use the chip, and it's delivered with the consumer electronics product

itself. >> host: do governments buy your products as well? >> guest: yeah, emergency managers. they create or send the messages out, we don't create any messages. it comes from national weather service or a presidential alert from fema. it's delivered by satellite across the fm broadcast structure, and it's delivered audio and text up to 240 text to all these different devices you see here. >> host: all right. show us how that would work. >> guest: this is an fm radio chip that's in these cell phones -- >> host: key chain here. >> guest: well, that's the chip right there. >> host: right. >> guest: and those chips are in these cell phones and these infrastructures -- products, and you're able to send a message to a cell phone even if network gets congested or overloaded. these other devices are ones that, this is a personal receiver that might go next to your bedside and wake you up in the middle of the night and tell you there's a tornado coming,

okay? this is a device, this is a wall unit that might be installed in a university or a public school or a bus or a public building in case there's a hurricane or, again, tornado or flooding or earthquake m and these other devices are two, this can receive alerts and this is an ipod docking station from gpx. >> host: now, have phone manufacturers been reluctant to put the fm chip into their phone? >> >> guest: there's over 40 phones that have the fm chip in it, so the government is now deploying the next generation alert warning system, so it's a process. currently, we have over 15 states that have system installed and over 45 million people are covered with the alert signal. now, the key point is there's no message fee. so once you buy a device, it's all you can eat. and there's never, there's never a fee. there's no contracts, there's no connection fee, there's no activation fee. and so we're providing this, you

know, the emergency manager and the government, basically, their responsibility is to present the message, provide the message, and they're the customer. the citizens, a public service. the public broadcasters provide the alerts, and, obviously, the citizen benefit ifs they buy a product that has the technology in it. >> host: the fcc announced they would be sending alerts to certain areas such as times square, does that compete with you? >> guest: it's complimentary. i mean, at the end of the day no network or no broadcast infrastructure or internet capability is 100% failsafe. so if you lose cell coverage or your cell tower goes down in your area, you want to rely on broadcasting. so it's an escalation thing. if your power goes out, how are you going to charge your cell phone? it's only going to last 24 hours. so you might want to go to a

device that has a three-month battery or a five-year battery in it. those are the differences. it's up to the consumer to decide at the end of the day. >> host: what's your background? >> guest: i'm a radio broadcast engineer and been involved in all types of different technologies. >> host: where's global security systems headquartered? >> guest: we're in jackson, mississippi. hurricane belt. >> host: matthew straeb. >> guest: thank you. >> host: the qualcomm company is another exhibiter here in washington, d.c. where "the communicators" is on location, and we're joined by the vice president of qualcomm, alice tornquist. why are you up here on capitol hill displaying wares? >> guest: well, we have a lot of new and very exciting technologies to show people. in particular one of the things that we're showing here today are some devices that have our snap dragon chip set in them, and it's enabling all sorts of new capabilities in mobile

devices, all the things that people are doing now on their mobile devices whether it's internet searches, gaming, video, cameras -- >> host: how does snap dragon activate, or how does it work? >> guest: well, specifically designed for mobile, so it's very low power consumption and very fast processing capability. so that combination is especially beneficial for mobile. >> host: well, now, you are the vice president of governmental affairs. is it beneficial to get your wares in front of legislators? >> guest: i think it's very beneficial. i mean, some of the policy issues that we've been advocating for, this sort of shows what that can produce. i mean, some of the things that we've talked about are access toal tent and the need to reform our immigration laws in order to allow us to have access to the highly-skilled talent, the people who are producing these kinds of devices as well as having access to spectrum to

accommodate the amazing growth that we're seeing in mobile. we need access to the airwaves to allow for that. >> host: so two of your big policy issues at qualcomm, immigration h-1b, immigration reform and spectrum reform as well? >> guest: yeah, spectrum reform. and we're also interested in tax reform and in creating a level playing field for multi-national companies that have to compete against companies from other places of the world, and we really see a need for the united states to look at this corporate tax system and make some changes there. >> host: and that was alice tornquist of qualcomm, vice president based here in washington d.c. qualcomm, of course, is headquartered in sand san diegod we're now joined by erica whinston to talk about some of the health care aspects of a qualcomm product. what did you want to tell us about? >> guest: right. well, alice explained we're all about making this phone more efficient, more powerful, and so what we're doing with our

wireless region initiative is taking that and looking at health care, education and various areas, what's the social benefit. so we truly believe that health care can be helped by mobile technology. you know, it can reduce costs, help people with medication adherence, things like taking advantage -- taking their pills on time, um, so that they can manage their diseases. and one of the projects that we looked at here actually in d.c. was medication adherence and specifically related to hypertension. and we found by working with gw university and other great partners that if you put an app on a phone and you teach somebody how to use it, it can definitely help them take their pills on time and live a healthier, better life. >> host: so is it the app that qualcomm developed or what? how is qualcomm a partner in

this? >> guest: no, oneover our partners did, so qualcomm's the enabler. the chip on the phone was making the connectivity so you could have data. the application then is built so that you can have access to educational information about your medications like this application you can look up any pill, and you'll see a picture of it, you'll see what it's used for, and then you can program the application so it's simple. it sends you an alarm when you're supposed the take your pills. and, you know, what's really important is a lot of people are suffering from chronic diseases today, they might need to take up to eight pills a day because they have blood pressure issues, diabetes, and they're all combined, and they're living with that. and it's hard enough to just remember to take your multivitamin, right? so if you've got access to an application that helps you along, it can make a true impact on your life. >> host: erica whinston is senior manager with qualcomm.

one of the well-known brands that google corporation owns is youtube, and joining us now here at the consumer electronics show on capitol hill is david rosenstein, a product manager with google. mr. rosenstein, what's new about youtube? >> guest: what's new, so we're here talking about content id. this is one of the pieces of our rights management solution that allows content owners to provide a set of reference files, essentially, you know, music labels, movie studios, the studios to provide reference files into youtube. we identify it as, we generate video fingerprints, audio fingerprints, and we use this when user videos are uploaded, and we get something like 35 hours of user-generated video every minute. so each one of those user-generated videos is scanned against this entire reference of content files, and we will apply

the policy that the rights holder tells us to apply. they can tell us at a simple level block this, um, leave it be, just track it -- >> host: because it's copyrighted or something like that? >> guest: sure, exactly. it's their content, they can tell us to do whatever they would choose. these days, though, most of the customers are telling us to monetize the videos. well, if a user uploads content and they use my content, i'm okay with that, but i'd like to run ads against that, and then youtube shares the revenue with the content owner. and this is becoming much more common. it's becoming a majority of what's happening with partners these days. >> host: why was it important for google to show this product here on capitol hill to legislators and capitol hill staff? >> guest: well, we're very proud of it. we've done a lot of work, invested a lot of engineering time and money. i think, you know, it's just an opportunity for us to tell our story and make sure people understand how we are treating copyrighted material, the kinds

of work we do with partners and, you know, how it makes a difference in the whole ecosystem. >> host: now, what's your background? how did you get involved with google, how long have you been there? >> guest: i've been with google for about four years now. i started, actually, i worked on the back end of youtube on the serving infrastructure, actually, to send all that video back out to users' eyeballs. and about six months ago or so i shifted to this new role in the content management world. >> host: and what's your background, what's your educational background? >> guest: i have a computer science and business background. i used to work in the telecom, i was involved before the old dot.com bust, and, yeah, i've just been in networking, actually, a lot of networking and data communications work. >> host: david rosenstein, product manager with google here at the capitol at the consumer electronics show