NEW YORK -- Panasonic, Palm, Philips and other makers of cellphones, handheld computers and electronic doodads would have youbelieve the good times are rolling now like never before.
They may have a point.
More than 2,000 such companies are trucking their newest wares toLas Vegas' International Consumer Electronics Show this week,promising to overwhelm the city's gargantuan convention hall. Theshow, which features keynotes by chiefs of Sony, Microsoft andIntel, has normally pessimistic analysts abuzz with a fervor thatseems alien in times of war and uncertainty.
"If you're a techie, this is gadget nirvana," said Tim Bajarin,president of technology consulting firm Creative Strategies.
As once-mighty technology shows like Comdex and TechXNY falter,CES thrives.
The reason, perhaps, is that the now-ubiquitous personal computerwas never central to the CES show. Now, PC technology is beingintegrated into slick gadgets that have stolen the limelight fromthe PC and the trade shows created to tout it.
Even Microsoft, the company that cashed in most on the PCrevolution, is eager to talk about home entertainment hubs, wirelessdisplays and Internet appliances like the alarm clock that downloadsweather and traffic news while you sleep.
In 1967, when the first CES opened in New York City, vendorsextolled the latest in transistor radios, audio cassettes and small-screen black-and-white TVs.
This year's show focuses on the same patterns of electronicconsumption. Instead of transistor radios, companies are expected toshow car radios that receive broadcasts of digital music as well astelevision.
The portable storage seen in the audio cassette has morphed intomany forms, including the Secure Digital card, the size of a U.S.quarter. Panasonic will announce a new one that holds a gigabyte ofdigital data roughly the same as a 90-minute analog cassette.
And TVs are still a hot item 36 years later, with severalcompanies proffering flat-panels the size of a small garden patchthat are digital cable-ready.
Analysts are agog over the forthcoming personal video player, orPVP, that chipmaker Intel and ReplayTV maker SONICblue are workingon. Intel will show off several prototypes of the Walkman-sized PVP,with a 4-inch screen and storage for more than 10 hours of movies.
The Intel PVP won't be the first such device. France's Archosreleased its $399 Jukebox Multimedia, with a 1-inch screen, lastyear.
Analysts also admit pent-up reverence for the finally emergingwireless "smart displays" such as the ViewSonic airpanel and PhilipsiPronto. Both are the first of a slew of such products using touch-screen technology Microsoft announced at last year's CES, under thename Mira.
Instead of tethering computer users to a desk, smart displaysallow folks to wander the house or office with a screen that linkswirelessly with the computer.
At least two companies will offer systems for those who want liveTV beamed to their cars, rather than just DVDs playing on their seat-back screens.
KVH Industries will unveil a car-mounted 4-inch-high disc antennathat pulls in satellite TV. The $2,000 antennas, already in use bythe U.S. military, devote an array of tiny gyroscope-guided dishantennas to lock onto a satellite during the twists and turns of theroad.
Sirius Satellite Radio also plans to demonstrate that a Sirius-configured Kenwood car stereo can receive satellite-beamed videoalongside radio broadcasts.
A handful of cell phone and handheld computer makers will furtherblend the two devices. Hitachi and Samsung will introduce PDA phoneswith picture-messaging capabilities. Both can access higher-speedwireless networks to send e-mail and surf the 'Net. The Hitachi alsointegrates a keyboard.
Several analysts point to the emergence of a wider "digitallifestyle" which aims to steer folks back into their own homes, awayfrom terrorists and foreign vacations.
The concept is boosted by converging home entertainment devicesand software known collectively as "media gateways." The gatewaysbundle stray audio and video formats from MP3s to recorded TV showsto digital pictures to allow control them from a single device.
"There's a blending between the home PC and the homeentertainment systems, your stereo and TV," said ForresterResearch's Charles Golvin.
The gateways can take the shape of a PC-centric system, a set-top box, or a handheld computer imbued with software, like ScientiaTechnologies' Plexus, that can control everything from the TV to theswimming pool pump.
The show has also become the gadget industry's venue to persuadethe U.S. government to see things its way.
A dozen members of Congress are expected, along with topofficials from the Federal Trade Commission, Department of Commerceand Federal Communications Commission chairman Michael Powell.
Christie Whitman, head of the Environmental Protection Agency, isexpected to introduce "Plug-in to Recycling," an EPA campaign aimedat prodding Americans to stop tossing toxic electronic waste intothe trash.
The EPA will announce "e-waste" recycling opportunities, withhelp from vendors, manufacturers and waste haulers, including BestBuy, Sony, Waste Management, Panasonic and Dell, the EPA said.
For federal officials without funds to fly to Las Vegas and stayin the Hilton the hallowed venue where Elvis Presley started hiscomeback in 1969 CES organizers will pay, said Gary Shapiro,president of the Consumer Electronics Association.
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