..Gary Dretzka
..Noah Forrest
..Leonard Klady
..R.J. Matson
..David Poland
..Douglas Pratt
..Ray Pride
..Michael Wilmington

LAS VEGAS -- Not all of the news emanating from the just-completed International Consumer Electronics Show involved warnings of a new format war, this time between the proponents of Blu-ray and HD DVD technologies. Concrete evidence that the long-promised age of wireless communication had finally arrived prompted headlines, as did the rush to miniaturize everything from cell phones and PDAs, to movie projectors and TVs.

It was possible to find artifacts from the analog era here and there, but nothing that diverted attention from the orgy of digital convergence on floor of the Convention Center’s vast exhibition spaces. Last month’s electronic Christmas gifts were made to look as out-of-date as a first-generation Nintendo console.

What, your cell phone can only take pictures and exchange text messages? Before long, they’ll also be expected to serve as portable televisions, DVD and MP3 players. With nano-technology just around the corner -- and, seemingly, the embedding of information systems at birth -- it’s amazing that anyone is willing to invest in any product with a shelf life of six months.

Some temptations, however, are simply too tasty to avoid.

For a lesson in the instant adaptability of consumer electronics, one only had to take a shuttle from the LVCC to the Venetian, where the Adult Entertainment Expo was taking place. It was almost as if the tens of thousands of paying customers at AEE -- which was open to the public -- had stopped first at CES to pick up the cutting-edge cameras and cell phones they’d need to record the event for posterity, while also instantly transmitting images of their favorite porn stars to friends back home.

Back at CES 2005, most of the excitement came from the knowledge that business was up -- way up -- for high-end televisions and home-theater units. For the first time, the market for digital entertainment, communication and business technologies held more promise than hype. Everyone along the technological food chain appeared to be on the same page.

For years now, the primary obstacle between cinema-savvy consumers and the purchase of high-resolution video monitors was an astronomical price tag. The reluctance of broadcasters and networks to provide adequate supplies of hi-def content, too, was a major sticking point. Neither did it help matters that cable providers couldn’t agree on a single standard that would might everyone’s needs.

This summer, satellite providers helped break up the logjam with a high-powered marketing campaign aimed at those fence-sitting consumers who might be willing to pay $100 for a set-top receiver. Content was limited, but it included several premium movie channels, quality cable fare, ESPN and prime-time programming from two of the major networks and PBS (that number has since grown to include Fox and ABC, with ESPN2 soon to follow).

Next came NBC’s praise-worthy coverage of the Summer Olympics -- along with DirecTV’s Big Ticket package of NFL games, most made available in high-definition -- which went a long way toward convincing consumers that the time was right to convert to digital. A surplus of inventory meant that much second-generation hardware would, for the first time, be priced to sell.

By the time Christmas rolled along, early adapters could lay down an extra $1,000 for PVRs that could record shows on HD, two at a time, and create their own hi-res TiVo Network. By this time next year, they’ll be able to record those same shows on disc and create a library of titles.

At CES, manufacturers trotted out even more models of their high-end product, only, this time, in widths ranging from monstrous (Samsung’s 102- and 80-inch plasma screens) to miniscule (Eyetop’s video glasses, with DVD). And, in depth, from a fully integrated HDTV model, at 13 inches front to back, to hi-res rear-projection screens as thin as a sheet of plexiglass.

Panasonic continues to favor flat-screen plasma, while Sony and other companies are pushing LCD. Panasonic plans to double its plasma production capacity to 300,000 units a month by March, 2006, while Sony said it would have more than a dozen new LCD televisions this year.

Meanwhile, the same DLP technology that’s powering the move to digital in multiplexes, also has become a major component in up-scale television and home theater. For those who haven’t been paying attention, Texas Instrument’s DLP projection system is based on an optical semiconductor known as the Digital Micromirror Device. Each chip contains a rectangular array of up to 1.3 million hinge-mounted microscopic mirrors, each less than one-fifth the width of a human hair. When a DMD chip is coordinated with a digital video or graphic signal, a light source, and a projection lens, its mirrors can reflect an all-digital image onto a screen or alternate surface. At CES, Samsung laid claim to the world's largest monitor, enhanced with 1080p DLP, at 67 inches.

Consumers now can choose among several brands of highly portable hi-def projectors, which include DLP. Not only does this offer another option for home-theater fanatics, but it also allows them to create digital drive-ins of their own. The benefit here comes in being able to use most any surface for a screen, and not being limited to manufacturer-proscribed widths of monitors.

Indeed, not only could hi-res images be projected on the sides of handball courts and barns, but also panes of glass and sprays of water. These digital projectors can be linked to component appliances, or, at a higher premium, be purchased fully integrated with a DVD player and amplifier. Either way, they weigh a fraction of traditional projection units, and start out at about $1,200.

The Texas Instruments and InFocus booths displayed working prototypes of palm-sized DLP video projectors, powered by a TI DLP chip with an LED light source (instead of a high wattage lamp). Both units were capable of projecting a 27-inch image in a darkened room setting, for entertainment and business purposes. Mitsubishi and InFocus models could become available by fourth-quarter 2005, at about $600.

It hasn’t taken long for consumers to embrace the subscription satellite radio services, XM and Sirius. Once sampled, it’s a product that sells itself. With dozens of mostly ad-free music, comedy, news, talk and sports channels -- all seemingly programmed by humans, not accountants -- satellite radio has proven to be a concept whose time has come.

At CES, the big news for XM and Sirius came in the form of appliances that expand the services’ reach well beyond automobiles and homes. Unlike dishes for satellite-delivered television, radio antennas don’t have to be positioned precisely to catch the transmitted beams of digitized entertainment. Nor, need the antennas be affixed to the roof of a car … making the receiving devices as portable as any transistor radio.

XM revealed a hand-held model, which sells for around $300, that makes any vehicle -- or pedestrian, for that matter -- satellite-ready. It also allows for the TiVo-like recording, storage and play back of programming, including morning talk shows for the afternoon drive home.

Engineers at the Sirius booth demonstrated how their tiny antennas can be used to bring down television signals, as well as music. The launch isn’t scheduled until 2006, and only a handful of networks will be available, but things are moving so quickly within the technology that almost anything is possible. The initial marketing push for this product will be toward parents, for whom full portability of the Cartoon Network would be a godsend.

With the imminent arrival of Howard Stern, on Sirius, and the Major League baseball package, on XM, optimism is sky high … literally.

Seemingly. every other gadget on display at CES 2005 had something to do with wireless technology, with or without Bluetooth connectivity. Those already sold on Bluetooth made themselves obvious by the devices attached to their ears, which looked every bit like plastic ear muffs. It’s a very useful tool for the transfer of data and information between appliances, although what a Bluetooth device affords in practicality it lacks in fashion sense. Until next year, at least.

For my money, though, the best new gadget on display at CES was Cellboost’s compact disposable battery charger for cell phones. When attached to a drained cell phone’s power port, the wireless 1.2-ounce charger -- a dead ringer for a Zippo lighter -- allows users to recharge their cell phones instantly, providing approximately 60 minutes of talk time, with 60 hours of standby time. They can’t be re-charged, but, at about $7 a unit, no one will mind picking up spares at the local Radio Shack (where they’re currently available) for use in emergencies.

Speaking of life-savers, there also were such novelties as the electronic pimple eradicator -- no bigger than a tube of lipstick -- and the electronic porta-potty for cats, on display on the Innovations tent. But, it would take another thousand words to explain how they work.

Part I of MCN's coverage of this month’s Consumer Electronics Show

- by Gary Dretzka

January 12, 2005