Tech show to fight economic fears
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More than 140,000 people are expected in Las Vegas for the start of the Consumer Electronics Show.
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Business & money: Warning that small economic shock could be enough to cause serious problems.
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With more than 2,000 consumer electronics companies fighting for the attention of 140,000 attendees at International CES, the competition to get noticed is fierce. Companies will parade their newest and hottest products and promise starry-eyed consumers and journalists imminent release dates for their gadgets, while the more daring keynote speakers give their predictions for the year ahead. Sometimes they&#39;re spot-on -- but other times they&#39;re way off the mark, as this&#160;look back at the class of 2007&#160;shows.The show kicked off in a big way with the&#160;unveiling by Sharp of its monster 108-inch LCD&#160;(liquid crystal display) TV. The set represented the biggest flat-panel TV developed -- a title it still holds today -- and came without a price but with the promise of availability during 2007. But wealthy consumers are still waiting. Sharp said recently that it is still working on plans for a commercial launch for the TV set.There was a lot of noise at the show about both&#160;Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD. The battling high-definition video disc camps both claimed an advantage over the other and asserted that 2007 would be break-out year when their respective format left the rival in the dust. A year on and not much has changed. Consumer indifference and confusion over the formats has led many to stay away, while prices have collapsed leaving some wondering if any of the participants will ever be able to make money on either technology.One man who called the status quo was H.G. Lee, president of LG Electronics. Speaking at a news conference where he unveiled a&#160;dual-format machine from LG&#160;he predicted that both formats would be around for a good while longer and observed, &quot;The growth of this exciting new technology and industry is slower than it could be.&quot; So top marks to Lee, but that&#39;s perhaps not much consolation. While he was right about the immediate future of both formats, his company&#39;s relatively expensive dual-format player wasn&#39;t the hit he hoped.LG wasn&#39;t the only company trying to solve the format battle.&#160;Warner Bros. introduced its Total Hi Def disc&#160;that has a Blu-ray Disc layer on one side and an HD DVD layer on the other. The disc generated a lot of excitement because it would insulate consumers from the risks of backing the wrong format -- so it was a disappointment when Warner threw in the towel on the format before the year was out.CES often serves as a launch pad for new technologies. The results were mixed for two of those shown at CES 2007.Samsung came to CES 2007 with&#160;A-VSB, a mobile digital TV broadcasting system&#160;that offers a robust signal and fewer drop-outs to receivers on the move, and comes with a low installation price tag of a few tens of thousands of dollars per TV station. A-VSB also came with an aggressive roll-out schedule that would have put it on-air by the end of 2007 -- but as the year turns there&#39;s still no sign of commercial service.Things weren&#39;t so bad for Sony. It wowed visitors with prototype TVs based on new OLED (organic light emitting diode) screens. With a bright, rich and dynamic picture they were among the highlights of the show. Sony made good on its commercialization plans and put the set on sale in Japan on Dec. 1, where it sold out almost immediately despite the &#165;200,000 price tag. Sony is expected to unveil U.S. launch plans at CES 2008.With CES 2008 only days away now, the class of 2008 are putting the finishing touches to their announcements, predictions, and promises. The show is continuing to grow, so companies will need to make a bigger splash to catch the attention of attendees and media: In a year from now we&#39;ll know who stuck their necks out too far in the race to claim the CES headlines.&#160;
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Television sets traditionally  dominate the IFA consumer electronics trade fair but there is  an abundance of new high-tech gadgets on display in Berlin this  week aimed at making life simpler and more beautiful too.
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The annual Demo conference, where startups vie for the attention of VCs and established technology firms with fat wallets and a yen to buy something, is once again a reflection of what's hot in the high-tech industry.
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SAN FRANCISCO/LAS VEGAS  - The world's major technology companies are trying to convince consumers they need an expensive, digitally connected home with the latest high-tech gadgets.
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SAN FRANCISCO - It&#39;s been a tough recession for tech spending and a tough summer for tech stocks. But a Texas software outfit might give investors a reason to get back in the market.
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The Consumer Electronics Show kicks off in Las Vegas next week, but economic headwinds, such as a global credit crunch and  higher oil prices,  may tone down the glitz of a conference that defines what gadgets are in store for 2008.
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I'm just back from the massive Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, where last week more than 2,400 manufacturers showed off the latest gadgets and technologies that will hit computers and electronics stores over the next year.
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Recent gaffes have been tough, but U.S. executive says HDTVs, e-books and Mylo devices could paint a better picture.
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PALM DESERT, Calif. The DEMO technology show may have little of the glitz and glamour of the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, but to industry insiders, the three-day show reveals clues about what's on the cusp of being the next hot thing.
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Trade shows have a tougher time as culture of business evolves.
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At Demo, a gathering of venture capitalists and corporate high-tech investors watch as demonstrators are present their efforts at breakthrough technology worth investing in.
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SAN FRANCISCO/LAS VEGAS  - The world's major  technology companies are trying to convince consumers they need  an expensive, digitally connected home with the latest  high-tech gadgets.
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Flat-panel TVs look lovely on a wall Â the cords hanging from them, less so. After a few years of false starts, the industry finally seems close to tackling that problem. At least three dueling wireless technologies for high-definition TVs will be on display at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, which starts Monday. Manufacturers promise that sets incorporating these technologies will be in stores before the next holiday season.
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The Web 2.0 conference is under way in San Francisco, so the B.S. will be flying. Thanks to the innovators in Wired's Gadget Lab, you can contribute to the dung heap by using our Web 2.0 Summit startup and press kit to tout your own flim-flam company.
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High definition entertainment is expected to be the focus of the IFA consumer electronics show.