News from CES 2008

Sprint Nextel Corp. and its partners in the ambitious WiMax Xohm initiative insisted that the project for faster wireless networking is on track as planned.

Intel CEO Paul Otellini talked about the next Internet generation in his CES keynote speech.

In an interview with the IDG News Service, Bill Gates defends his legacy as an innovator and explains how deals announced this week came about.

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates touted progress in the company's strategy to provide digital content through a host of Internet-based channels and devices as he delivered his last keynote address at the CES trade show in his current role at the company

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates said Sunday the company has sold more than 100 million licenses of Windows Vista since its launch 13 months ago.

Blogs and other Web 2.0 technologies are having a profound impact on this year's presidential campaign, and candidates are using the new media in different ways to boost their campaigns.

Gadgets

While it was practically impossible to see everything at the CES trade show, big draws were the Taser holster/MP3 player and an air guitar device for rock star wannabes.

CES has always been about gadgets, but the addition of using gadgets to access Web 2.0 services intensified this year.

Vendors at the CES trade show demonstrated products that can charge cell phones, laptops and other devices without using wires.

Hitachi said the latest upgrade to its Audio-Visual Storage Manager software can cut the power needs of digital video recorders.

Sony is using near-field communications technology to move files between gadgets and PCs at speeds faster than USB is capable of.

Google Inc. and Apple Inc. don't have major booths on the floor of the CES trade show, but they are very much on the minds of their competitors.

Yahoo Inc. today plans to introduce new versions of its two primary mobile services, and it expects to launch documentation that will let any developer or publisher write mobile widgets for the Yahoo services.

Digital photo frames are reaching home appliances like cordless phones and refrigerators, as will be evident at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show.

Pinnacle Systems has introduced a device that can record analog video onto iPods and other USB storage devices.

Corsair announced two new 32GB USB drives, one in a rubber casing and the other in an aircraft-grade, waterproof aluminum casing. Each has encryption software and can hold full operating systems or 16 high-definition DVD movies.

Bits and Bytes Blog

Blogger Barbara Krasnoff is finding some gadget gems among the smaller but hungrier vendors at the CES trade show.

PCs

The ultra-mobile, Linux-based laptop scene gets a little more populated as Everex prepares to debut its CloudBook -- $400, two pounds, and coming later this month to the nation's biggest electronics retailer.

Storage and data transfer technologies on display at CES included some newcomers, including a device to handle file transfers between PCs and Macs. Intel also waded into the solid-state storage fray with two drive announcements.

IBM and its partners showed what's possible with virtual reality at CES, including the ability to control an avatar using brain signals and a wireless connection to a PC.

Taiwanese PC maker Asustek Computer Inc. on Monday confirmed rumors that it will enlarge upcoming versions of its hit Eee mini-notebook PC to accommodate 8-in. and 9-in. LCD screens, up from the current 7-in. LCDs the $399 Eee now sports.

Hewlett-Packard announced at CES plans to cut the energy use of its PCs by 25% within two years.

A walk through Intel's booth at CES revealed some new ultra-mobile PCs, some of which run on the Linux platform.

Qualcomm is showing prototypes this week at the Consumer Electronics Show of 'pocketable computers', which fall between smart phones and laptops in terms of size and functionality.

AMD unveiled a new processor platform for laptop computers with new graphics and microprocessor chips.

Intel introduced 16 more 45nm Penryn processors, including the first laptop chips, surprising analysts who didn't expect to see so many.

HP has unveiled a new multimedia laptop, the HP Pavilion HDX, that offers high-definition capabilities, including a 20.1-in. screen.

Expanding on its popular ThinkPad family of PCs, Lenovo is stepping out of its comfort zone and launching into the heady and lucrative consumer market with a new line of laptop and desktop PCs branded IdeaCentre.

Asus will unveil a laptop that should satisfy the storage needs of all but the biggest of power users: the M70S comes with 1TB of storage space.

Intel Corp. today officially launched Penryn-based dual-core processors for notebooks, but it also indicated that users expecting quad-core mobile processors may have to wait until issues surrounding power consumption are resolved.

Home Entertainment

OLED TVs are getting ready for prime time and are among the stars of CES. But some say the flat-screen TVs, which are as thin as a framed picture on the wall, have too short a life span and are very expensive.

Fears of a recession and poor DVD sales played into Warner Bros's decision to back Blu-ray Disc over HD DVD for a high definition DVD format.

Panasonic displayed a 150-inch plasma TV prototype called the Life Screen, which it said is the largest yet. The company also unveiled a 50-inch flat-panel TV that's just under an inch thick.

The consumer electronics industry is abuzz ahead of this year's CES show with Friday's news that Warner Bros is dropping HD DVD in favor of Blu-ray Disc.

Toshiba remains defiant about the future of its HD DVD format at CES saying it's a long way from dead despite Time Warner's backing of rival Blu-Ray.

With over-the-air television broadcasts switching from analog to digital in just over a year, converter boxes are expected to be among the hot devices on display at next week's CES.