Trade Show Promises More Hybrid Gadgets By MAY WONG, AP Technology Writer
1 hour, 41 minutes ago
LAS VEGAS - Flat-panel televisions with built-in digital video recorders. Pocketable satellite radio receivers that can bookmark songs for online purchase. High-definition TVs engineered to play video or display photos from any computer on your home network.
The new offerings from LG Electronics Inc., XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co. are just a tiny sampling from this year's International Consumer Electronics Show, an annual showcase of technologies soon to hit the market.
Spread out over 28 football fields of real estate when the doors open Thursday will be a dizzying array of new products from small startups, dot-com boom retreads and such longtime players as Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE - news)., Toshiba Corp. and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd.'s Panasonic.
Cameras, MP3 players, DVD recorders, giant plasma screens and accessories for all the above — you name it and, chances are, it will be on display at the Sin City convention center-turned-electronics mecca.
Portable gadgets will be smaller but more powerful. Laptops will boast longer battery lives. TVs will be bigger and sharper, but cheaper. And many devices will have the ability to connect to the Internet, a home computer network, or to each other — with more ease than before.
In the home appliance arena, Samsung Electronics Co. will show a refrigerator with four convertible compartments that can switch between being a freezer or a fridge, depending on the user's needs. LG will debut a washer and dryer system that lets users monitor the laundry cycle from a small remote control.
Satellite radio, climbing in popularity, will become more accessible as a growing number of portable and home devices — such as LG's new five-disc DVD player — have the feature built-in.
Digital music players from Samsung and Pioneer Corp. will not only play live XM radio but also integrate the Napster music download and subscription service, so users can "bookmark" songs heard on XM for online purchase from Napster.
"We've seen millions of MP3 players sold and millions of satellite radio products sold. Now we're marrying them together and will hopefully create a new market," said Chance Patterson, spokesman for XM Satellite.
Portable multimedia players, which first hit the market a few years ago, are enjoying a renewed buzz this year, assured the attention by Apple Computer Inc.'s debut of a video-playing iPod and recent deals that have made TV shows available for sale online.
LG will introduce its first portable media center, the PM70, with a 4.3-inch screen and 30 gigabytes of storage, enough for 50 hours of video or 7,500 songs.
"More content availability is what's driving the demand for these things," said Tim Alessi, an LG product development director.
HP is promising its most comprehensive lineup of digital entertainment products yet. For 2006, the computer and printer maker will unveil seven ultra-compact digital cameras, ranging in price from $119 to $299.
It also is introducing nine high-definition TVs, including an innovative 37-inch LCD TV that can access other digital media from any computer on a home network.
Without the need for a separate device, the television will automatically connect to a home network so users can switch from watching TV to grabbing music, photos or video from any of their networked computers.
The TV will also offer access to RealNetworks Inc.'s Rhapsody music subscription service, films from CinemaNow or MovieLink and HP's own Snapfish photo sharing service, among other content.
Also debuting in the "When is a TV not just a TV" category is a line of LCD sets from Humax Co., integrated with DirecTV tuners.
Digital video recorders, which record shows on hard disks instead of video tapes, continue their relentless march into homes as phone companies and others challenge cable and satellite TV for home viewers.
DVRs from Motorola Inc. promise to serve as home multimedia hubs, with Verizon Communications Inc. due to offer them as part of its nascent TV-over-fiber-optics-cable service.
Besides storing traditional TV programming, the Motorola QIP series boxes let people pull video, pictures and music from their computers through coaxial cable already wired in their homes.
Even DVD players are growing more capable. Cisco Systems Inc. will be showing off a device that not only displays high-definition DVDs but also can stream content from a PC to a TV and access Internet-based programming. The Kiss Network DVD Player is expected to be available in Europe next month and possibly in the United States this summer.
Such converged, networked devices were attention-getters at previous CES shows but have gained little traction with consumers.
This year, analysts and electronics makers say, promises to be different.
"More and more consumers are comfortable with the Internet and with networking now," said Jan-Luc Blackborn, HP's director of digital entertainment. "In previous attempts, the technology was ready but the consumers were not. Now consumers are more ready for this stuff than ever before."
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