.com: CES 2006

CES is much more than your standard electronics-aisle fare like music players and digital cameras. Among the choice items pitched far in advanced to journalists were the s.beat, which creator Swissbit billed in an email as the first Swiss Army Knife with a built-in music player, and Elam USA's "clothes that glow," containing "the world's first washable lamp designed to be sewn into clothing."

Leslie Walker, writer of the .com column every Thursday in The Post, returned from a three-month hiatus by plunging headlong into the hype of the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

A transcript follows.

____________________

Vienna, VA: What trends are you seeing in digital cameras?

Leslie Walker: Hello out there. Welcome to out CES Live Chat. I'm in Las Vegas plowing my way through many football fields full of gadgets. I have an hour to answer any questions you might have about what's on display here. Keep in mind the show only opened a couple hours ago, so I haven't seen much on the floor yet. Fire away!

As for cameras, lots of innovation here. Camera makers are packing more punch into smaller camera bodies, which has been the trend for the past few years. Lots more storage, and in some cases, multiple lenses so you don't have to switch.

One company, Planet82, claims to have developed new technology that will allow cameras to take pictures in the dark -- without a flash. It uses nanotechnology--tiny image sensors with over 1,000 times the sensitivity of traditional sensors.

_______________________

San Francisco CA: Did Bill Gates make any of his usual goofs on stage last night?

Leslie Walker: No, surprisingly he didn't. Gates has been famous for stubbing his digital toe by trying to demo new stuff that crashes or goes dead on stage. This year everything pretty much worked, though I think he's learned his lesson--he didn't try as much LIVE stuff as usual.

Gates was more serious and workmanlike this year. None of the usual forced hilarity of years past, for which reason I thought it was one of his better keynotes.

_______________________

Millersville, MD: I was wondering about the buzz for the smart phones. Samsung, Palm, and Motorola have all released new editions of their pda/cell phones. How are these phones being received?

Leslie Walker: There's a bewildering array of new smart phones here. A lot of buzz around Palm's Treo 700w, the first Palm using the Windows Mobile platform. Bill Gates held it up on stage last night.

I thought it kinda comical that Gates marvelled at how Palm makes it much easier to use. Hello? Why couldn't Microsoft have made its Windows Mobile easier itself? Basically, Palm has created shortcuts to make it easier to use the phone for data with a single hand, rather than tapping endlessly with that stylus.

It's amazing how much multimedia --and extra storage--is getting packed into cell phones. I handled Motorola's new ROKR E2 last night. It has up to 2 gigabytes of optional removal storage for holding your songs, photos, vidoes. Built-in MP3 player and digital camera, of course.

_______________________

San Francisco CA: Who's winning the war for control of next-generation DVDs?

Leslie Walker: Good question. The new high-definition DVD war is still a stalemate. Blu-Ray (backed by Sony) was presumed to have the edge, but the rival HD-DVD format (backed by Microsoft) picked up more support here this week.

Sad to say, we likely will be buying unecessarily expensive units in the early going, because they're going to have to have playback capability for BOTH formats to really sell.

Hollywood studios announced a bunch of movies will be available on Blu-Ray DVDs this year. Samsung and Sony are rolling out Blu-Ray players. Toshiba said it will release an HD-DVD player in March.

_______________________

Herndon VA: Seen any interesting iPod accessories?

Leslie Walker: Lots of iPod accessories, for sure. So many I wouldn't know where to start. Funniest was a pair of 3D viewing googles from eMagin. The company claims it lets video iPod users see their videos on a big-screen experience just by slipping on a weird eyeglass contraption.

_______________________

Arlington, VA: Are there any biometric gadgets out there for home use that can scan and store DNA? I ask this as an alternative to paying a company to do this as a safety measure for my kids (a just-in-case scenario). Thanks.

Leslie Walker: I wouldn't be surprised if they're here, but I haven't seen any home DNA scanners, yet.

The most intriguing biometric system I saw was called PalmSecure. It's a tiny infrared scanner that reads the vein patterns in your hand. I hovered my palm over it three times, and then it recognized me the fourth time.

Japanese banks started using it a year ago, and it's likely to roll out in some health applications in the US this year. (To identify patients.) Fujitsu is the maker.

_______________________

Vienna, VA: Should I wait to buy a new big-screen TV?

Leslie Walker: That depends on too many factors to give a useful quick reply. I can tell you, though, I'm off today to have a look at the booths of vendors releasing 82-inch LCD screens this year. (Not that one of those babies would even FIT in my house!)

Samsung and Sony are both rolling out 82-inch LCDs. Samsung claims its 82-inch LCD TV has much higher resolution than its prior large models--and a fancy new speaker system, too. No pricing has been announced.

_______________________

Washington, DC: Seems to be a lot of buzz about Intel's new digital home brand, ViiV. Is this going to be another "Intel Inside" deal, where Intel and Microsoft close everyone else out of the digital home like they did in PCs, or is there something to it?

Leslie Walker: Good question. Viiv (rhymes with "drive" or "five") strikes me as a lot of marketing hype, though obviously Intel has a subtantial amount of new technology powering its new multimedia-focused computer systems.

Intel's Paul Otellini will be addressing the convention goers today, and we shall see.

I do think it comical that Intel rival chipmaker AMD is calling its new technology "AMD Live." Don't you love all this marketing-speak?

_______________________

Arlington, VA: Sony's PS3 is one heck of a cheap BluRay HD DVD player for $400.00. Sony is subsidizing the price to help it win Blu Ray market share. "No son, you cant play Call of Duty 17 -- I want to watch the latest Jessica Alba, Jessica Simpson and Nicolle Kidman remake of "Three's Company"!

Leslie Walker: Yes, agreed, and that is just the start of this ridiculous format fight that will only frustrate consumers.

Leslie Walker: I wouldn't count out the Microsoft PC camp just yet, though.

_______________________

Boston, MA: Is 1080p being used as a big selling point for HDTVs?

Leslie Walker: Yes, the specs on many of the new HDTVs include high-resolution 1080p, even the giant ones.

_______________________

Washington, DC: I'm trying to decide between the Ipod Nano 4 gig and the Ipod 30gig. Which would you prefer? I'm not that interested in the video capability of the 30gig Ipod but the cost per gig for the Ipod is a lot better (7500 songs versus 1000). Is the smaller size and technology of the Nano worth the higher cost per gig?

Thank you.

Leslie Walker: It's a tough call, and highly personalized.

My niece, for example, decided AGAINST the Nano because she found the screen too hard to read--so tiny. Then she had to decide between the two video Ipods. She went with the 60 gig, which costs $100 more ($399.)

Personally, I would always go for more storage. And while I prefer smaller for ease of carrying, I almost always buy bigger so I can read the darn screen.

_______________________

Fort Worth, TX: As you stroll the aisles, does the gulf between marketing hype and reality continue to widen?

Leslie Walker: Yes, yes, yes.

They always promise everything will be "easy" and "simple."

But there is this great paradox. As vendors try to accomplish more with their technology (making our lives "easier") they almost ALWAYS make technology harder to use.

I even got a glimpse of this last night in the Bill Gates demo of his fortchoming Windows Vista operating system. It will do more, supposedly with a simplified, highly graphical, new user interface. But it did not look "easy" to me.

_______________________

College Park: I just bought an IPod and now the rumor has it that its earplug can cause hearing loss. What is the problem?

Leslie Walker: There have been reports that playing the volume too high through earbuds that sit inside your ear can cause hearing loss. So turn down the volume!

Reportedly, research suggests that inserting a speaker INSIDE your ear, a la earbuds, can cause more damage to your hearing than, say, headphones that sit on the outside of your ear canal.

Which is interesting, because there are some tiny new "in-ear" Bluetooth cell phone/MP3 player ear plug-like devices here. They go inside your ear. Let's hope people' don't crank up the volume on those...

_______________________

Rockville, MD: Everyone is abuzz about what news Google might release that challenges Microsoft. I'm more interested to hear whether the Sony keynote offered any fresh controversy considering how many areas they are competing with them.

Leslie Walker: Sorry, I've been doing this chat during the live Sony keynote address. But you are right--the place is abuzz about a big announcement Google is supposed to be making here Friday. Larry Page's keynote should be VERY interesting.

_______________________

Lititz, PA: I am interested in upgrading my PC. Should I wait for Vista? I heard Windows XP Service Pack 2 is not compatable with dual core processors. What other features should I look for in a new purchase?

Leslie Walker: I would not wait for Windows Vista. It's not due out until late in the year and could easily slip to 2007. I just bought a cheap multimedia Gateway which I plan to use for 6 months and ditch. I am a big believer in buying cheap PCs these days and replacing them quickly, because technology changes so fast.

_______________________

Chicago, IL: Is there a lot of noise being made about mobile TV or the concept of space shifting one's television from home to elsewhere via the Internet?

Leslie Walker: Mobile TV here is huge, I mean huge. Last year, Internet TV made a big splash here. This year, there are literally dozens of announcements regarding new mobile TV services. One to watch is Qualcomm's new service, because it is building a wireless network that will be dedicated to sending media signals, rather than having to share the signals with cell phone traffic.

_______________________

Re: Hearing Loss via Earbuds: Earbuds are not new to iPods. People used earbuds with Discmans and Walkmans for the past decade or two. Wouldn't those cause just as much hearing loss as the iPod earbuds if the volume were too loud? Why the anti-iPod earbud backlash now?

Leslie Walker: What? I can't hear you! My oh my, I wish I hadn't walked around with that Walman up so high for all those years!!

_______________________

Columbia, MD: Hi Leslie, welcome back..missed you!

Wondered if you've encountered anything there on consumer oriented RFID devices/uses?

Leslie Walker: Hello Columbia, and thanks. Quite a way to jump back in after three quite months away from all things tech--to land in he middle of the CES craziness.

There is a lot of RFID stuff here but I haven't seen it yet. I'm looking for one particular new consumer device that is supposed to help us shoppers get info products in retail stores. Will report results in our blog later.

_______________________

Washignton DC: I went to CES last year and the buzz of the show were ipod accessories. I opted out this year.

Where is the potential break through this year, memory storage, battery life, satelite receivers? Don't we have enough tech in our lives?

Leslie Walker: I don't see breakthrough occuring here this year. It's all about incremental advances on the themes of recent years-- consumer robotics, mobile video and audio, portable GPS, advanced biometrics and the like.

While these aren't new themes, I do believe we are seeing significant advances here in each of those categories. The transition will be painful, though, because learning all this new stuff will NOT be easy for the ordinary consumer.

_______________________

Hillsboro, OR: The Inquirer this morning devoted a lot of space to iPod defections (HP, etc.) Is there a growing sense there of wunderkind turned goliath around Apple/ipod dominance of digital music space? Are alternatives really gaining traction?

Leslie Walker: Yes, I am already getting the feeling that this could be the year Applie's incredibly popular iPod faces intense and genuine competition. The alternatives haven't gained traction yet, but it feels like the could VERY soon.

That's my take on the many innovative new portable media players I saw in the last two days.

_______________________

Calgary, Canada: What are some of the gadgets that you most look forward to check out based on the "hype" that you've already known or heard before CES ?

Leslie Walker: I am going to see Honda's ASIMO, a human-like robot.

I definitely want to see Samsung's YM-P1 portable TV and music player, which gets live TV from a satellite signal.

Samsung also is showing a four-door refrigerator, with four separate compartments, each with its own temperature controls. Called the Quatro, it lets you change a couple of drawers from freezers to fridge temperatures with the push of a button.

And I want to see Seiko's new Spectrum e-paper watch. IT has some kind of bendable, flexible display that wraps around your wrist like a watch band, using tech from E-Ink Corp.

The list goes on and on.

_______________________

Leslie Walker: That's all I have time for today, folks. If you have any post-CES questions, send me email at walkerl@washpost.com. I will try to answer them all. If there's anything you want me to look out for, I can do that, too.

Bye for now.

_______________________

Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.