It sounds like microsoft's X box was the hit of the show..This is great news for NVDA.
Gadgets galore debut at CES show
LAS VEGAS (CBS.MW) -- Computer companies are displaying an Oz-like wonderland of electronic gadgets at one of the industry's biggest trade shows this weekend, while their PC sales plummet behind the curtain.
The PC-related stalwarts including Microsoft (MSFT: news, msgs)and Intel (INTC: news, msgs)are among the stars at the annual Consumer Electronics Show that kicked off Saturday in Las Vegas. CES sets the stage for the companies to tout themselves as leaders in wireless, handheld and entertainment niches.
It's somewhat of a farce. Both have business lines rooted in personal computers, and, for the most part, they're merely hoping to parlay their dominate to faster-growing consumer electronics markets, as well.
But suspend economic reality -- just temporarily. Ignore that the PC sales crunch is eating away at the companies' bottom lines. Forget that slowing retail sales will make it a tough sell for Microsoft, Intel and others to sell the gee-whiz products introduced at this year's show.
Stripped of business concerns, CES is a playground of techno-wonderment. There's still no flubber, but the nifty products on display at this year's show give the industrialized world a wide-eyed look at where the coolest gizmos are going over the next few years.
"The show still has a lot of value," said James Hale, analyst with The Online Investor. "A lot of the things that sounded neat, but were clunky just a few years ago are being refined. The technology is making gadgets more viable, in terms of price and size. Soon, they'll be the things that both consumers and investors will want."
The nexus of this year's show is the debut of Microsoft's lauded Xbox game console. To-be-unveiled and demonstrated for the first time Saturday, the Xbox is Microsoft's latest attempt to derive revenue from outside the PC realm.
There's no telling yet whether the Xbox will succeed versus established competition from Sony and others. But Microsoft is putting all its armor behind its Xbox effort. The company reputedly will spend $500 million marketing the machine, which should hit store shelves in the fall.
733 mhz game machine
The reason Xbox has throngs excited is for its ability to work with killer game graphics. The machine will sport a 733-megahertz Intel processor -- far faster than the chips in other game machines. Also, it will come with a speedy graphics chip made by Nvidia (NVDA: news, msgs).
Another prime-time debut from Microsoft is its Ultimate TV service, which combines satellite television with the ability to record digital video. Like other services already on the market, it can pause live television and fast-forward through commercials. The company's been working on the project with DirectTV, Sony (SNE: news, msgs) and Thomson Multimedia's RCA (TMS: news, msgs).
And the world's largest software company is demonstrating a host of hand-held technologies that use its Windows CE operating system. One new CE product in the works is a wireless computer tablet called the Simpad, from Siemens (SMAWF: news, msgs). It should be on store shelves later this year.
Competing with Microsoft for top billing is never easy, but Intel, the world's largest chip company, is holding its own. The company is making a big deal at the show about its handheld MP3 music player it announced earlier in the week. The compact player can hold four hours of digital music -- more than other players on the market.
Intel also is showing a two-way e-mail pager, a tablet computer, and perhaps other small electronics that will carry the chipmaker's name. And the company plans to demonstrate a ChatPad for sending instant messages.
Intel's hardware foray
Analysts said this represents perhaps the first time Intel plans to offer consumer goods that compete with products from other manufacturers that use Intel's chips.
"It's a gutsy gamble," said Tim Bajarin, analyst with Creative Strategies in Campbell, Calif. "They're going in there with their own branded products."
Microsoft and Intel are taking the cake, in some respects. But while the world's biggest hardware and software beat their drums, many smaller players are trumpeting flashy wares of their own.
Several handheld computers are being displayed at this year's show that incorporate the kinds of services normally reserved for cell phones. Palm Inc.(PALM: news, msgs) is showing off its handheld computer that can access stock quotes, news alerts and other information via a service from Sprint PCS. Other computer companies are expected to have similar offerings.
The handheld services trend offers more evidence that the cell phone and the personal-digital-assistants are converging, pundits say. Several types of hand-held PDAs that can make cell-phone calls, as well, will debut this year, according to the experts. Some of them may even include the option to listen to digital music gathered from the Internet.
"It's going to happen: Why would anyone want to carry around a Discman, a cell phone and a personal-digital assistant?" said Prakash Panjwani, a business development vice president with security software maker Certicom. "Those things will be combined."
Getting gizmos to network
Home networking gear also has a strong presence at the show. 3Com (COMS: news, msgs) is among the companies demonstrating a digital home that uses its Audrey Internet access device, as well as networking gear that can be used to share a broadband access line. And the company is showing off equipment for connecting computer peripherals with and without wires.
But Thomson Multimedia is among the companies trying to trump 3Com. The French electronics giant will show off home networking kits that can hook up computers and peripherals using a home's electrical system. The equipment is expected to help usher in an age where virtually any type of home gadget -- even wireless ones -- can be controlled through a network.
The question, of course, is how much demand there will be for Thomson's, 3Com's and other companies' products after this year's show draws to a close.
"Everybody's going to be pushing wireless at the show," said Bruce Lupatkin, general partner, North Bay Technology Partners. "The issue is that there isn't really an application that's going to drive the stuff this year and make it super-mainstream. You don't need Internet access on a pager or a cell phone just to get stock prices. You don't want to know the prices anyway." |
