For more than 40 years, the annual International Consumer Electronics Show, which starts Monday in Las Vegas, has served as the premier launch pad for the electronic industry's latest products and coolest gadgets.
Automakers, traditionally, have left CES to small stereo makers and other after-market suppliers, but Ford teamed up with Microsoft at last year's show to unveil the Sync system, which uses driver voice commands to control phones and MP3 players.
This year, GM chief executive Rick Wagoner will make one of the show's keynote speeches, and several major tech companies have promised car-related announcements. Speculation ranges from simple improvements such as HD radios in all cars to technologies that will help cars drive themselves.
Some portion of Mr. Wagoner's speech will doubtless focus how technology can help the environment.
Yes, you've already heard a lot about "green" technologies, but you'll hear exponentially more this year.
Television and computer makers, in particular, will introduce monitors that contain fewer toxins and consume less power.
Computer makers, which have already begun to replace mercury-laden LCD monitors with LEDs, will further embrace the newer technology. Some bold company may even promise to move entirely to LEDs, which use less power and create better images.
PCMag.com will be covering the show aggressively. PC Magazine Radio has predicted that a lot of manufacturers will get on "the green bandwagon."
The Associated Press adds:
Manufacturers will be talking not just about megapixels, megahertz and megabytes, but about smart power adapters that don't waste as much electricity, batteries that are easier to recycle, and components made from plants.
Many of the products on display will be striking rather small blows for the environment, but the industry is realizing that even in electronics, going "green" can be a powerful marketing tool.
"Everything I've heard from folks out there is that there is going to be a lot of emphasis on green this year," said Scot Case, a vice president at consultancy TerraChoice Environmental Marketing Inc.
One of the 2,700 exhibitors at the International Consumer Electronics Show will be Japan's Fujitsu Ltd., which will show off a laptop with a plastic case made from corn rather than petroleum products. The company has sold such a model in Japan since 2006, but is now considering taking it to the North American market.
I am really diggin' a new ultra mini projector (about the size of an iPod) that costs less than $300. You have to see this. You could easily project from your iPod to the mini projector.
Slingbox will have a high-def player at the show.
The AJC says the show this year will not be filled with breakthroughs, but improvements on existing technology. Blame the economy for that:
Don't look for the next must-have electronic device to come out of this year's CES. Instead, expect companies to mainly unveil add-ons or improvements to yesterday's most popular high-tech devices and technologies.
"Incremental, not fundamental, that's what we're looking at now," said Steve Baker, vice president of tech research firm NPD Group.
Instead of new TV technologies, yesterday's big screens will just get bigger and clearer.
Instead of new consoles or handhelds, yesterday's Xboxes, Wiis and PlayStations will get new games and peripherals.
And instead of launching tomorrow's must-have gadget, manufacturers this year are mainly finding new ways to pack more features into devices that are already familiar to us.
Why no big new products from the CES this year?
Slowing consumer spending and growing fears of a recession may be partly to blame. Electronics companies know consumers might hesitate to buy the latest, greatest TV for their living room if their home is about to go into foreclosure.
Also, there are no new fundamental technological changes paving the way for new types of devices this year. Microsoft's Vista operating system is a year old; broadband Internet service is now widely available; the next generation of cellular service is a few years away.
And then there's the fact that many of us already have all the computers, digital music players, cameras and televisions we really need.
PC Magazine has other previews on these areas:
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