Summing up CES: Karaoke is sacred

Commentary: 'Hyperbole unchecked'

By Renay San Miguel
CNN Headline News

LAS VEGAS, Nevada (CNN) -- How does one sum up the 2002 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas?

Hype -- and hope.

Whether the economy is up or down, hyperbole will always run unchecked at technology trade shows. Companies will tell reporters that their product is the Next New Thing.

It doesn't matter whether the product will actually make it to retail store shelves, and in other years there was always a good chance that many of those products wouldn't fly with consumers. The devices may be too hard to use, or they're priced out of the range of most family budgets, or they were just not compelling enough to include in a Christmas wish list.

VIDEO

CNN's Renay San Miguel reports on the latest technology from the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada (January 8)

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CNN's Ann Kellan takes a look at tech trends in 2002 (January 5)

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EXTRA INFORMATION

Here's a look at some of the gadgets and gizmos on the floor of the 2002 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada.

And hope? This year in particular, there's optimism that the recession is short-lived and consumers will stick a crowbar into their wallets again to buy devices that are considered do-without luxuries in tough times.

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) -- its annual trade show closes today -- ignited that optimism by announcing on Monday that 2001 total sales for consumer electronics in the United States hit $93.2 billion dollars, a 2-percent decrease from 2000. The CEA officials I spoke with were only too happy to accept a 2-percent decline in this recession.

And their projections for 2002? -- $95.7 billion in sales, which would be a record for the industry.

Why? After September 11, analysts say consumers will stay at home more this year and rely on home entertainment sources. (If I hear the word "cocooning" used one more time as a way to sell a tech product, I may have to enroll in an entomology class.)

Moxi with moxie

Armed with that good economic news, the 1,800-plus technology companies exhibiting at the Las Vegas Convention Center this week brought out all the digital products their moving vans could hold.

The emphasis, again, was on integrated or converged devices; those that offer more than one function. The $200 Hiptop is a good example. It purports to be a PDA, cell phone, web browser, e-mail reader and pager. For all I know (with apologies to a classic "Saturday Night Live" skit) it will also serve as a dessert topping and a floor wax. Whether the Hiptop can do all those things well remains to be seen. It's set to hit store shelves sometime mid-year.

What generated the most buzz at CES this year?

Without a doubt, the Moxi Box. Think of it as a set-top box on steroids. The Moxi Box promises to handle all of your home entertainment needs, and do it wirelessly. It will route all of your audio, video and data into a single box after you connect wireless stations to your entertainment device sources.

Much of the buzz surrounding Moxi Box -- which has more than $65 million in funding from AOL Time Warner, parent company of CNN.com -- is because of Moxi Digital's CEO, Steve Perlman. He is the man who gave us WebTV and then made millions by selling it to Bill Gates and Microsoft. The man knows how to gamble and he has a good track record -- for now.

But Perlman still has to make deals with the country's cable operators, since he'll license the Moxi Box to them and then they'll sell it to consumers. Perlman says those negotiations are still going on. And he has to convince cost-conscious consumers to buy it. Stay tuned.

Defining high definition

The CES also threw a big spotlight on digital high-definition television. On the show's second day, the National Association of Broadcasters and the CEA announced a joint digital TV education campaign that's to focus on three cities in which all the local stations have successfully converted to digital: Indianapolis, Portland and Houston. Washington is to join the group later this year.

So Panasonic and Sony stuck flat-screen TVs all over their booths. Digital TV sales were a big reason for last year's economic surprise and the rosy projections for 2002. But that growth was also driven by the usual suspects: DVD and MP3 players, satellite receivers and flat-screen LCD monitors. All were in abundance at CES.

And then there was karaoke

One final note: It's hard to know if karaoke is the Next New Thing -- the thought may send chills down your spine.

But in any event, the CNN broadcast platform at CES was located right next to Tao, a company that makes a video karaoke machine.

Tuesday was Elvis Presley's birthday, so our CNN crew was treated to show attendees stretching their larynxes over "Don't Be Cruel" and "Hound Dog."

On Wednesday, it was Beatles Day at the Tao booth. John Lennon and the recently-departed George Harrison must have been doing 360s in their graves.

To paraphrase those doomsaying characters in bad 1950s monster movies: Man was not meant to tamper with karaoke technology.