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Electronics Show, you got the sense that the cellular phone carrier is along for what appears to be a wild ride when it comes to the new iPhone from Apple.

Technically, the two companies are partners, but listening to the details, the sidelines. secrecy and control. The phone, which had been in development for at least two years, wasn't shown to Cingular executives until about four months ago.

And then only three execs got to see it. In this case, Cingular had to follow Apple culture and judging by the lack of big leaks, it did a good job. Cingular said it got Apple to bend plenty, including securing an exclusive partnership.

It also got Apple to help promote the iPhone jointly, something Apple normally doesn't do. Lurie, Cingular's president of national distribution: -- Who set the price? Apple.

-- Apple owns distribution of the iPhone, so expect to see it only in Apple and Cingular stores and on the Web sites of the two companies. No big-box retail plans for now. -- Aside from the visual voice mail feature, which was jointly produced, all of the iPhone was developed by Apple.

-- The phone hardware won't bear the Cingular name, but Cingular or AT T's name will appear on every screen on the phone. Why? When the iPhone appears in June, Cingular will be in the process of changing its name to AT T after the completion of AT T's purchase of BellSouth, which owned a stake in Cingular.

fan of "Star Wars" since I was a wee lad, I have been enchanted with the idea of using the Force. Wednesday at CES I got to use a technology that captures some of the same magic. NeuroSky.

The company has created algorithms that measure brain waves or electroencephalograms and turn them into simple game movements. I played a modification of Half Life using a sensor on my head. I then used a mouse to click on objects in the game like a chair, ball or desk.

When I had the right level of attention, I could summon the object to me. It's like telekinesis. If I click a different button, identify the same object and then relax, I can get the thing to levitate in place.

The key is focusing your attention and relaxation levels. Once the program senses you've raised your levels high enough, it starts manipulating objects. me, which can be difficult on the convention floor.

But once you start moving stuff around, it's hard to suppress a smile. We're still a ways off from controlling a game with your mind. So far, the sensing technology basically measures activity.

Individual thoughts are still a But there are applications for this technology. It can work in games and toys, and it can also be used to help people with sleep disorders, and get attention-challenged kids to focus their thoughts better. NeuroSky has lined up several partners in Asia and the United States to use the technology.

Trying to enter text on your PDA or cell phone can be a chore for some, even when you have a full QWERTY keyboard. The buttons are only so big. Well, now you can hook up a Bluetooth Virtual Keyboard from Golan Technology and type with ease again.

The unit, about the size of a pack of gum, projects a red laser image of a keyboard right in front of it. Through infrared radiation, it picks up your movements and translates them into text. No need for wires, you just connect through Bluetooth.

battery life that lasts long enough for two hours of continuous typing. It is priced at $179 at places like Fry's Electronics. and Comcast Corp.

have unveiled the long-awaited fruits of the agreement to The collaboration between the largest U.S. cable operator and the Alviso one of the most significant deals for the DVR pioneer.

less-expensive DVRs from cable and satellite TV operators, including Comcast. Soon, for an additional fee, Comcast subscribers will be able to add TiVo DVR features to their set-top boxes without a visit from a technician, Comcast said. The release plans are unclear, but the companies said they have been testing the service since late 2006.

The companies also did not disclose how much more the TiVo software would cost. Comcast customers pay about $10 a month for a basic DVR service on top of their regular TV service charge. Just before Christmas, an angry group of fired Monster Cable workers put the Brisbane maker of audio and video accessories in the headlines, demanding better severance pay and job training.

annual Oscar-style Retailer Awards show, usually one of the highlight parties of each year's Consumer Electronics Show. In the past, Monster founder Noel Lee has brought in top names like Stevie Wonder, Earth, Wind and Fire and James Brown to perform. Jarreau, who have an album out on the Monster Music label.

And jazz singer Patti Austin joined them for a couple of songs. In the crowd were Quincy Jones, Hammer and Sinbad. -- to members of the rock band 3 Doors Down.

Cisco Systems Inc. is suing Apple Inc. for unlawfully using the iPhone name, a day after Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the multi-faceted device.

The suit hinges on the fact that Cisco has a product by the same name. in Las Vegas. Meanwhile, Cupertino's Apple has been exhibiting its iPhone, a combination iPod, cell phone and Internet handheld device, at the Macworld Conference Expo at San Francisco's Moscone Center.

name for some time. In the lawsuit, filed in the U.S.

District Court for the Northern District of California, San Jose's Cisco said it has owned the trademark for the iPhone name since June 2000. last year. It said it negotiated with Apple "in good faith" and sent an agreement for Apple to sign on Tuesday, following Apple's announcement.

"There is no doubt that Apple's new phone is very exciting, but they should not be using our trademark without our permission," Mark Chandler, Cisco's senior vice president and general counsel, said in a statement. Apple countered that several companies use the iPhone name, suggesting that Cisco does not have exclusive rights to it. Apple also said it is using the name differently, applying it to a cell phone while Cisco is using it to describe an Internet phone.

"We think Cisco's trademark lawsuit is silly," said Natalie Kerris, a spokeswoman for Apple. "We believe Cisco's U.S.

trademark registration is tenuous at best. If Cisco wants to challenge us on it, we are confident we are going to prevail." Technology Corp.

, which developed Internet telephone products. InfoGear had owned the rights since 1996, Cisco said. On the other hand, Apple, since launching the iPod in 2001, has become known for the "i" moniker, with other products such as iTunes, iMovie and likelihood of confusion" between the two iPhones, said Rod Berman, an attorney years, using it for his Internet Phone Co.

On Tuesday, when Jobs unveiled the iPhone, Kovatch temporarily shut his site after getting overwhelming traffic. He declined to discuss the matter in detail, saying, "We've had lots of people contacting us. We're staying in stealth mode until we know what's happening.

" back a lot of old memories. Here's a handful: -- I saw the John Lennon tour bus parked in the north hall this year. This folks with musical talent record their songs and perform them.

Last year, Bob lend his name to the effort. -- Another feature at this year's Expo took me back 10 years, too. The way the iPhone prototypes were shown on the Expo floor, encased in a plastic another very advanced device announced at Macworld 1997.

That was the 20th Anniversary Macintosh, a state-of-the-art computer for the rich and famous, celebrating the company's 20th year. It was the first desktop computer with a Bose stereo, a flat-panel screen, TV tuner and remote built in. And initially priced (including home delivery and setup) at nearly $10,000.

And it sat on a high pedestal, enclosed in plastic, with a lone security guard at the base. Ooohing and aaahing was not optional, but Of course, the power, memory and storage capabilities of that computer are dwarfed by the specs of the iPhone. The $499 model will have 4 gigabytes of storage.

The 20th Anniversary Mac had a huge (by 1997 standards) 2-gigabyte And finally, I'm sure the number of advance orders of the iPhone has already exceeded the number of 20th Anniversary Macs sold: 11,000. (In the interests of total disclosure, I should confess that I still own one I bought at the fire sale price of $1,999 at the online Apple Store in March 1998. I think of it as an antique, and it's a great home jukebox, even though it cannot run System X.

) -- Speaking of antiques and other memories of Expos past, Apple still has the big dog booth right in the center of things at North Hall. Stalwarts of the Mac scene were hanging around the vicinity of the Apple booth, too, like Quark, StuffIt, Adobe, Filemaker Pro and even our old interface-copying, OS was Andy Hertzfeld, one of the team of men and women who developed the first Super Bowl commercial ever that January 1984 day. At the O'Reilly booth, Hertzfeld was promoting his book of reminiscences Made.

" The book actually premiered two years ago at Macworld in a nostalgic event at the ThirstyBear bar, just up the street a bit. Again, in the interest of full disclosure, I was there, had my book autographed by many of the luminaries, including Hertzfeld and the mythical Steve Wozniak.