For companies that exhibit at CES, it's all about outdoing what they did last year, and this year was no exception. Take the Canadian company Interactive Toy. A year ago, it debuted a lightweight flying toy helicopter.
This year, it added a spy camera on board the tiny flying copter and added the ability to send the spy pictures to a small screen on the handheld control console.
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This year's mammoth International Consumer Electronics Show, which opened Monday, offered plenty of eye candy for gadget freaks -- from alluring flat panel TVs to the wackiness of a robotic Elvis Presley.
The organization that puts on the four-day extravaganza predicts factory-to-dealer sales of consumer electronics will exceed US$155 billion in 2007, up from $146 billion last year. Along with all the new devices, it's the stuff that perhaps sounds the least exciting -- data storage -- that has some analysts intrigued.
"Data storage for a small business or home office is finally becoming affordable," said William Y. Terrill, senior analyst with Info-Tech Research Group attending CES Unveiled, a media preview event held Jan. 7 on the eve of the show.
More and better storage couldn't come at a more critical time for businesses searching for ways to keep electronic documents readily available to meet government regulations such as Sarbanes-Oxley.
The cost of storing data has dropped steadily in recent years, but large disk drives with the capacity needed by many businesses have remained fairly high -- until now.
(NYSE: HIT) grabbed headlines with the introduction of a 3.
5-inch disk drive capable of storing a terabyte of data. A terabyte is equal to 1 million megabytes -- the entire Library of Congress is equal to about 10 terabytes, according to the University of California-Berkeley.
Disk drives with this capacity used to cost $3,000 to $5,000, Terrill said.
Companies also turned to less expensive tape backup to store data, but searching for documents stored on tape can be cumbersome.
Hitachi's entry -- dubbed the "Deskstar 7K1000" -- plugs into a PC, is easily searchable, and will cost just $399, the company said. Of course, along with data storage, companies rolled out their latest and greatest at a show that has become a must-attend for anyone whose product contains batteries or electronic chips.
Basking Ridge, N.J.-based used the venue to roll out a new V Cast Mobile TV service that will give subscribers live TV and other programming on cell phones.
The service will initially be available on two phones -- one made by , which has its U.S. headquarters in Ridgefield Park, N.
J., and the other by , with U.S.
headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, N.J.
, a robot manufacturer, brought a lifelike bust of Elvis Presley that comes packed with songs, sensors and a karaoke feature that lets you croon along with the King.
He'll also turn and watch you as you enter the room.
, a maker of custom-designed TVs with sales and marketing offices in Allendale, N.J.
, rolled out a 42-inch flat panel LCD TV built into a fire truck -- retail price $15,000. They also make a 15-inch version for $299.
A California-based company, , displayed the EGO Waterproof Sound Case, describing it as the world's first waterproof iPod case (retail $199).
"Use it in the shower, the pool, the bath," said company spokesperson Mike Kilroy.
The clear case floats, uses batteries, and the small speakers pump so much sound that water jumps off them. Many of the large electronics companies with major offices in New Jersey -- (NYSE: SNE) , Samsung, , and LG -- used CES to introduce a raft of new products.
Secaucus, N.J.-based Panasonic rolled out seven new plasma TVs including a 58-inch, high-definition set.
Prices have not yet been set, the company said.
LG Electronics was on hand with innovations such as its DVD player that can play both new DVD formats -- Blu-ray and HD DVD. The player is expected to arrive in stores next month and sell for $1,199.
For companies that exhibit at CES, it's all about outdoing what they did last year, and this year was no exception.
A year ago, it debuted a lightweight flying toy helicopter. This year, it added a spy camera on board the tiny flying copter and added the ability (using a 2.
4 Ghz wireless video link) to send the spy pictures to a small screen on the handheld control console.
As the company puts it, "advanced FBI surveillance finally available for the home."
Fly it over your neighbor's fence and get a real-time video of what's cooking on their barbecue.
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