CES

Good times roll again at Sony

The innovative Rolly robotic speaker system, which is not yet available, is emblematic of the company's improved fortunes. Image: Sony

LAS VEGAS - After a rough couple of years, Sony is beginning to look like its old self.

It might be too soon to declare a total comeback, but the electronics giant finally seems to have momentum. Those quarterly losses that at times topped $500 million as Sony (SNE) struggled to turn MORE

Wired wheels: New technology for your car

By Michael V. Copeland

LAS VEGAS -- I am not saying it's safe or smart (and it's probably illegal in most states), but I'll be damned if a little driving is going to keep me from checking e-mail on my BlackBerry. And if I already have driving directions on my laptop screen, why not prop it up on the passenger seat next as a sort of ad-hoc navigation aid?

The point is, MORE

Analyst: Apple is a full year ahead of competition

As Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster walked the floors of the 2008 Consumer Electronics show he, like many other attendees, found himself thinking about Apple (AAPL) and Steve Jobs.

"While Apple was not at the show," he writes today in a report to clients, "the company's impact is felt at CES."

Signs of the company's influence, he says, were evident in three broad areas:

Hardware design. "The simple, industrial design that began with the MORE

GM chief introduces greener, safer cars at CES debut

By Yi-Wyn Yen

LAS VEGAS - GM CEO Rick Wagoner announced his arrival at the Consumer Electronics Show Tuesday night by rolling up in a silver Chevy Volt. But it was another concept car that Wagoner introduced during his keynote speech that wowed the crowd -- the electric-fuel cell hybrid Cadillac Provoq.

In hopes of changing negative perceptions about big American car makers, Wagoner -- the first automotive chief executive to speak MORE

Comcast CEO: Content, content, content

By Stephanie Mehta

In his first-ever keynote address at the Consumer Electronics Show Tuesday, Comcast  CEO Brian Roberts seemed to be saying content is king. (Not what you'd expect from the nation's largest distributor of pay television.)

Roberts, who was joined by radio personality and "American Idol" host Ryan Seacrest for part of his speech, told the Las Vegas audience Comcast (CMCSA) is embarking on a strategy to make a vast library MORE

Hands off: A screen you command in 3D

By Yi-Wyn Yen

LAS VEGAS - Imagine using a touchscreen that you don't have to touch. Samsung's 57-inch LCD functions like a touchscreen by recognizing a person's motion from a short distance.

Interactive media company Reactrix has partnered with Samsung to use its Wavescape technology that allows people to interact with one of these high-tech screens from up to 16 feet away. Reactrix has spent five years working on the system MORE

CES: A paler shade of green

By Michael V. Copeland

LAS VEGAS -- The quiet here in a booth sponsored by Dell is at odds with the pandemonium all around at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Four plywood lounge chairs designed by Charles and Ray Eames sit on a dark floor made of some obviously recycled material. In one chair , a guy with headphones covering most of his head quietly taps on a laptop. Squares of MORE

The Yahoo Mail box of the future

By Michal Lev-Ram

LAS VEGAS -- Forgot the in-box; get ready for the u-box.

As in universal e-mail in-box. In a speech Monday at the Consumer Electronics Show, Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang said the Internet company is opening up Yahoo Mail to outside developers to create an in-box that will combine e-mail, text and instant messages along with multiple social networking accounts on one page. In other words, whether you receive a MORE

Pretty painful in pink: The MP3-playing Taser

By Michael V. Copeland

LAS VEGAS -- What's the best music to accompany getting incapacitated by a Taser? Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust," maybe, or The Doors, "The End." That's what is running through my mind as Tom Smith, chairman and co-founder of Taser International prepped me for a little shock treatment therapy today at the Consumer Electronics Show.

For the woman who wants to consolidate her personal protection and MORE

Warner: DVD format war hurt movie sales

LAS VEGAS - Why did Warner Bros. choose last week to exclusively back the Blu-ray format for high-definition DVDs and ditch HD DVD, a move that could end the bitterest battle in the electronics industry?