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CES 2007: It's Not Just Tech Folks Anymore

For somebody who has spent most of her professional life writing about computers and associated technologies, the crowds at the Consumer Electronics Show are a revelation. Not just the vast number of companies shouting for the attention of the buyers and media -- even though classifying some of the products here as "consumer" can be a stretch -- but the attention it's getting in the popular media. It's been front-page news in the New York Times, and I'm told that CES was the focus of attention on a recent Today Show.

First day crowds at the Las Vegas Convention Center's South Hall

But enough of that. As long as we're talking about entertainment:

	Creative's Zen V Plus MP3 player and separate speaker

SanDisk also has a couple of entries, including the Sansa Express, about the size of a USB drive and also included an FM tuner and voice recorder. It's one of those handy MP3 devices that directly plugs into your USB port, a configuration that always made sense to me, especially in the small media players. The Sansa Connect is a Wi-Fi MP3 player that is due to ship in March; it includes an image viewer and lets you download music using monthly subscription services (the services have not yet been announced).

Incidentally, I was interested to see Netgear's Digital Entertainer HD, its new set-top receiver that streams video and other Internet content on your TV. This is at least the second such product that's been announced in as many days; Sony also announced its Bravia Internet Video Link for streaming Internet media directly to one of its TVs. Sony's is less intrusive -- it attaches to the back of a display, out of sight and mind -- but according to Sony reps, it will only work with their new displays, while Netgear's will work, they say, with most TVs, even those that don't handle high definition.

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