Disc mini mp3 player sony

This year's international Consumer Electronics Show has etched itself in the record books as the world's largest consumer electronics trade show. With more than 116,000 visitors from 128 countries and 2,283 exhibitors, the Las Vegas convention centre was packed out across the four-day event.

Bucking the gloom of international politics and a lacklustre Christmas retailing period, manufacturers invested heavily in big stands and new products. The glitz and glam of Vegas reflected in the many brightly illuminated displays that ushered in another year of fast-paced development in consumer electronics.

Flat panel displays stole the show with almost every main brand manufacturer devoting a greater portion of their exhibition space to plasma and LCD technologies. Some, such as Sharp, eschewed CRT models completely. Instead, the company launched the Aquos series of LCD TVs with a spectacular display of products.

There was plenty of interest, if not commercial product, in 3D TV technology with monitor-sized displays from Sharp and a huge 50in display from Sanyo drawing the crowds. Neither system requires the user to wear spectacles of any sort and the Sanyo system gave a reasonable 3D effect from any angle.

After choosing not to exhibit at CES in 2002, Sony returned with a slew of high profile product launches. The company finally gave the green light to its long promised DVD recorder. Having sat on the format fence for a while, the company decided to come down on both sides at once and launch the RDR-GX7, a model that can record on both DVD+RW and DVD-RW discs. Due to reach US stores in June and retailing at around $800 (498 [pounds sterling]), a UK launch is expected at around the same time.

The company also debuted the MHC-GSX100W, a mini hi-fi system with wireless audio transfer. Pitched as a rival to Philips's Streamium, the system can access MP3 files or Internet radio stations from a PC sited in another room. It is due in the US in March sporting a $300 price tag. Keeping mobile, the company also majored on personal entertainment with a new range of Net MD Walkman player/recorders and a Network Walkman MP3/ATRAC 3 player with 256MB of memory and a Memory Stick Duo expansion slot.

Sony also unveiled its most advanced PDA so far. The PEG-NZ90 Clie features both the Palm-based operating system and MP3 and JPEG still image playback of previous designs. Similarly gracing Sony's 2003 portfolio was an integrated two megapixel digital camera (previous models have only taken low-resolution VGA images) built-in Bluetooth and the potential to add WiFi. Its US price will be around $800 when it reaches the stores in April, with a UK launch not far behind.

PANA-TECHNICAN

Panasonic took one of the largest stands at the show to display a range of devices from tiny audio/video gadgets to large screen plasma TVs. Its show-stopper proved to be the tiny five-in one device, the SV-AV30. Using a Secure Digital (SD) memory card for storage the gadget enables its user to shoot still and moving images, make voice recordings and listen to MP3 music.

It is expected to be accompanied by a base station that will make it possible for its owners to record video from a TV or camcorder, which they can then review on the unit's two inch screen. Sadly, there is no definite UK launch date yet for the product.

Other Panasonic highlights included a camcorder that records onto DVD-Ram discs, a new DVD-Ram video recorder and a new range of Triple Play TV sets that feature integrated VHS VCRs, DVD players and FM radio tuners. The company also showed prototypes of a Blu-Ray DVD recorder, a wireless networking home server and a number of wearable intelligent devices.

A Blu-Ray recorder also featured on both the Toshiba stand and in the Sony hall. Both companies shied away from calling the product "DVD" in any form, so as not to further confuse consumers. While both product executions could be summed up as large silver boxes, Toshiba called its product an Advanced Optical Disk recorder while Sony opted for the simpler Blu-ray Disc.

A brand best known in the UK for its value white goods, Haler, offered a wide range of TVs to the trade. While there were no technological statements, the Chinese company offered a host of mid- and entry-level products, including widescreen CRT TVs up to 32in and the unique Ribbit TV. Available in a range of colours including green, this portable television has its controls on eye-like stalks giving it the appearance of a giant frog.

Meanwhile, Thomson, which also operates under the RCA brand in the US, majored on innovative audio and video products. Its biggest story could prove to be the RTD750, a home cinema system that can be integrated into a home network so the user can listen to MP3 files stored on their PCs hard drive. The unit can also access a limited number of Internet radio stations and features a 20GB hard disk for ripping CDs on to. US dealers were surprised by its very competitive price of $699. There is no news yet on a UK launch.

Other Thomson highlights included a new DVD player/hard disk video recorder, and a portable HDD device that can store and playback video from its 20GB hard disk on a 3.5in LCD screen

Samsung's marketing budget clearly knows no bounds as the Korean giant took a large stand and sponsored almost every billboard in Las Vegas. The company showed its range of plasma TVs up to a whopping 63in screen size, a new line-up of widescreen LCD models up to 46in and a number of rear-projection TVs based on DLP technology.

While the US move towards High Definition TV (HDTV) technology has made itself felt across Samsung's TV line-up for 2003, its digital imaging division announced a Mini-DV camcorder capable of taking still images of up to four megapixels. The Duo cam SCD-5000 has two dedicated lenses, one with a 680,000 pixel CCD for moving images and a second that uses the full 4.1 megapixels for very high resolutions stills.

Other highlights on Samsung's stand included a progressive scan DVD player, a 10GB HDD audio player and a range of one-box home cinema solutions with speakers by Klipsch.

DVD-x FACTOR

While the debate over recordable DVD formats raged in the conference suites and bars, manufacturers simply launched products and hoped that their own weight would tip the balance in the right direction.

On the face of it, DVD-R/-RW and DVD-Ram took the lion's share of CES attention as Pioneer and Sony dipped a toe into this camp for the first time. Sony remains with DVD+R and DVD+RW products on its books, although this may just be to pacify its optical-disc bedfellow, Philips which is one of the few major manufacturer solely backing the +R/+RW format--at this time.

The Philips stand itself was packed with flat panel televisions, wirelessly connected electronics and scantily clad showgirls, in roughly equal quantities. Particularly impressive were the superb LCOS-based rear-projection televisions using Pixel Plus technology and a hands-on demonstration of the next generation Streamium products. Featuring Internet-enabled wireless devices, Philips billed the new Streamium as a Wi-Fi bridge to distribute multimedia around connected home.

The company also laid claim to some of the show's neatest gizmos, including portable audio key rings and the first personal NP3-CD player with a built-in games function. The line-up of key rings includes four MP3 (two 64P1B and two 128HB) players as well as four new digital cameras, including two 1.3 megapixel 64MB and two 2.0 megapixel 128HB models.

HIGH END HI-FI

A trip to the CES would not be complete without a visit to the madness of the annexed high-end hi-fi show. US brands showing big speakers to dealers with big credit allowances abound in a land where amplifiers with less than 1,000 watts RHS are second-tier equipment.

One product that caught the eye, the ear and the imagination was Intelligent Audio System's IA-643 sub-woofer. Constructed of three boxes tied together with steel rods, this 2,000W sub with twin 12in drivers forms the intelligent heart of a self-equalising AV system. The remote control has a built-in microphone and transmits data on room acoustics back to the sub via a BlueTooth connection. The sub then controls the speaker output of the entire 5.1 system, ideally tuning speakers to the room with no user input.

One note of sanity in the high-end annexe came from Acoustic Energy, showing off its bijou AE1 Mklll loudspeakers. These gorgeous piano-gloss finish speakers are internally braced with tensioned steel plates and have a rounded-edge aluminium alloy front baffle. A matching 50kg speaker stand was also on display, finished in gun metal grey with a glass bottom plate.

The AE1's mellifluous sound and custom finishes wowed high-end American dealers who clearly didn't think the $4,000 price tag (in basic trim without stands) would put their customers off.