It’s becoming easier to tell technology is getting more feverish,at least that’s how it seemed this year at the International Consumer Electronics Show, the annual gadget gala put on in Las Vegas last week by the Arlington, Va.-based Consumer Electronics Association.
This year’s confab had all the trappings: a massive exposition floor covering three halls at the Las Vegas Convention Center, plenty of free giveaways, loud noise from video games and stereo speakers, and plenty of after-hours brouhaha.
Steven Tyler, lead singer of rock band Aerosmith, even made an appearance.
So did Scott McGregor, the new chief executive of Broadcom Corp. It was a coming out party of sorts for McGregor, who’s been at the Irvine chipmaker for about a week.
The trade show drew an estimated 140,000 people,much larger than last year’s 125,000 attendees.
This year’s show was a busy one for local companies. Broadcom, Toshiba Corp., Kingston Technology Co., IOGear Inc., ViewSonic Corp. and others showed off their latest stuff.
With 2003’s end of the once dominant trade show Comdex, CES basically has become the only major tech exhibit in North America that draws from across all segments.
This year, CES offered a sneak-peek at futuristic gadgets that could appear on store shelves this year and beyond. They include devices that connect entertainment electronics in homes and vehicles to computer gear and the Internet, often wirelessly.
The show is of increasing importance to Broadcom, which makes chips for TV set-top boxes and wireless phones, among other gear.
As of Friday morning, Broadcom alone had put out seven press releases related to the show.
The company unveiled several chips at the show. One allows you to add a phone to a wireless network. A wireless phone with the chip could link a home wireless fidelity, or Wi-Fi, network instead of a service provider’s cellular network. The result could be lower wireless phone bills.
“It will help phone users to not use up their minutes,” said Jeremy Hyatt, a Broadcom spokesman.
Broadcom also detailed a deal with Hewlett-Packard Co. and Linksys, an Irvine-based unit of Cisco Systems Inc., to make a wireless router that installs itself with the touch of a button.
Another chip displayed by Broadcom is for wireless phones. The chip allows for more detailed photos and video.
Fountain Valley-based D-Link Systems Inc., a unit of Taiwan’s D-Link Corp., had a big presence at the show.
The company was showing off its MediaLounge router. It lets you send songs from a computer to stereo gear around the house. It also allows you to send video clips to a TV.
A few yards away from D-Link’s booth, ViewSonic, based just over the county line in Walnut, unveiled a similar networking device.
The company also debuted new flat-panel TVs that link with home computers and stereo speakers through a set of wireless ViewSonic routers.
ViewSonic took out a big multilevel booth at the show and launched a campy ad campaign aimed at making the public aware that the company doesn’t just make monitors. It also makes network access gear and even personal computers.
One ViewSonic ad features a guy with tattoos all over his body. The text reads, “I’m more than just a stockbroker; and ViewSonic is more than just the No. 1 selling monitor brand.”
“It supports our other products,” said Trevor Bratton, senior public relations specialist for ViewSonic. “Pretty much anything visual, we will do.”
More interesting gadgetry this year included wireless headphones that connect via Bluetooth to a computer or other device. Toshiba, which has several North American units based in Irvine, was featuring its own set of these headphones.
Irvine-based IOGear unveiled a Bluetooth navigation system that allows drivers to receive map position data from satellites on phones, laptops and other devices.
IOGear’s booth was surf-inspired. It had a Beach Boys theme. Asked about why they chose that motif, one of the booth workers said, “It’s because we’re from California.”
“But I’m going to have that song stuck in my head now,” he said of a Beach Boys tune.
And then there was the party scene. At the top of the list: Broadcom’s bash at Club Ice, a swanky place just off the Strip.
The setting was reminiscent of old Broadcom parties, back when cofounder and wild man Henry “Nick” Nicholas ran the company.
But the atmosphere was decidedly more subdued, more serious,a sign of Broadcom’s maturation.
New Chief Executive McGregor was cordial but guarded when talking to a reporter.
He declined to compare Broadcom to his prior company, Europe’s Philips Semicond-cutors. But he called Broadcom “a great company.”
McGregor said he and his wife are renting a house in Laguna Beach while they look for a more permanent home. They’re glad to be back in the U.S., he said.
The party scene swung elsewhere at this year’s CES, with nearly 50 soirees in the five days of the show. There was the PC World party at Studio 54 at the MGM Grand, the Spy another Day party at the Rain Nightclub at The Palms Casino Hotel and the Sirius Rock & Roll party at the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.
There also was a reception at Light, a chic club in Bellagio. Aerosmith’s Tyler was among those there.
