That Wacky CES Show

The Consumer Electronics Show is here again and we have a new year's worth of hype, madness and even a little innovation. Here's a brief preview of some of the things that caught my eye, but I'll have a full report plus pictures on Monday.

Sharp and their 4 primary colors. Everyone knows that there are 3 primary colors except Sharp, who introduced a television sporting 4. Sharp claims that it increases the number of possible colors to 1 trillion for a "sharper" picture. I can just here the Sharp marketing guys now - "Let's give them a new primary color. Then they'll really want to buy it!"

Toshiba goes for it with 3D. Toshiba has put some extra computing horsepower into their new TV line called "The Cell" that allows any 2D picture to be turned into 3D. You still need the silly glasses though, which is the fatal flaw of the whole 3D format. The other thing about The Cell sets is that they'll be selling at a premium, because you gotta pay if you want your 3D.

Let's lose the keyboard. Microsoft CEO Steve Balmer wants everyone to start using alternative input methods instead of that old computer keyboard, and he showcased a number of products that didn't need one. I guess that will work for just about anyone who doesn't have to communicate by typing. I'm still waiting for the brain implant.

Anyone can be an artist, again. Music Mastermind aims to allow anyone to make music, regardless of musical experience. And you can have fun doing it by playing a game. I haven't seen this one yet, but industry pundit Ted Cohen is hawking it, and Matchbox 20 frontman Rob Thomas and producer Matt Serletic are backing it. But I've heard this record before a few times.

More details in the next post.