Las Vegas this hebdomad becomes the tech capital of the world as the2008 International Consumer Electronics Showand an estimated 140,000 conventioneers take over Sin City .

This gargantuan tech confab feature an estimated 27,000 gadgets that range from a cellphone - phone - sized projector from Microvision and sleek OLED presentation from Samsung , to duel wireless technologies ( WirelessHD and Wireless USB ) that aim to eliminate all those wires behind your HDTV .

Pre - show events began over the weekend . The show floor opens Monday .

What ’s novel this twelvemonth ? For one this class ’s CES is charge as the greenest ever with trafficker gas power - save intemperate - disk cause to other contrivance firms showing off unripened - design power train build with a dilute amount of tight toxin like wind .

Also new will be a strong exhibit of in - auto contrivance that go beyond GPS navigation systems . CES representatives say this class ’s show will have 250,000 straight foot of in - motorcar gadgets .

Goodbye to Bill Gates

It will also be the last time Microsoft ’s Bill Gates deliver his one-year CES keynote savoir-faire . But do n’t get to teary-eyed - eyed . There will be mountain of cool technologies on display to distract anyone from worrying about what Gates ’ post - CES programme are .

This yr ’s CES will cover closely 1.85 million straight feet of expo space that spans across the hugeLas Vegas Convention Center , as well as theSands Expo and Convention Center , as well as the Las Vegas Hilton and Venetian hotel .

Gadget world

There ’s die to be lots to see at CES . For one , we are interested inPinnacle Systems ’ Pinnacle Transfer Video gizmoand whether it inhabit up to its promise of allowing you to record analog video onto your iPod sans the motive for a personal computer . Pinnacle announced its video capture machine ahead of time and will be showing it for the first time at CES .

Another pre - proclaimed CES gadget we ’re interested in reckon in Vegas is Sling Media’sSlingPlayer Mobile softwarefor the BlackBerry . The software is opine to allow you to take in live television set streamed from any Slingbox mannequin to a 3 G wireless or Wi - Fi enable BlackBerry smartphone .

Motorola also pre - announced one of its CES contrivance as well . It will show itsMotorola DH01 portable televisionthat allows you to watch broadcast TV on a 4.3 - inch screen door and also role as a digital television registrar . Eat your heart out TiVo .

Notebooks get flashy for Vegas

CES will feature laptop with more pizzazz and amusement feature . Bill Gates at his Sunday night tonic kicking off CES will reportedly be harbour a personal computer “ way show ” with famous person judge Nigel Barker of “ America ’s Next Top Model ” to see which notebook Godhead has the snazzy plan .

gestate to see a slew of other notebooks featured at CES equip with eminent - definition multimedia system port ( HDMI ) port . These port wine help turn notebooks into quasi - interior theater component allow for you to connect say a notebook computer ’s Blu - ray disc parkway to a HDTV .

On the other end of the notebook computer spectrum , look for ultraportables and UMPCs ( ultra - mobile PCs ) to have a significant bearing Ce as well . Vendors will show off tiny new notebooks that are riotous and inexpensive , and able to eke out better shelling life .

Keep cell phone expectations low

Where are the wireless French telephone at CES ? earpiece vendors do n’t go violent at CES — many restrain off for the giant3GSM expositiona calendar month later in Barcelona , Spain . But Samsung , Motorola , Sony Ericsson , and Nokia will all have booths at CES , and in all likelihood a few young handset as well .

Qualcomm , the vast wireless chipmaker , will also have a major presence . And ask also to see a slew of iPod and iPhone accessories , from cases to elevator car adapters . ( For any fresh iPhone or iPod announcements , though , you ’ll have to wait another workweek for Macworld Expo in San Francisco . )

GPS at CES

GPS trafficker who will show off their merchandise admit Garmin , Mio , and TomTom . Expect to see all sorts of new features that enhance canonic navigation : Garmin ’s newNuvi 800 , for model , adds voice communication recognition to enable hands - free operation of the popular gondola navigation system . Garmin is also introducing a Modern serial of Nuvis , the 5000 series , with oversize 5.2 - column inch touch screen showing .

Mapping software old hand DeLorme , meanwhile , will show off the power to enhance geocaching with photographs using a digital tv camera with its Topo USA 7.0 topographical function computer software and itsEarthmate PN-20 handheld GPS machine .

Attack of the Set-Top Boxes

When it comes to specify - top boxes at CES , we ’ve heard the same hope for years . This yr , we gestate to hear more from set - top box Jehovah beyond the standard pledge of take Internet video and other content to the TV . require the same promise , but this time ( fingers crossed ) , maybe we ’ll see some genuine progress .

Other lot - top box manufacturing business at CES will be talking about high - definition ( HD ) content this year . HD is nothing new , but companies are constantly working on save higher quality video using less bandwidth . Well be hunt down Motorola ’s just announced set - top boxes that use the very efficient video compaction standard MPEG-4 .

For the first time , we ’re see more than a few dictated - top loge Divine add audio capability to their equipment with some even offering support for surround - sound speaker systems . This year ’s models will include a set move telecasting storage space on their on - board digital TV recorder ( DVRs ) , so we ’ll be able-bodied to store whole seasons of appearance without having to score out honest-to-goodness episodes or movies to make room .

Hewlett - Packard will be showing off itsMediaSmart Receiver x280N , which can stream a wide variety of audio ( MP3 , WMA , WMA - Pro , WAV , AAC / m4a ) from a personal computer to your home entertainment center via its wireless 802.11a / b / g / n connectedness . The HP box seat also pour video ( MPEG-2 , DivX , WMV , WMV - HD , and H.264 / MP4 files ) and can expose trope ( JPEG , BMP , GIF , and PNG photos ) .

In shortsighted , you ’re not likely to see genre - fall apart announcements ( think back Apple TV ? ) at CES this year , but you will see a cluster of raw corner that do more with the Internet , apply less bandwidth , vocalize sound , and lay in more depicted object for see on - demand .