High-tech giants push home electronics at CES

Among the highlights will be products that converge home entertainment systems with personal computers and Internet connections, allowing users, for instance, to download their MP3 music files or digital home videos and play them on their stereos or televisions.

"A key trend for the coming year will be the speed at which people make the transition to digital media, particularly music, photos and books," Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates said in an e-mail interview with The Associated Press. "2001 will be the year of personal, portable entertainment."

In perhaps the trade show's most highly anticipated unveiling, Gates is expected to present a prototype of Xbox, a video game console that Microsoft hopes will start finding its way into increasingly plugged-in family rooms later this fall.

The Xbox -- with nearly twice the memory of rival Sony's PlayStation 2 -- promises to give gamers a richer visual experience. And it's part of Microsoft's ambitious campaign to expand beyond the PC and into the consumer market of peripherals.

In addition, the software titan this year is launching its UltimateTV service, a combination of satellite TV, WebTV, and a digital recorder.

Chip giant Intel also is making a big push in new consumer products, hoping to boost demand for its computer microprocessors by improving and introducing more PC-centric devices. On Tuesday, the company unveiled its latest consumer item, a portable MP3 player that can also be hooked up to the home stereo system.

Since 1999, Intel has introduced a PC camera, wireless keyboard, mouse and home networking products, and a handful of fancy digital toys.

But don't think personal computers -- which sold poorly over the holidays and helped cause the high-tech hand-wringing -- are being forgotten.

"The PC is like the automobile," Gates said. "Sure, you can get around by bike, horse, train or scooter, but as the optimal travel tool, the car is hard to beat."

Craig Barrett, chief executive officer and chairman of Intel -- and a keynote speaker at the show for the first time -- calls this the "extended PC era."

Whether it's digital cameras, digital books, audio players, handheld organizers or other media appliances, "the PC is the center of the action," Barrett said in an interview before the trade show. "Any time you want to do anything interactive, whether you want to mix music tracks, or to edit your home video, the PC will be the mechanism, though the TV may be the way you want to display the content."

The show will also feature TV set-top boxes that combine Internet access with recorders that digitally store television programming on a hard-disk without the hassle of videotapes.

There will also be some buzz around a growing number of DVD players that can record and not just play, and media hubs that combine audio and video components with Internet access.

Also on display will be wireless devices that allow users to chat online or make Internet purchases all from the comfort of a sofa.

"We're beginning to see that move toward what one might call the digital home, or the digital living room," said Jeff Joseph, vice president of communications for the Consumer Electronics Association, which sponsors the trade show.

Nokia Inc. will announce its so-called home infotainment center called the Media Terminal. It's a set-top box that receives digital TV and video-on-demand, can play MP3 files or connect to a digital camera, and offer Internet access.

Harman Kardon will introduce its Digital Media Center, a product with high-speed Web capabilities, a built-in DVD/CD player and a 30-gigabyte hard drive -- far bigger than most PCs.<