The greatest show on Earth?

Cell phones
Expect the words "smart phone," "high-speed" and "VoIP" (voice-over-Internet Protocol) to dominate cell phone conversations at CES.

Look out for three supersmart BlackBerry-killers — one each from Palm, Nokia and Motorola — to make a strong showing.

Somewhere on the showroom floor, a cell phone manufacturer will put forward the very first W-CDMA phone for American customers. But it's unclear who that manufacturer will be. W-CDMA is the next-generation standard for transmitting voice and data at high speeds--anywhere from 400 to 1,100 kilobits per second. That means no more jerky 15-frame-per-second video clip downloads, and perhaps one carrier will offer live video calls on cell phones. Likely contenders include Nokia and Samsung, who could both put these high-speed handsets on carriers in the U.S. by the middle of 2006.

Also, we're pretty sure we'll see a VoIP-cell hybrid phone — one that lets chatterboxes move easily from a home or hotspot Wi-Fi network to a carrier's cellular network during one conversation. And we're keeping our eyes peeled for an elusive AT&T SBC-Yahoo! cell phone, which just might be on display.

Gaming
Sony must be feeling pressure to deliver the goods with its next-generation gaming console, the PS3. Microsoft's Xbox 360 impressed many gamers last month with its superb graphics engine, and the desirability factor of the distant PS3 could be waning.

Sony CEO Sir Howard Stringer will surely discuss the PS3 in his opening keynote speech, but will we get a launch date? "If Sony gets any more specific than saying 'late spring' or 'midyear,' I'll be shocked," says Levitas.

High definition
With larger-than-life LCD and plasma displays towering from nearly every electronics vendor's booth, CES would seem an appropriate venue to explain to consumers just what format they'll be watching.

Many people go to Vegas to see the Blue Man Group, but we're looking for a little action from the Blu-Ray Group, the industry association responsible for the DVD format backed by Sony. The group said it would detail launch plans for the format at CES, and that it is sticking to a Spring 2006 timeline. But the natives are getting restless.

"We've heard it all before," says Yankee Group analyst Nitin Gupta. "We've heard so much rhetoric that this race is now anticlimactic. At this point, just show me the DVD player already."

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