LAS VEGAS--I'll admit it, straight off. I'm a Cirque du Soleil junkie.

I've seen most of their traveling shows, have loved them all, and I even worked as an usher on "Alegria" when it was in San Francisco two years ago. And I recently wrote a story about the technology of the Cirque du Soleil.

Call me stupid, but one thing has always puzzled me about the Cirque, and about some other high-concept shows, like "Blue Man Group." And that is that during the performances, they always bring someone from the audience on … Read more

LAS VEGAS--John Paul DeJoria made his first million launching the beauty salon favorite Paul Mitchell brand of hair care products and followed that up with the high-end Patron tequila. Now, DeJoria is bankrolling a tech company.

DeJoria said he has invested "eight digits" in the past three years in UK-based ROK Corp., a maker of technology that allows people to watch movies and TV shows and get other content on their mobile devices.

At an intimate party Friday night in a penthouse suite in the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas, where the Consumer Electronics Show was being held, … Read more

LAS VEGAS--In a very unusual keynote address Friday, Google CEO Larry Page urged the consumer electronics industry to make life easier for consumers by standardizing things like power supplies.

Most keynotes are simply opportunities for company executives to hawk their own products and agendas. And to be sure, Page made sure to promote new Google initiatives like the Video Store, a pay-per-download repository of video programming like NBA games and Charlie Rose shows.

But the opening of the talk--in which Page arrived on the back of Stanley, the Stanford project car that won the 2005 Darpa Grand Challenge, and later … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Americans are definitely getting more comfortable with online shopping, Michelle Kane, who runs public relations for Pricegrabber.com, said during a meeting at the Consumer Electronics Show here.

Pricegrabber provides consumers with a list of merchants for various products and ranks the popularity of products based on how often they're purchased. Experian bought Pricegrabber.com in December.

In the home furnishings category "sofas are always No. 1--that five-sectional sofa," she said, referring to a specific product that sells for $1,699.

Over the holidays, diamond earrings were hot. Some people bought earrings priced at about $100,… Read more

LAS VEGAS--Who wants to make PCs? The margins are tight, and very few new brands succeed. Patriot tried a few years ago with the Barbie computer and soon gave up.

But Onkyo, the Japanese stereo company, is giving it a try. The company will make a Viiv PC, based around Intel chips. The company's PC was shown off Thursday during Intel CEO Paul Otellini's keynote at CES, among a rack of several new Viiv PCs. It will sell for more than most PCs, said one source, and will be targeted at home theater enthusiasts.

LAS VEGAS--No doubt you've heard of the concept of Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, the idea that everyone in Hollywood is no more than six steps away from the actor Kevin Bacon. In fact, there's a Web site devoted to the idea.

Well, on Thursday night, your faithful reporter found himself just one single degree from Kevin Bacon.

A little background: Supposedly, there's 130,000 people in town here for the 2006 edition of the Consumer Electronics Show. And as befits any self-respecting trade show, CES is replete with party after party. And Thursday night was no … Read more

HDTVs are getting a lot of eyeballs at this year's Consumer Electronics Show. But the picture gets fuzzy when you leave the show floor and look at how consumers are using such models.

Shelly Palmer, who writes a blog as the chairman of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' Advanced Media Committee, today cites Leichtman research that over 56 percent of people who bought HDTV sets so don't have the equipment needed to watch anything in HD.

"Why? Twenty-eight percent think the picture is already better on their new HDTV set; 23 percent think the … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Getting ahold of an Xbox 360 has been tough for nearly everybody. Even Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told his kids they'd have to go to a store to buy one, just like everybody else.

Well, they did that. Technically. The manager of the Best Buy store in Bellevue, Wash., alerted Microsoft employees the night before about a shipment coming in the next day.

Ballmer said in an interview that his kids got one. Yes, it slightly smacks of privilege, he admitted, but not much--Microsoft employees buy a lot of stuff there, he said, adding that among other aspects … Read more

LAS VEGAS--The HD DVD Promotion Group--tech companies and movie studios backing the HD DVD format--decided to give a sneak peek at the future of entertainment at CES by showing clips from movies slated for release this spring. And what is coming? Stuff from way back when.

The three clips shown by the group were for "Mission Impossible III" (based on the '60s TV show), a movie version of the '80s cop show "Miami Vice," and a remake of the '70s classic "Poseidon Adventure" with Kurt Russell reprising the Gene Hackman role of the rebel … Read more