San Francisco/Las Vegas: The world's largest consumer electronics show is set to kick off on Monday, giving tech lovers and analysts a great way to gauge the dominant technology products and themes for the coming year.
For those lucky enough to attend the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, it can be difficult making sense of the exhibits amid the barrage of sound, light and hype.
More than 2,700 exhibitors will try to attract the industry's attention over a floor area that's bigger than 37 football pitches, at the Convention Centre set in the heart of the glitzy gambling mecca in the Nevada desert.
But what will they try to focus on amid all the hubbub?
No doubt the technology will be ever more powerful and feature-laden.
When they're meant to be small, such as in the latest generation of ultra-mobile laptops, the gadgets will be tinier than ever. When they're meant to be big, such as in the latest crop of flat-panel TV's, they'll be huge.
But the hope is that the technology that runs our lives will be smarter too - more intuitive in understanding what we need and providing that experience without the need to read incomprehensible manuals.
The gold standard has been set by the iPhone, the hottest tech product of 2007, which showed how brilliant design and understanding of consumer needs can create a product that's smart, sexy and a critical and commercial smash hit.
There's little expectation that any product unveiled at CES will match the iPhone's sparking debut. But that doesn't mean there's nothing worth seeing.
Among the most beguiling offerings is a new type of TV from Samsung. They use active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (OLED) technology, which produces brighter images and uses far less power than current LCD and plasma sets. They are also much thinner and obviously more expensive.
So far the only OLED televisions commercially available are 11-inch (28-centimetre) units from Sony which sell for almost $2,000. Samsung will be showing off a 31-inch version at CES but there is no word on when they will be available. Safe to say, however, that they won't be in your Xmas stocking next year.
It's also certain that these are the screens of the future and will one day cover numerous surfaces with their ability to be bent and curved to fit any shape.
There will be a renewed emphasis on intelligent mobile devices that take advantage of ubiquitous network connections to add functionality to familiar devices.
For instance, that new state-of-the-art GPS navigation system you are so proud of? It's already looking old.
A new system called Dash GPS automatically uses cellphone airwaves to link up to other GPS systems and get real time traffic conditions on the road. Information is made even more realistic, because months of real road history are loaded into the Dash's memory - a road's real traffic history, not its theoretical speed limit.
Best of all, if the traffic changes suddenly, you'll know instantly, and the Dash GPS will give you alternative routes.
The Dash will be only one of many nifty electronics gadgets that will be showcased for autos. Signifying the growing importance of this market, Rick Wagoner, the CEO of General Motors, will be giving one of the keynote addresses.
The trend means big bucks for electronics makers, even as the US car market is ailing. According to the Consumer Electronics Association, sales of electronic gear for cars are expected to top $12 billion in 2008, double the level of five years earlier.
"Detroit is going to Las Vegas," said Gary Shapiro, president of the CEA. "All the excitement in the home is moving to the car."
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