Other Tech

A format war over a high-definition disc format now unfortunately appears inevitable. The all-but-formal declaration came at the Blu-ray press event on the first day of this year's Consumer Electronics Show (also see Rich Warren's article, "Next-Generation DVD").

Photos by Tony Cordoza Electronic program guides (EPGs) that help you choose what to watch from among hundreds of channels are built into a variety of devices from TV sets and set-top boxes to satellite receivers and hard-disk recorders. What they have in common is an onscreen display that, if it doesn't cover the TV picture, reduces the show to a small window.

Some people have the common sense to get alarm systems. Others set up all sorts of lights and timers to make the bad guys think they're home when they're not. I thought I was pretty smart for being a member of the latter group - until last week when my neighbor asked, "Were you gone Monday and Tuesday? I noticed your light timer was on."

Hordes of reporters - including S&V's Rich Warren (tan coat to left of center) - await announcements from electronics giant Thomson (RCA) the morning of CES's media-only first day. The American Chopper guys help Toshiba close their press conference

Sharp reasserts its sizable presence in the LCD-TV field with a 65-inch model - the largest of this type shown at CES.

Sanyo makes it very clear who they like in the HD DVD vs. Blu-ray battle.