Report From CESReport From CES

DELL OFFERS UP EASY BACKUP

Chairman Michael Dell used his 2007 Consumer Electronics Show keynote to highlight what may be his company's biggest services gamble yet: an online backup service, to be available later this year. Dell DataSafe will let users easily back up data online and migrate it to a new laptop or desktop PC.

Dell also rolled out an online broadcast service. Studio Dell will provide home users, small businesses, and IT pros with IT training videos. It will start with 30 videos on topics such as how to set up a network and will soon let users post their own videos.

AN AFFORDABLE ROBOT--FINALLY

Picture this: It's the last quarter of a big game, you can't tear yourself from the tube, but you're thirsty. Send the iRobot Create bot to the kitchen. The $130 home robot platform is based on technology used in iRobot's Roomba vacuuming robot. "It's not a toy," says Helen Greiner, iRobot's chairwoman. "A lot of people have had a dream of making [a robot]. We've made this affordable."

Advanced users can develop autonomous apps in C or C++ using an iRobot $59 Command Module.

DISNEY SHOWS NEW WEB SITE

Disney CEO Bob Iger gave the CES audience a first look at the redesigned Disney.com site to be launched later this month. Disney Xtreme Digital, the centerpiece of the site, will let users personalize content, watch and share videos, and play games such as the upcoming Pirates of the Caribbean Online massively multiplayer game. Disney plans to build more virtual worlds, Iger said, "where we will invite our guests to become a part of our stories. Imagine living in Buzz and Woody's toy universe."

TRIAL RUN FOR VISTA APPS

The Windows Vista operating system will accelerate Microsoft's efforts to turn software into a product that's continually updated rather than bought once and left alone, chairman Bill Gates said in his CES keynote speech. Gates and other Microsoft employees demoed downloadable apps. One called GroupShot can stitch together the best elements of two digital photos to create a composite. Another, DreamScene, lets users play full-motion video stored on their hard drives as their PC's desktop wallpaper.

THE NEXT RAZR?

Nokia went after two different markets, rolling out the thin N76 cell phone handset and the N800 Internet tablet with Wi-Fi and Skype calling capability. At slightly more than a half-inch thick, the N76 features a 2-megapixel digital camera. CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo says converged devices like the N76 that "are increasingly powerful and easy to use" are the future.

HP'S TOUCH-SCREEN DESKTOP

Hewlett-Packard came out with a touch-screen desktop PC running on the Windows Vista operating system. The TouchSmart includes a 19-inch LCD screen, remote control, and personal video recorder for cable TV programming. Along with the new desktop, HP introduced a Vista-loaded tablet PC, called the Pavilion tx1000 Entertainment Notebook.

AKIMBO UPS THE VIDEO ANTE

Akimbo, an Internet-to-TV service provider, is working with Yahoo to make the portal's video service available to subscribers. Akimbo plans to use its set-top boxes to let them browse a selection of popular videos from the Yahoo Video service. The titles will be available at no extra charge. Akimbo's video-on-demand hardware is priced at $200, plus an additional $10 a month for its service.