Trade Shows Nevada

More Comdex: If parties are any indication, geeks don't swing, they rock. Last Monday, Microsoft held the largest party of the trade show, drawing 3,000 to the grand ballroom of the tres chic Bellagio Hotel with Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, a band that is part of the current swing-dance fad.

In her biggest speech since becoming Hewlett-Packard's chief executive, Carly Fiorina on Monday for the first time outlined her plans to focus the company on ways to make the Internet easier to use through a combination of its hardware and software technology. "We need to make the Internet friendlier and more useful," Fiorina told an audience of thousands at the Comdex computer trade show in Las Vegas.

If you have a business to run, you're probably not attending the 19th annual fall Comdex show here this week. Here's some of what you missed: Paragon Software (http://www.paragonsoftware.com) found an easier way to add contacts to your cellular phone's memory than fiddling with the phone keys. The British company's FoneSync Simply Communicating Software comes with a cable that lets you transfer names and phone numbers from a PC to a cell phone.

More than 200,000 people and 2,200 companies are gathering in Las Vegas this week for Comdex, the biggest computer-related conference and trade show of the year. Since its founding 20 years ago, Comdex has morphed into an extravaganza that fills three giant hotels plus the Las Vegas Convention Center and spans five days.

The home is the last frontier of computer networking. Miles of network cables hidden beneath floors or above ceiling tiles have become the norm in office buildings, but the idea of installing another mass of wires to connect PCs in the home has not enchanted most consumers. In the past year, companies such as Intelogis Inc., Tut Systems Inc. and Epigram Inc. have announced networking systems that solve some of the problems by using a home's existing electrical and telephone wires.

After more than a decade in development and a billion dollars in research costs, dozens of manufacturers lined up row after row of their first models of high-definition TV sets Wednesday at the annual Consumer Electronics Show. They declared that the revolution in digital television has begun.

While Orange County companies were well-represented among Comdex exhibitors, with Conexant, Toshiba, Mitsubishi and Ingram Micro taking up significant real estate in the massive Las Vegas Convention Center, Irvine-based Western Digital Corp. was among the more notable absentees, and the largest local technology company not present.

In her biggest speech since becoming Hewlett-Packard's chief executive, Carly Fiorina on Monday for the first time outlined her plans to focus the company on ways to make the Internet easier to use through a combination of its hardware and software technology. "We need to make the Internet friendlier and more useful," Fiorina told an audience of thousands at the Comdex computer trade show in Las Vegas.

More than 200,000 people and 2,200 companies are gathering in Las Vegas this week for Comdex, the biggest computer-related conference and trade show of the year. Since its founding 20 years ago, Comdex has morphed into an extravaganza that fills three giant hotels plus the Las Vegas Convention Center and spans five days.

More Comdex: If parties are any indication, geeks don't swing, they rock. Last Monday, Microsoft held the largest party of the trade show, drawing 3,000 to the grand ballroom of the tres chic Bellagio Hotel with Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, a band that is part of the current swing-dance fad.

While Orange County companies were well-represented among Comdex exhibitors, with Conexant, Toshiba, Mitsubishi and Ingram Micro taking up significant real estate in the massive Las Vegas Convention Center, Irvine-based Western Digital Corp. was among the more notable absentees, and the largest local technology company not present.

The home is the last frontier of computer networking. Miles of network cables hidden beneath floors or above ceiling tiles have become the norm in office buildings, but the idea of installing another mass of wires to connect PCs in the home has not enchanted most consumers. In the past year, companies such as Intelogis Inc., Tut Systems Inc. and Epigram Inc. have announced networking systems that solve some of the problems by using a home's existing electrical and telephone wires.

If you have a business to run, you're probably not attending the 19th annual fall Comdex show here this week. Here's some of what you missed: Paragon Software (http://www.paragonsoftware.com) found an easier way to add contacts to your cellular phone's memory than fiddling with the phone keys. The British company's FoneSync Simply Communicating Software comes with a cable that lets you transfer names and phone numbers from a PC to a cell phone.

After more than a decade in development and a billion dollars in research costs, dozens of manufacturers lined up row after row of their first models of high-definition TV sets Wednesday at the annual Consumer Electronics Show. They declared that the revolution in digital television has begun.