I hit my first press event last night, the annual pre-show Digital Experience gathering where hundreds of journalists walk around a giant ballroom and either try to avoid PR people, talk with each other (gossip!) or actually talk with tech vendors about some new products. I did a little of each of those, here's a wrapup of some of the cool products I saw at the event.

D-Link: Two products impressed me here – first is the SideStage, a 7-inch USB LCD monitor that lets notebook users get some additional screen space. The display sits on a nice stand and can also swivel for horizontal or vertical display. The idea is that a user would use their main notebook screen for their Windows apps, and then move other apps (such as iTunes, Windows Media Player, or even all their "gadgets," "widgets", etc." onto the smaller viewing display offered by the SideStage. The device offers 800 by 480 resolution and weighs 1.34 pounds, so it might even be somewhat portable for workers on the road. No pricing yet, but D-Link says it will ship later this year.

The second product I liked from D-Link is their new "all-in-one router", the Xtreme N Storage Router (DIR-685). I've heard the phrase "all-in-one" used on a variety of devices, but this may be the first time I've heard it used for a router. The DIR-685 combines a wireless router (802.11n), 4-port Ethernet switch, and additional USB slots for adding printers (it acts as a print server) and external storage devices. The device includes a SATA drive slot that lets you insert a storage drive to turn the device into a network-attached storage device, and a built-in FTP server will let you share/access files over the Internet. In addition, a 3.2-inch display on the front of the device can act like a digital photo frame. The device is aimed for users who need to have their router on a desktop or in a living room (mine is conveniently tucked in the basement, but I know others who have to have their routers in their living rooms or offices), it's interesting to see this all-in-one router concept take shape. Pricing and availability on this device was also not announced.

Seagate: The storage company is expanding into the home entertainment space by offering users of their FreeAgent Go portable hard drives an easier way of taking digital multimedia files (photos, videos, music) and displaying them on a TV. The FreeAgent Theater HD Media Player includes a docking slot for the FreeAgent Go hard drives, and both component and composite video output ports that you'd connect to a TV. Software on the device then kicks in, and with an included remote control you can now view your photos, listen to music and watch videos (ahem, home videos) on a TV instead of crowding around a smaller computer screen. A nice feature is the ability to create slideshows quickly by throwing photos and music into a separate slide show player, and the system creates the show for you. Seagate also included a USB slot on the device, allowing for connections of other external hard drive devices (nice!). The FreeAgent Theater HD Media player is available in March, and Seagate will sell the unit as a stand-alone item for $130, but will also have bundles with their 250GB ($230) and 500GB ($300) FreeAgentGo devices.

A Seagate spokesman I talked with about the device says this can be an easy way for parents to send photos to grandparents, instead of having them worry about the Internet or digital photo frames, you can just send them a hard drive and they can pop in the device connected to their TV. Interesting (but possibly expensive) way of solving that problem.

More stuff later as I find time to type – remember to keep watching the Twitter feed for updates from the show (in case I see any celebrities).

OK, I'm going to try and remain positive, despite a trip that began with a two-hour flight delay, de-icing of a plane, a 6-hour flight in which another passenger passed out about two rows in front of me (first time I've ever heard a flight attendant ask for a doctor over the intercom), a wicked-bad migraine and then the fireworks/music extravaganza that is the Siren show (the old pirate show at Treasure Island was much better) blasting right outside my window as I write this. I'm officially in Las Vegas, and despite what possibly was the longest run-on sentence I've written in a long time, I'm still ready to hit the show floor and press previews and cocktail parties and cab lines (wait, maybe those will be shorter since "nobody" apparently is coming, at least to the cab driver I spoke with on the way in) at the Consumer Electronics Show 2009.

For the next few days Jason Meserve and I will be roaming the halls producing videos, doing our Twisted Pair podcast (sometime between all the appointments) and we may even have time to write some blog entries or two. Mostly, though, I'll be adding short, pithy commentary via my iPhone and Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/shawkeith – what, you haven't signed up yet to follow me?).

We've got a ton of other CES news, blogs and videos scattered throughout the site as well, so stay here at Networkworld.com for all your CES updates.

The news of Cisco's home entertainment product push came out last month, but today we have learned some more details about the product names, pricing and availability.

Linksys by Cisco (another name change?) announced today two new home entertainment-related products (the Wireless Home Audio system and Media Hub) that it will show at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

The Linksys by Cisco Wireless Home Audio system reminds me of the Sonos, Logitech Squeezebox Boom and other multi-room audio systems, in which users can stream audio files stored on PCs, devices and over the Internet throughout different "zones" set up around the house. The Cisco system uses Wireless-N (802.11n) technology to deliver music throughout the home, and supports Internet music services such as Rhapsody, AudioLounge and RadioTime.

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As part of its Macworld announcements, Apple today announced that all of its music will soon be available in the iTunes Plus format, Apple's, DRM-free format that includes 256Kbps AAC encoding. In April, songs on iTunes will be available at one of three prices: $0.69, $0.99 or $1.29, based on what the music labels charge Apple.

For those of us who bought a ton of music at $0.99 with the DRM attached will be able to "upgrade" to the new format, for either $0.30 extra per song, or 30% of the album price. Approximately 8 million of its songs are now available in the DRM-free format, with the remaining 2 million songs available by the end of March. However, apparently you can't upgrade to the new format on a per-song basis, it might be an "all-or-nothing" affair (I haven't checked personally yet, but I'm reading other blog posts / comments to that effect).

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The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) starts on Thursday officially, but we're already getting a flurry of announcements and other news.

Lenovo today announced it will launch three new IdeaPad notebooks – the Y650 (thin and light 16-inch notebook), the Y550 and Y450. The notebooks include 16:9 format widescreen displays, NVIDIA GFX graphics, Dolby Home Theater Surround Sound, OneKey Theater software (adjust display and sound effect settings easily), and the Desktop Navigator, which lets users toggle between shortcuts, files and other frequently used programs by touching their finger along a touch-sensitive slide bar. A multi-touch trackpad lets users enlarge or reduce images with their fingertips (just like the zoom feature on an iPhone).

A new "thinnest all-in-one ever" desktop, the IdeaCentre A600, will also be on display at the show. The 21.5-inch display system includes controls that respond to touch and hand movements, just like a Nintendo Wii remote. The user of the A600 remote can use hand motions to eject a DVD, turn the desktop on/off, and adjust color brightness, for example. The IdeaCentre 4-in-1 remote control can also be used for motion games, as a VoIP handset, an "air mouse" and conventional remote control for DVDs, movies and TV.

The company will also add instant-on functions and VeriFace facial recognition security to its current S10 IdeaPad line, and will update the 11-inch U Series to include a framed screen and matte black keyboard and palmrest to reduce smudges and fingerprints.

A new study from research firm Parks Associates says interest in home networking technologies will move away from connecting fixed devices (PCs, printers, etc.), and toward mobile and portable devices that can connect to an existing network. The study found that nearly 50% of U.S. broadband households want a digital camera with networking functions, and almost 40% would be interested in a networked digital photo frame.

About a third surveyed are interested in having a networked mobile phone – in other words, they want to be able to transfer a mobile phone call to a fixed-line phone. Similarly, about a third of respondents want a networked portable multimedia player, letting them move music and photos from a "fixed" device like a PC into a mobile player. In addition, just over 20% were interested in a networked TV and networked Blu-Ray player.

As we head into next week's Consumer Electronics Show, I would expect to see products that take advantage of this – mobile devices that can access the user's home network will be more valuable (and interesting) than stand-alone devices without the networking capabilities. Digital photo frames were nice when they came out, but without the ability to easily add photos to the device via a network, they become less valuable. And connecting to a network doesn't mean having a USB port that can connect to a networked PC – these devices will need to have Wi-Fi or other similar wireless networking technologies in order to be successful (in my humble opinion).

Another interesting note from this study was the types of devices that users want to have networking capabilities. I think most home network users have connected their PCs, printers and other "fixed" devices to the network, and now are looking at expanding their options towards more mobile and entertainment-like devices (multimedia players, digital cameras, TVs, etc.). Lots of devices have had this ability for a while now – I'm constantly seeing devices with its ability. But this research suggests that the average U.S. household is ready to take the next step – going beyond connecting just their PCs to the network and adding additional devices to the network. It's a nice evolutionary step, and we should see next week just how ready the market and home network manufacturers are to provide easy network access to these new devices to fulfill users' interest in connected mobile devices.

I'm working at home today in the "basement branch", so I'm pretty psyched that I was able to get the Hava Titanium HD WiFi device hooked up as part of this week's Cool Tools column. I've got my work notebook connected to the VPN, and the desktop is streaming TV content from upstairs. For the past hour or so I've been monitoring news coverage, and the streaming has been very good (no jitter on the LAN).

My only beef (see the column) is that the setup process was pretty horrendous. If Monsoon Media can figure out an easier way to set up the WiFi dongle on the device, this would be a worthy competitor to people looking to buy a Slingbox or similar in-home / Internet TV streaming device.

We've posted a new Cool Tools video that looks at the USB Transfer Express mass duplication device from Hamilton Electronics. Finally, a way for me to take all of the USB drives I've collected at trade shows and "recycle" them for new purposes.

A lot of stories last week have been written about the 40th anniversary of the computer mouse, but in case you haven't seen video footage from the original demo, make sure you check out this video, courtesy of the IDG News Service:

The votes are in and it's a lot closer with the social network's favorite holiday movies than with the holiday songs. This time, A Christmas Story garnered 17 votes, beating It's a Wonderful Life by one vote (16 votes total). Third on the list was National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation with 13 votes. I gotta admit, I've seen bits of that movie but never all the way through (leave some comments about what makes that movie one of your favorites).

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Taking a break from this week's Cool Tools column.

So the movie 'Elf' is on tonight on USA Network, for what seems like is the 20th time already this season. Between that and the 24-hour 'A Christmas Story' marathon on Christmas Eve, it's becoming apparent that these could soon be the "new classics" in terms of holiday movies.

Last week's social network experiment with my Facebook, Twitter and blog followers was pretty successful, so let's try this again. Send me a list of your Top 3 favorite holiday movies (new, classic, or even favorite TV specials). If you were stuck on the proverbial desert island, which three holiday movies would you need to have? I'll compile the list and announce the results by the end of the week. If you want to share the love, please re-tweet the request or pass along the URL to your social network.

Here's my list (but don't let this influence your vote):

1) A Christmas Story (so many good lines, still watchable even during the 24-hour marathon).

2) Pee-Wee's Playhouse Christmas Special (it's a little dated, but any special with Charo, Magic Johnson and Grace Jones has to be watched, right? Plus, Laurence "Morpheus" Fishburne as Cowboy Curtis!)

3) Love Actually (More of a "romantic comedy" rather than a straight Christmas movie, but you try and not mist up at the end of the movie in Heathrow Airport)

I've seen and tried several notebook bases, cooling stations and other accessories that aim to either improve ergonomics, reduce heat from the notebook, or make working on a notebook more comfortable for use in a living room or in a bed. Here's the latest from Logitech, which today launched its Comfort Lapdesk for Notebooks. The $39.99 accessory, coming in February to the U.S. (Europe in January), "provides a stable base and helps protect against laptop heat whether you're working from the comfort of your couch, relaxing on your bed or reclining on the living-room floor."

The company's research shows that almost 60% of people who use a laptop at home use it on the couch (guilty!) so they can be with families while browsing the Web, writing/reading e-mails or instant messaging (or writing awesome Cool Tools columns). Logitech's research also showed that 36% use a laptop on the bed, and 16% use the notebook while sitting or lying on the floor.

Logitech says the Lapdesk is different from other laptop desks because of its four-layer, heat-shielding design. "The bottom layer's fabric and an air-flow chamber between the lapdesk's base and top combine to further minimize heat. Plus, instead of the whole laptop lying flat against the body, the arched base makes contact with the [notebook's] legs in just four places, improving air flow." Furthermore, a cushioned base lets people relax their legs instead of having to lock their knees together to support the notebook. A non-slip glossy finish on the top of the Lapdesk prevents the notebook from slipping.

Probably worth a look if you're doing a lot of notebook work in non-traditional locations.

News reports are coming out that Las Vegas hotels have dropped their prices a second time as a way to lure attendees for the show in the wake of a dire economy. The show usually boasts 100,000+ attendees in early January, and you have to book your hotel months in advance, or risk ending up at the Tam-o-Shanter (which I believe got bulldozed anyway to make way for the Venetian expansion).

I have booked my CES trip – fellow Twisted Pair co-host Jason Meserve and I will be there doing Cool Tools videos and podcasts at the show – but I have more evidence attendance is probably going to be down. I've been invited to participate in two different events at the show as a "high-profile" blogger/journalists.

The first event is one of those "build a PC quickly" race, which I will probably decline, mainly because I haven't seen the inside of a PC for about 5-6 years now (I think that was the last time I bought a PC). Also, my fingers still ache from the last time I tried to install a new disk drive.

However, the second invite is for SanDisk's "Rock Band 2 Battle of the Bloggers". Now that's intriguing. I don't have details yet, but my prowess in Rock Band 2 must be one of the reasons for the invite (I just hope they don't ask me to sing).

The tweets and Facebook comments have all be tabulated from my one-day experiment, and Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas is You" tops the list of favorite Christmas / Holiday songs, courtesy of all of my followers / friends / colleagues. The results were a landslide for Mariah – the song garnered 12 votes among the followers, where a bunch of other songs tied with 4 votes each.

Here are the results:

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Part social network experiment, and part "because I'm just curious", I sent out a note via my Twitter feed (@shawkeith) and FaceBook status update earlier today that asked friends and followers what their three favorite Christmas songs were, whether they preferred the classics, modern-day songs, funny ones or sentimental ones.

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The holidays are in full swing at our house, which means it's time to pull out the decorations and begin preparations for a busy, busy month of get-togethers and other assorted distractions.

With a soon-to-be-3-year-old and an 18-month-old in the house, this also means trying to explain to them what Christmas is all about, and one way that we've tried to do this is by getting them the Fischer-Price Little People Manger set. We got this so they wouldn't mess with the much-older, handed-down-over-multiple-generations authentic manger set, which is placed on a hutch out of their reach. The little people figures are more their style, and we can explain to them the Christmas story without having to worry that Mary or the Baby Jesus will be broken or lost.

So – about five minutes after opening the box, we discovered that many of the little people figures were gone – the kids had grabbed them and integrated them into the primordial soup of all their other toys. So last night before bed, we began a giant scavenger hunt of looking under tables, couches, chairs and other hiding places to look for Mary, a couple of shephards and some sheep to re-complete the set. During the hunt, I discovered lots of other figures and toys, and decided to build the "toddler version" of the manger set. Please to enjoy the result of my efforts:

Update: After my wife got home she told me about my daughter's secret "little people holding cell", and we found about five more of the missing figures, including Joseph and Mary.

And speaking of the holidays, don't forget to check out our holiday gift guide for tech-related gadgets and gizmos.

Three different people e-mail you this comic strip:

OK, so do we finally have an iPhone killer, now that the BlackBerry Storm from Verizon Wireless is out?

Killer? No. Worthy opponent? Yes.

In the less-than-24-hours that I've had the device and have been able to do a basic set of tests on the BlackBerry Storm (on sale Friday, Nov. 21, for $199.99 after $50 mail-in rebate and two-year agreement), I can say that people who abhor the Apple iPhone will be able to grab a Storm and go, "Nyah Nyah Nyah" to their fellow iPhone owners. But I don't expect that large mobs of iPhone owners will suddenly switch gears to the Storm, either (they can't, they still have their own two-year contracts). But the Apple Haters now have a horse in the race – the Storm does an admirable job of matching several of the iPhone's features and provides some features that the iPhone doesn't have.

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I have mixed feelings about whether I'm going to go see the new Star Trek movie (May 2009), directed by Lost's J.J. Abrams. On the one hand, I'm a Star Trek fan, and I've seen all of the other Star Trek movies (even Nemesis, brrrrrr). So trekking to this one would seem like a normal thing to do.

On the other hand, I've always been annoyed at "prequels" and other attempts at "rewriting" a show's (or comic book's, for that matter) history or "canon". That's one reason I never watched the "Enterprise" TV show (the one with Scott Bakula), because I like it when a series franchise moves forward, rather than looking back. So the storyline in the new movie, in which we get to meet Kirk, Spock, etc., as they meet each other, doesn't really appeal to me.

But then again, the action scenes look pretty cool. I'm still on the fence, what do you other Trek fans think?

Last month I wrote how Plantronics was sponsoring a nationwide contest in an attempt to rename the word "telecommuter" to create a "new, more accurate and relevant term for professionals who work beyond the office." After about 500 submissions, the winner was chosen, and the new term that Plantronics hopes will replace the term telecommuter is… wait for it… Cloudworker.

According to the winning submission, a "cloudworker is somebody who uses on-demand technology and collaboration tools, such as unified communications, to work anywhere and anytime, and uses the resulting freedom to enable a my-size-fits-me career path and lifestyle. The metaphor of the cloud extends well beyond cloud computing and software as a service applications to include work environments, distributed teams, and communication tools."

Really?

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