LAS VEGAS -- They can plumb the Internet for the latest movie times, news headlines, stock figures and gas prices. They'll even help you skirt traffic, find a parking spot or make a phone call. Oh, and they'll navigate for you, too.
The latest global positioning system devices on display at this week's International Consumer Electronics Show are roving information portals, well beyond the first turn-by-turn GPS guides with maps and directions.
Now practically taken for granted, GPS technology is available for tracking hikers, boaters and pilots; and it's routine in cars, sports watches and cell phones.
Manufacturers hoping to continue commanding premium prices as the cost of plain van- illa portable navigation devices plunged to less than $200 are cramming as many extra features on the devices as possible. At CES, Garmin Ltd. announced the Nuvi 880, which debuts in the second quarter for $1,000, and the 780, out next month for $800.
Both get real-time information from Microsoft Corp.'s MSN Direct system, which requires a subscription of $50 per year or $130 for the life of the device. The more expensive model has speech-recognition so drivers can bark their commands.
The upcoming Dash Express GPS device will let users conduct Web searches for locations or products, movie times, or the cheapest gas, and then direct them to the destination.
The $600 gadget by Dash Navigation Inc., created in partnership with Yahoo Inc., also makes the ambitious promise that it can combine data from conventional traffic-monitoring systems with the power of user-based intelligence. The Dash Express will send its users' speed and location data over the Internet, allowing the company to calculate up-to-the-minute traffic conditions and suggest alternate routes. Monthly service fees starting at $10 will be required for the connected features.
Magellan Navigation Inc., which is partnering with Google Inc. to provide local business listings on a $1,300 car-navigation unit, expects eventually to let users send contacts and calendars to their devices. The systems automatically could route you to your 9 a.m. appointment or understand where to direct you when you say, "Tim Jones' home."
A few gadgets and services are gathering most of the attention at the CES this week, but many others are generating some buzz:
With just a few months to go before the launch of its next- generation wireless network, Sprint Nextel Corp. has a distinctly modest lineup of compatible devices.
Sprint showed only two computer modems at this week's show that definitely will be available in April, when its WiMax network becomes available outside current trials in Chicago, Baltimore and Washington.
One of the promises of WiMax, a service Sprint will be providing under the Xohm brand, is that receivers for it can be built into a variety of devices such as cameras and Web tablets that usually don't have a built-in Internet connection or rely on Wi-Fi, a short-range technology.
Unlike Wi-Fi, WiMax signals reach for miles, and unlike cellular broadband, it's designed from the ground up for data. That could make WiMax cheaper than current cellular broadband, or 3G, which often costs about $60 a month for laptops.
Beer lovers craving freshly poured draft brews at home soon will have a high-tech option -- the BeerTender, a beer storing-and-pouring product from brewer Heineken and appliance manufacturer Krups.
The device, which looks like a glossy black keg with an LCD display and is available in Europe, is meant to house a 5-liter Heineken keg and keep the beer tasting fresh for 30 days at a proper temperature. Users can read the contents' temperature on the display, which also indicates when the beer is running low.
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