Microsoft's Bill Gates kicked off the Comdex computer show in Las Vegas last week with his customary keynote speech. This year, however, he tried something new: humour.
Following the lead of US chat show host David Letterman, he provided a packed audience with his top 10 reasons why he loves PCs.
One, referring to some of Microsoft's legal problems, was: "In just one weekend I can sit at my PC, collaborate with attorneys all over the world, comment on a 48-page legal brief and send it all to the Department of Justice."
Portable computers were the stars of the show, with Casio, Compaq, Philips, Hewlett-Packard, LG (Korea's Lucky Goldstar), NEC and Sharp showing new handheld machines running Microsoft Windows CE2, and Texas Instruments entering the market for pocket organisers with the Avigo 10, which is only a little larger than 3Com's best-selling Palm Pilot.
But not everyone thinks ultra-portables need a different operating system from their bigger brothers, and several companies were offering "mini-notebooks" running Windows 95. So far, Toshiba's Libretto has led the battle for this sector, and Toshiba duly unveiled an enhanced version, the Libretto 70CT, with a 120MHz Intel Pentium processor compared with the original's slow 75MHz chip.
Mitsubishi responded with the Amity CN and Hitachi with the VisionBook Traveller, both fitted with even faster 133MHz chips, but both also heavier than the Libretto.
Another popular handheld at Comdex was the Psion Series 5. British firm Psion says its sales have reached 40,000 units a month worldwide.
Handheld devices vary in many ways, but, in general, standard handheld devices are small "personal organisers" that typically can fit into a shirt pocket, and can store a schedule, addresses and phone numbers, spreadsheets, memos, a calculator and, increasingly, email.
Motorola exhibited its Pagewriter 2000 two-way pager, which allows wireless communications to pagers, email and faxes among other functions. It should be in the shops by the beginning of 1998 and will retail at $400.
Mitsubishi also showed the Pedion, an "ultra cool" model that is large at 11.7 by 8.6 inches but less than three-quarters of an inch thick. It also sports a 233MHz Pentium and 64Mb of memory, so if you want to know the price you can't afford it. (Mitsubishi reckons it will be "under $6,000" when it reaches the US next year.)
Dave Baker of VIA Inc from Northfield, Minnesota, says: "We're the only guys with a computer that bends." That's because the electronics - including a Cyrix 686 Intel-compatible processor and up to 64Mb of memory - are mounted on a flexible strip about the size of a ruler (see www.flexipc.com).
A demonstration version of this wearable computer was built into a belt, with a bulge indicating the battery pack. "With voice input and a modem connected to a cellphone, I can walk the Web," he said. However, it's unlikely to be in production until 1999.
Thresh spent Comdex thrashing people, or - since his preferred weapons are rocket launchers and thunderbolts - worse.
In fact, the mild-looking, 20year-old games player, born in Hong Kong, is making a career of it: he's the world champion at id Software's Quake, a previous Doom II Deathmatch champion and the star player in the new Professional Gamers League (see www.pgl.net) sponsored by US chip manufacturer AMD.
In return, Thresh - whose real name is Dennis Fong - was taking on all-comers on the AMD stand. Garth Choteau from Total Entertainment Network reckons Thresh has won about $100,000 in the past two years. According to Choteau, the PGL's prize fund is $250,000, about half of it in cash, and it's expected to grow. With matches being played in front of live audiences and weekly highlights promised for cable TV, computer gaming could be on a par with other professional sports.
Ironically, though, this year Comdex upped its age limit from 18 to 21, so we don't know how Thresh got past the goons on the door.
COMPAQ'S chief executive Eckhard Pfeiffer described the future digital home with a computer server in the basement running a network of myriad computers and devices in every room ranging from a PC Theatre (combining a PC and TV) to a cellular phone-like device for email.
IBM showed off its car that lets drivers use the Web, catch up on email, get navigation help and drive at the same time.
The "Network Vehicle" employs technologies already in use, such as IBM's voice recognition software, and accesses the Net via a satellite link. Passenger seats are equipped with individual terminals for interacting with the Internet, watching television or playing video games.