Catching up to Dick Tracy

-- LAS VEGAS It looks like Dick Tracy may finally get his wristwatch cell phone, the one that does video calls.

LG Electronics Inc. plans to introduce a wrist phone this year, giving reality a chance to catch up to the comic-strip hero who famously used a two-way "Wrist TV."

Several manufacturers already make wristwatch phones, but the LG model likely would be the first that can do video calls. It has a built-in camera and full cellular broadband capabilities, the company announced last week at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

The wristwatch phone is slightly more than half an inch thick and has a touch-screen interface with three buttons. It offers two hours of talk time on a single charge.

Another buzz at the annual trade show, which began Thursday and ends today, was the latest paper-thin televisions with OLED panel -- organic light emitting diode -- from Sony and LG.

Sony, which introduced the first TV to use OLED last year, unveiled a larger 21-inch model. Price tag: more than $2,000.

The next big leap in TV technology could come with a television capable of displaying 3-D-like pictures. Yet most systems still require the viewer to wear special glasses.

The annual event showcases the next generation of consumer electronics. At prior shows, the DVD player, plasma and LCD televisions, MP3 players and Blu-Ray players were introduced.

About 125,000 industry professionals -- that is fewer than last year -- were expected to walk the floor of Las Vegas Convention Center checking out the latest gadgets and gizmos.

Consumer Electronics Association chief Gary Shapiro said the industry needs to maintain its focus on innovation and not be overly distracted by the economic downturn.

"We must remember that we are a free-market economy, and in a free market at times we will expand and at times we will contract," he said. "More, we are part of a global economy and the world looks to us for leadership, not only for economic resiliency but for innovation and all its possibilities."

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A new model of headphones can play MP3s without connecting to a separate device.

Adrenaline Technologies LLC is releasing SlotPhones, a pair of wrap-around Bluetooth headphones that work as a stand-alone MP3 player if you insert a song-filled microSD memory card into a tiny slot on the side. The product also serves as a stereo Bluetooth headset that can receive calls and music from your cell phone.

Adrenaline expects it to be available in the second quarter for about $130.

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Sony introduced the world's first Wi-Fi-enabled digital camera that uploads photos and videos to Web sites through any public hot spot through its built-in Web browser.

The new Cyber-shot DSC-G3 digital still camera answers one of the most pressing needs for photo enthusiasts: how to share those photos and video clips of family, friends and events as soon as you shoot. The Cyber-shot camera makes it easy to upload images and video directly to popular photoand video-sharing sites wherever a Wi-Fi connection is available.

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Polaroid stopped making film packs last year. But just as the film-based Polaroid camera is fading away, along comes its digital replacement.

Polaroid is introducing a digital camera that produces prints right on the spot. You can even call them "instant" prints, but they take nearly a minute to appear.

The $200 PoGo is a camera that contains a built-in color printer. It produces 2-by-3-inch photos by selectively heating spots on specially treated paper. It has nothing to do with the old chemical Polaroid process.

The PoGo also has crucial advantages over the old film cameras. You can look at what you shot on the LCD screen, then choose whether you want to print it. You also can produce multiple prints of an image, or print something you shot some time ago.

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Toshiba Corp. is planning to use the Cell processor, the brain of Sony's PlayStation 3 game console, to create an ultra-powerful TV set-top box that can record up to six high-definition channels at once and improve the look of any video.

The box and a separate flat-panel LCD TV will be sold as a package this year in Japan for between $5,000 and $10,000. It may come later to the U.S.

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More options for watching TV in the car are on the way.

Audiovox Corp. said it will make an in-car receiver for Qualcomm Inc.'s subscription-based mobile TV broadcasts, previously available only on AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless cell phones.

The receiver will be available in eight to 10 months for less than $500.

Users will pay a subscription fee to use the system, but details have not been finalized.

Verizon Wireless and AT&T cellular subscribers with compatible phones can pay $15 per month to receive 10 channels through MediaFLO. The broadcast system covers 68 markets and is expanding to cover more than 100 by the end of the year.

MediaFLO is designed for reception by mobile antennas. Conventional U.S. TV broadcasts, both analog and digital, are designed for stationary antennas and don't work well for moving ones.

However, TV broadcasters are gearing up to transmit channels designed for mobile reception, and that may start as early as this year. At least some of those broadcasts likely will be free to receive, just like standard over-the-air TV.

Ford Motor Co. showed off the latest version of its voice-activated in-car entertainment and communication service.

Starting this spring, the Ford Sync service will use GPS technology built into cars to include features such as traffic, news, sports and weather information, turn-by-turn directions and local business information.

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Digital 3-D is not your father's -- or your grandfather's -- 3-D.

For nearly a decade, television makers have been asking consumers to step into high definition. Last week, they asked buyers to step into three dimensions.

Companies such as Panasonic Corp., Samsung and Texas Instruments Inc. showed off TV technology capable of displaying 3-D-like pictures.

One big question: Who will want to don 3-D glasses? The current generation is essentially miniature LCD screens that flicker at high speeds, filtering different images to the left and right eye to produce an image that appears three-dimensional.

Glasses or not, it will be several years before 3-D TVs become mainstream. That is because the consumer electronics industry, movie studios and broadcasters have yet to agree on standards for recording, transmitting, receiving and interpreting 3-D signals.

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Dell Inc. said it would launch a luxury line of computers under the brand name Adamo.

Alex Gruzen, a senior vice president in Dell's consumer-product group, would not say how much the new machine would cost, but he emphasized that it would be a high-end, high-performance laptop. He defended the company's decision to launch a luxury line during a recession.

"It's not the only product we're launching," he said. "It's the right time, with the technologies and materials for us to satisfy a very important Dell customer segment." Adamo, or "to fall in love with" in Latin, is set to debut with more details within the next six months.

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Satellite TV provider Dish Network Corp. unveiled a digital video recorder that can send TV signals to a computer screen or mobile phone.

Building on the technology in a separate product called the Slingbox, Dish's SlingLoaded HD DuoDVR ViP 922, with a 1-terabyte hard drive, is due to go on sale this spring. A price has not been disclosed.

The box will allow Dish subscribers to view TV programming "through their television sets, their desktops at home, their laptops on the road, their smart phones, iPhones and more," said Dish Chief Executive Charlie Ergen.

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Palm Inc. unveiled a new touch-screen smart phone and operating system, marking its latest attempt to catch up with competition from Research In Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerry and Apple Inc.'s iPhone.

Palm executives touted their Pre, which looks similar to the iPhone, with a face dominated mostly by a 3.1-inch touch screen and single button. The body of the Pre is black and slightly curved, with a full QWERTY keyboard that slides out from the bottom.

In an effort to capture both business and consumer users, the Pre will come loaded with features including Wi-Fi, stereo Bluetooth and GPS, as well as 8 gigabytes of storage space, a 3-megapixel camera and music and video playback. The Pre also has a variety of sensors, such as an accelerometer so images on the screen will rotate when a user turns the device on its side.