A couple of notable absences in the most prestigious Central Hall? Sanyo and Royal Philips Electronics (aka Philips) have vacated their traditional, high-profile exhibit spaces.

Booths will have a bit more elbow room throughout. The organizers at the Consumer Electronics Association concede that the exhibitor count is down 10 percent this year, to a "mere" 2,700.

Another sign of the harsh economic climate: Some CE makers will be wheeling and dealing like crazy with retailers, trying to clear out warehouses full of unsold inventory before the manufacturers' fiscal year ends March 31.

That bulge in product, combined with what Forrester Research says is a diminished interest by about half the population in splurging on high-tech goods, is creating "a perfect storm for consumers," said Pioneer Electronics' executive veep of product and marketing planning, Russ Johnston.

Oh, and there will be a new trend in announcements of new products - the absence of prices. Manufacturers in the Far East are holding off on setting prices with the hope that the recently plummeting U.S. dollar will bounce back before products start shipping our way in spring or summer.

STILL PLENTY TO WRITE HOME ABOUT: Despite our reticence to buy, as many as 20,000 new gizmos will be unveiled at this year's CES, calculates CEA's Jason Oxman. Among them:

Ultraslim-line LCD TVs featuring sophisticated LED backlighting; scads of living-room-centric products that pull in and distribute Internet-based entertainment; new entries (both ultracheap and pricey) in the downsized notebook (minicomputer) category; and a big boost in products that expand the CE customer base from toddlers to seniors.

"The products now coming out at CES have actually been in the pipeline for at least 12 to 18 months," said Audiovox's senior veep of product management Lou Lenzi. "Truth is, many were planned long before the economic downturn. And as happened in the recessions of 1982 and then 2000, we're hoping that people will direct their discretionary spending on home entertainment as opposed to going on vacation or out to dinner.

"Also, manufacturers will be reluctant to cut back on R&D in areas like, say, touch-panel technology, for fear they'll hurt themselves years down the path when the economy does come roaring back."

PIONEERING MOVES: Still, CE makers are doing their best to cut down their development and manufacturing expenses.

Pioneer audio/video receivers and Blu-ray players debuting at the show are chock-full of useful features, the former with HDMI switching and high-res audio decoding (goes great with Blu-ray), and iPod/iPhone remote-control and sound-retrieval technology. The new goods are likely to sell for less than half the cost of previous Pioneer models, with multichannel receivers starting around $200 (they hope) for the VSX-519V and Blu-ray players at around $250 for the VDP-120.

YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK: In a move that should make President-elect Barack Obama proud, the U.S.-based Audiovox brand has begun to make unique technology transfer deals with the National Aeronautic and Space Administration's Langley Research Center.

"One of their charters is to help commercialize the technology they've developed for the space program, to spread the value, increase the demand and lower the cost," said Lenzi. "They tell us what's going on in research and line us up for licensing with the small businesses behind them. It's a very cost-effective and speedy way to do R&D."

At this year's CES, Audiovox is showing a new, ultra-thin mobile TV antenna/window shade that is suction-cupped to the rear window of your vehicle. Its predecessor was designed for a Mars Rover.

Audiovox also is unveiling new battery designs, plus water- and hydrogen-based fuel cells and even cleaning and care products that came out of NASA research projects.

PHILIPS TAKES A POWDER AND SANYO SHRINKS: Although still happy to sell us lighting, personal-care products and medical gear, Royal Philips Electronics abandoned its big space on the CES show floor because it's essentially given up on selling video and most audio products in the highly competitive and often profitless U.S. market.

Yes, a new line of Philips-branded flat-panel TVs and Blu-ray players (and models combining both) will debut at CES in an adjacent hotel space. But these products are being licensed, made and marketed by the Japanese company Funai, which used to make products (less visibly) for Royal Philips.

Off in a much-less-visible meeting room, the once-mighty Sanyo also is going through changes and probably downsizing at this CES. At year's end, the financially stressed company agreed to a takeover by the much larger and stable Panasonic empire.

THE ROYAL SCAM? Bargain-priced TV makers Vizio and Westinghouse Digital are taking a different route at CES to survival.

They've helped organize a group called the Coalition United to Terminate Financial Abuses of the Television Transition (aka CUT FATT) to draw attention to royalties levied on digital TV sets sold in North America.

The organization argues that American consumers are paying "$20 to $30 per television for intellectual-property rights that cost about $1 elsewhere in the world," and it's petitioning the Federal Communications Commission to step in. An FCC spokesman said the agency will "review the petition and, if necessary, take appropriate action to address any concerns." *

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