(January 27, 2006) — Consumer Electronics Show 2006, or CES for short, was held at the Las Vegas Convention Center from January 5-8. This year brought many new things to the table of consumer electronics. From new high-powered computers to brand new formats to replace those “old” DVDs they were all there in order to better integrate the consumer in the hustle and bustle of the high-speed digital age. Although I only attended the show for one day, I got a great feel of what was offered. The most apparent addition to the show was the high emphasis on high definition content. During his long keynote, Microsoft CEO Bill Gates talked about technological integration, specifically in media. The audio market is almost entirely ruled by Microsoft’s competitor Apple Computers and its portable sales goliath, the Apple iPod. Bill Gates wants and needs to change this. Company representatives brought many portable audio and video devices out on stage to show compatibility with Microsoft’s MSN Music, the alternative to Apple’s own iTunes. Aside from the portable race for market dominance lay another big announcement. The whole world of technology lately has been emphasizing high-definition content. You can see this in new TVs being released and new channels becoming more widely available in high definition. The main difference between high-def and standard-def is mainly the picture quality. Though many see the switch as needless, industry buffs see it as necessary. There is one problem, however. In terms of size, high-def content is bigger than standard-def content. This is a problem for the widely popular format DVD. The standard DVD or dual layer DVD is simply too small to hold high definition content. The solution to this is a brand new format. However, every company wants a piece of the cake so no one will agree with one format. The industry is currently split. The first format is called HD-DVD. The new HD-DVD discs will be able to hold high-def content and will be able to hold three to four times as much data as the standard DVD. An extremely gigantic company is backing this format: Microsoft. The next format is called Blu-Ray disc which also holds three to four times more than the normal DVD and be able to hold high definition content. Blu-Ray, like HD-DVD, is also backed by a gigantic company: Sony. So how will this affect the consumer? Well, it’s all choice. HD-DVD is set to launch in the late spring with players costing around $500, which isn’t too bad for a first generation product. Blu-Ray will launch late 2006 and players will cost around $1000. However, Blu-Ray will also be the format of choice for Sony’s Playstation 3. Here’s hoping the PS3 won’t be $1000. Microsoft has one huge announcement left. The nearly brand-new Xbox 360 will receive an external attachment to support HD-DVD. This should come to Sony as a slap in the face. The format wars have begun. Get ready. Besides the format wars many other things were shown off at CES 2006. The other emphasis of the show was the necessity for the most high powered computers ever built. Gamers usually don’t get along with Dell very well when it comes to their gaming machines. However, from what was shown at the show, this will be a thing of the past soon. Dell has landed exclusive rights to use a new kind of graphics architecture called Quad-SLI. SLI has been around for a year or two and allows users to combine the graphics power of two video cards for one power-packing system. However, Quad-SLI allows users to use up to four graphics cores to create performance rates unheard of in today’s PC market. Dell showed the new technology in a computer called the “Dell XPS Renegade.” Though there was no price sign anywhere, it’s best to assume that it will cost an arm and a leg. Whether it be super-powered computers or high-definition content, it was all there at this years CES. This is the beginning of the year and already the technology world is seeing huge jumps whether it be through new formats or through new hardware. For all the tech-heads out there Get ready, 2006 is going to be one heck of a year.