By Gary Arlen, Arlen Communications Inc.

Go beyond the 150-inch wide Panasonic TV monitor and the quarter-inch thin Sony OLED TV sets. Move past the perceived implosion of HD-DVD format and the enticing expansion of mobile video. Plunge through the endless promises of interactive media and the dreams of cross-platform interconnection.

The 2008 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) delivered its usual jungle of glitz and extravaganza. But it also offered more tangible evidence of how the diverse segments of the media industries - program producers, transmission providers and reception/display equipment manufacturers - are aligning for the digital era. Historically, CES has been a hardware agora: a venue for equipment makers to cajole retailers into selling their wares. For the past few years, however, content and digital distribution have crept into the Las Vegas extravaganza.

At this year's CES stanza, content - and the "alternative" ways to distribute programs via wireless and wired platforms - permeated the arena. Comcast CEO/Chairman Brian Roberts - the first cable executive to keynote the event - unveiled his company's "Project Infinity," which includes cross-platform delivery of on-demand and high definition programming. Among the new elements are "Fancast," a broadband on-demand content package, and a portable Digital Video Recorder, developed with Panasonic, to enable Comcast customers to take videos from home into their car or portable media players.

The Comcast-Panasonic alliance represented was a TOTI ("tip of the iceberg") example of the converged connections on display at CES. Sharp introduced "Aquos Net," Web content delivered through its Aquos flat-panel TV sets equipped with an Ethernet jack for Internet access. NBC's online service and traffic.net are among the content providers bundled with the Sharp TV set. And Sony displayed the "Video Link" connection modules that can be added to its Bravia flat-panel monitors to bring in Web video content. It was no coincidence that the Video Link features were placed just a few yards away from the syndicated content of Sony Pictures Television, also a convergence first-time presence at a hardware-centric venue.

Meanwhile, technology vendors from Microsoft and Intel to Cisco and Motorola pushed their visions of television's future. All of this companies come from outside the traditional "consumer electronics" sector, but are now mainstays of CES. Cisco CEO John Chambers focused on "visual networking" in his remarks to a private banquet at CES. He characterized this broadband concept as a vital element of the digital future, referencing the "telepresence" exhibit that Cisco (and subsidiary Scientific-Atlanta) showcased in their exhibit suite.

Intel CEO Paul Otellini, in his keynote remarks, stressed the new microprocessors that will enable a "personal Internet," which will accelerate usage of social networks and other video-driven services. Otellini's on-stage demonstration featured a preview of "BigStage" technology, software that lets home video users create 3-D avatars of themselves using photographs of their faces; the pictures are inserted into highly interactive online productions.

"That's the leading edge of what's possible," Intel's CEO observed.

While Chambers, Otellini and others envisioned long-term personalization of TV, many "conventional" CES vendors showcased what they hope will get into living rooms much sooner. Although Panasonic's 12-foot plasma monitor carries no price-tag or delivery timetable, the idea of a wall-filling HDTV monitor invigorated visitors - especially when Panasonic AVC Networks President Toshihiro Sakamoto called such big-screen displays "the digital hearth" of the 21st century home.

Somewhat closer to reality were the ultra-thin LCD monitors - mostly one to 1.5 inches thick - from Toshiba, Hitachi, Philips, Samsung and many other vendors. But even those slim models look stocky compared to the quarter-inch thin OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) screens from Sony and Samsung; Sony's 31-inch version is now on sale for $2,700. As testament to the rapid progress of such technology, two years ago OLED was a "concept" about 5 inches wide, last year, the prototype had grown to 25 inches - and now a production model is ready in an ever larger - and brighter - size.

All such devices expect sit-down, at-home viewing. If any message came through at CES, it was that nothing tethers a viewer to a home-bound screen. MyVu demonstrated "personal media viewer" sunglass-sized goggles that offer a heads-up display when plugged into a video iPod or other personal video device; built-in earbuds provide the audio. With growing expectations for video-on-the go, such personal viewing options are likely to fragment to viewing market even more than it is splintered today.

Meanwhile, back at the Internet TV junction, scores of CES exhibitors focused on the ability to download, store and carry streaming or other Web-delivered content. Yahoo! CEO Jerry Yang offered ideas about Mobile 3.0, which enables customized ads for portable devices. Sling Media (now owned by EchoStar, the DBS provider) showed three new products in its "place-shifting" line-up, including a device designed to deliver full high definition streaming to multiple video sources.

Also pervasive (at least in some circles) at this year's CES was concern about the February 2009 deadline for cutting off analog TV. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin asserted that the date is "firm," although he acknowledged that "we need to be doing more" to assure that all viewers know about the digital TV transition. Government officials proudly pointed out that during the first week of January, when $40 subsidy coupons were initially offered under the DTV transition program, more than a million Americans requested more than two million coupons. And they noted that about 19 low-cost converters have been certified as eligible for use with the coupons; the units will go into the retail pipeline in mid-February.

Nonetheless, there was a lingering concern that low-income and rural viewers may not get the message about the analog TV turn-off - a potential political time bomb.

Despite such distribution challenges - and thanks to the influx of content providers - the 40th CES provided a more volatile-than-ever vision of media's future. Of course, CES's history is riddled with products and pronouncements that never made it to market. And the current Internet video focus is merely the latest round of such digital euphoria.

Yet, enthusiasm ran high - with one cautionary note.

CES attendance was down by about 12 percent this year from the 2007 record of 145,000 attendees. That may be a warning of tough economic times ahead. The eternally optimistic digital marketers waved off talk of an impending recession; they insisted that the smaller turnout reflected companies sending smaller delegations because they are tired of paying the price-gouging rates at Vegas hotels and restaurants. (A valid complaint.)

But others saw the event as a bellwether of 2008 sales: more restrained and more focused. While flat panel TV sales and mobile media products will continue their vivid growth, the industry may face a slowdown, just as CES itself encountered.

By many measures, everyone could use a breather after four relentless days in Las Vegas.

Gary Arlen is President of Arlen Communications Inc. (www.ArlenCom.com), a Bethesda, MD, research and consulting firm, specializing in convergence and multi-platform media. He can be reached at [email protected]