consumer electronics

Netbooks, high-quality digital cameras and smartphones are just a few examples of what today's consumers want and are still paying for, despite the nation being caught in a recession.

With consumer confidence decreasing slightly in December and companies laying off employees in droves, it would only be fitting for the 2009 International Consumer Electronics Show to be feeling the pain of a failing economy.

Microsoft posted a quick fix on New Year's Day for the glitch that made some of its Zune digital music players freeze up the day before, thanks apparently to a leap-year problem encountered by the Zune's internal clock. Since 2008 had an extra day, including February 29th, the calendar/clock on some Zunes got confused about when the new year was about to start.

Cisco Systems, the dominant provider of the digital pipes that run the Internet, is making a big play in digital entertainment. The company says it plans to introduce a new line of products in January, including a digital stereo system that is meant to move music wirelessly around a house.

Personally, I'm very excited that lithium ion batteries are finally getting advanced enough to find homes in automobiles. But a small company called EEStor is promising "Electronic Storage Units" that will be ten times lighter, hold ten times more power, and cost half as much as lithium ion batteries.

Against the backdrop of an economy that grows more precarious by the day, the outlook for holiday gift spending is bleak. Even so, consumers will be buying gifts, and consumer electronics will be high on their shopping lists, even if spending will be lower this year.

The Consumer Electronics Show has become a mammoth event every January in Las Vegas, but the down economy is paring it back as Cisco Systems, Yahoo, and other companies scale back their presence.

CES remains a useful way for technology companies to meet with retailers, press, and the media. But for some in the current economic climate, it's not useful enough to pay $35 per square foot for a sprawling booth on the Las Vegas Convention Center's cavernous interior.

While companies are tightening their software budgets, consumers are also expected to delay buying the latest technology devices.

Businesses plan less software spending in the next 90 days, according to a survey last month by ChangeWave, a research company. The survey found that the nation's recession is affecting software purchases across all categories.

Come on, admit it. Is there anything more awesome than miniaturization? The Walkman put a stereo system in your pocket and changed the game forever. A modern digital watch has the computing power of a whole roomful of 1950s computer gear. And people are watching TV shows these days on iPods about the size of a business card.

Toshiba, Japan's largest chip maker, reported a quarterly loss on Wednesday after the global economic slowdown aggravated a glut in the market for chips used to store data in consumer electronics.

The net loss was yen26.8 billion, or about $275 million, in the three months that ended Sept. 30, compared with a yen25 billion profit a year earlier, the company said. Sales fell 7 percent to yen1.88 trillion.

Toshiba joins Samsung Electronics and Sony among electronics makers reporting lower earnings this month.

DVD-rental company Netflix has been working aggressively to expand its delivery options beyond the U.S. Postal Service. In its latest move, the company has struck a deal with Samsung Electronics to embed software in Blu-ray players that will allow consumers to stream video selections from Netflix's library of more than 12,000 titles. No financial terms were disclosed.