newsbytes@clarinet.com (01/14/90)
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, U.S.A., 1990 JAN 12 (NB) -- The Consumer Electronics Show, which is expected to have drawn fewer spectators but more exhibitors this year, played host to the world's largest portable radio, a Nintendo game clone from Taiwan, William Shatner promotion of a "smart" phone, and a variety of Karoake systems. Technidyne (Los Angeles, California) introduced the largest portable radio. It weighs 26 pounds, has 10-inch woofer speakers, AM, FM, two shortwave bands, dual cassette player/recorders, a clock, and an alarm should anyone try to take it without the owner's permission. The 750-watt unit takes 10 size D batteries and has four castors for wheels. Technidyne calls it the "Four Wheel Drive." While radios were getting bigger, computers were getting smaller. Atari Corporation had a hospitality suite to show off its MS-DOS hand-held computer, the Portfolio, which weighs about a pound. In game machines, Nintendo (Redmond, Washington) announced it will increase the allotment of game systems to the U.S. up to seven million. Previously, the firm had only planned to ship 6.5 million to the U.S. in 1990. This is great news to toy stores that had to post limits of "one to a customer" during the 1989 Christmas season. Bit Corporation (Taipai, Taiwan) showed a 6502-based computer called the BIT79. It is an 8K unit with BAISC that can save programs to cassette and can only be expanded to 48K. Why would anyone buy such out-of-date technology? The reason is that this unit plays game cartridges for the Nintendo game machine and is claimed to be fully compatible as a Nintendo game machine clone. There is no word on the reaction from Nintendo's aggressive legal department. Star Trek's William Shatner announced the Maestro by Northern Telecom (Nashville, Tennessee). It's a telephone that will show what telephone number is calling you within the first and second ring. This $140 retail phone will store the last 15 numbers called, has volume control to 20 percent, one-button dialling, and a light that blinks when it rings. While the Maestro will work with either pulse or touch-tone system, it will only display the phone number calling you if the person is calling from an area with Custom Local Area Signaling Service. The Maestro is the first telephone in this price range to offer this feature in a consumer phone. One of the more popular themes in products at CES are karaoke systems. For those unfamiliar with the biggest consumer electronic craze in Japan the past five years, karaoke is Japanese for "empty orchestra" and refers to a system which allows a person to sing the vocal portions of popular songs while the instrumental portion only plays. Pioneer (Long Beach, California) has a LaserKaraoke in which music videos appear on your TV screen with printed words to the song. You read (or sing) the words as the letters change colors and a microphone combines your voice with the music (which can be altered to change tempo). (John Pilge/19900112)