Wireless media center computer

LAS VEGAS -- Tech executives love to say that Comdex, the industry's premiere trade show, isn't the event it once was.

Then they throw a massive party atop Sin City's tallest hotel and unveil their most important product of the year. Go figure.

This year's Comdex bore all the trappings of years' past: prize drawings, free T-shirts, huge parties, gorgeous women, racing cars and slick new gadgets.

Even with attendance down slightly from last year's 125,000, but down 40 percent from two years earlier, Comdex still showed it has a little gas left for a few more good years.

The watchword this year: tablet-sized personal computers. The opening speech from Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates centered on the sleek, flat PCs.

Winning a place in Gates' speech was the portable flat monitor of Walnut-based ViewSonic Corp., which can be used while sitting on a couch. The monitor links with a PC via wireless networking and is one of the first on the market this year. The company showed off its wares on the exhibition floor, as well as in private meetings.

Irvine's Toshiba America Information Systems Inc. showcased its newest Portege tablet PC, which features a removable portable touch screen. The screen can be used either as a laptop or as a tablet when it's removed from the keyboard. When the screen is returned to the device, it retrieves data entered while being used as a tablet. The Portege seemed to draw a good-sized crowd to Toshiba's booth.

Other Southern California companies showcased similar products.

EarthLCD, a seller of liquid crystal displays that's part of San Juan Capistrano-based Earth Computer Technologies Inc., also showed off monitors. The small company's business seems to be expanding: officials posted job openings at their exhibit.

Companies making wireless technologies also gained attention during the show Away from Comdex's massive exhibition floor Irvine-based Broadcom Corp. debuted a wireless network chip that allows for communication speeds topping 54 megabytes per second.

"Our stock has been up today on this news alone," said Jeff Thermond, vice president and general manager of Broadcom's home and wireless networking business unit.

Irvine-based Linksys Group Inc. piggybacked on Broadcom's announcement with its own wireless network product featuring Broadcom's chip. "We've had a great showing." said Diana Ying, a Linksys spokes woman.

As in years past, storage technology companies were popular.

Aliso Viejo's Q Logic Corp. showed off its host bus adapters and switches -- devices that link up storage devices to a network. The company's booth seemed to draw a lot of attention.

Costa Mesa's Emulex Corp. opted for a less flashy approach. The company rented a suite at the swanky Bellagio hotel and whisked customers away from the busy convention center in a limousine to see its newest host bus adapter -- a piece of hardware that attaches a server to a storage system.

The new adapters move data along at 10 gigabits per second, much faster than the current two gigabits per second.

Perhaps the biggest question was whether Comdex would be around at all in coming years. After the show's organizer, Los Angeles-based Key3Media Inc., said it might have to seek bankruptcy protection, attendees questioned who would buy Comdex, which is suffering at the hands of other more popular trade shows, like the International Consumer Electronics Show, also held in Las Vegas.

But judging by Comdex's after-hours party scene, the show could be alive and well for at least a few years. The party following Gate's speech featured scantily clad women rappelling up and down a huge column holding bottles of wine at the exclusive Mandalay Bay restaurant Aureole.