OCZ said it will demonstrate an external hard drive at the CES show in Las Vegas. The drive uses Symwave's USB 3.0 storage controller and will deliver 10 times the transfer rate of USB 2.0 - which transfers data at 5Gb/s.

LG Electronics plans to keep spending to develop new products despite a "tough" 2009, unveiling a partnership with YouTube and a dozen new TVs in the midst of the severe economic downturn.

Last week's tech gadget extravaganza in Sin City drew an estimated 110,000 attendees, down 22% from last year's audited total. But according to the CEA, board members reported getting more business done this year than at any prior show, which may prompt organizers to take steps to limit future attendance in order to ensure the right people attend the event.

Though 2009 looks just as grim as 2008, organizers of the Consumer Electronics Show last week forecast a few rays of sunshine. The Consumer Electronics Assn. projected growth in organic LED displays, digital book readers, Blu-ray disc players and lightweight laptops called netbooks. Despite a projected 0.3% decline in overall consumer spending in 2009, the trade group said, people will continue to earmark a large chunk of their income for technology.

The annual Consumer Electronics Show, or CES, will get underway on Wednesday in Las Vegas. And while conference organizers are still expecting a strong turnout, evidence abounds that many companies will be dialing back on their participation at what is normally a high-profile, and high-dollar, event.

Texas-based Freescale Semiconductor has a prototype low-cost notebook using ARM-designed chips is the latest evidence that the UK company could play a major part in the next wave of computing.

LG Electronics has lately been trumpeting its plans to debut a 3G wristwatch phone with a touch screen technology at CES 2009. The LG-GD910 watch phone is expected to first be sold in Europe next year, although an exact release date has yet to be determined.