But for the industry insiders who meet in hotel suites and schmooze = at=20 private cocktail shindigs, one topic of discussion is likely to be = whether the=20 "walled garden" is about to be overrun by a new wave of technological = openness.=20

Signs are everywhere that closed, proprietary devices and services = may be on=20 the way out.

In 2007, Google unveiled an open (and free) operating system for cell = phones,=20 dubbed Android, which would make it easier for anyone to create = applications and=20 deliver content -- without doing a deal with the mobile operator.=20

An executive at gamemaker Electronic Arts predicts the eventual = demise of=20 incompatible, proprietary game consoles. The social network Facebook = gained=20 momentum by allowing any software developer with a good idea to create=20 applications that Facebook users can easily add to their profiles. And = even=20 Apple, one of the most avid walled gardeners, promised to make its = iPhone more=20 accessible to outside developers.=20

"In the past, closed was the way to go," says Dmitry Shapiro, chief = executive=20 of the video site Veoh. "But the Internet has shown us that openness = works.=20 Consumers demand it."

The shift to openness could benefit media companies by making it = easier for=20 them to get their wares onto a wide range of handheld devices, set-top = boxes and=20 game consoles without having to leap technical hurdles and wrestle with=20 incompatible formats. Electronic Arts, for instance, currently has to = crank out=20 games for more than 14 different systems.

But open platforms will also likely mean more noise and competition = for the=20 consumer's time.=20

Blake Krikorian, chief executive of SlingMedia, says the Internet is = the=20 ultimate open platform, since anyone can develop software for it or use = it to=20 deliver content.=20

That openness is permeating other technologies, says Krikorian, whose = Silicon=20 Valley startup was acquired by EchoStar Communications last year.=20

"Things will continue to progress toward more and more openness, but = it isn't=20 black or white," Krikorian says. "There will still be proprietary = networks and=20 devices that are more controlled, since openness can present you with an = abyss=20 of choice."

Attendees at this year's edition of the Consumer Electronics Show may = also be=20 wondering:

n Whether 2008 will be the year 3-D television, demonstrated at the = show in=20 the past, finally makes its debut in consumers' living rooms.

n Whether Hulu, the Fox/NBC joint venture to distribute video on the=20 Internet, can escape the fate of prior media joint ventures (like = Movielink). "I=20 think Hulu is a really well-designed service, and what they're doing is = more=20 impressive than Joost," says analyst Will Richmond of Broadband = Directions,=20 referring to another TV-on-the-Internet venture. "I give 'em a B-plus."

n Whether an announcement will be made that will tip the balance = toward=20 Blu-ray or HD DVD high-definition discs.=20

n Whether any of the new generation of Internet-linked set-top boxes = can=20 succeed without a cable, telco or satellite partner. "These boxes create = new=20 inconveniences for consumers without fully addressing what the = consumer's real=20 need is," Richmond says. "I think technologies like Akimbo, Apple TV and = Vudu=20 will all remain in the world of the early adopters."

n Whether MTV Networks' "Rock Band" and Activision's "Guitar Hero = III" point=20 toward a new generation of games that involve movement, and appeal to = audiences=20 outside of the traditional young male gamer demographic.=20

n Whether tiny video projectors and flexible, paperlike screens will = soon be=20 built into all kinds of devices. Analyst Roger Kay of Endpoint = Technologies=20 Associates says he's eager to see this year's demo from Microvision, a=20 Seattle-area company that hopes to integrate laser-driven Pico = Projectors into=20 cell phones, allowing them to cast images on walls.

n Whether mobile carriers and phone manufacturers will figure out how = to=20 deliver a decent video experience. "What we don't have yet is the = infrastructure=20 to support a seamless consumer experience when it comes to mobile = video," says=20 Albert Cheng, executive vice president of digital media at Disney-ABC = Television=20 Group.=20

n Whether other companies will be able to achieve the kind of fluid=20 integration of product and service that Apple has achieved with its iPod = and=20 iTunes Store, and Amazon with its Kindle e-book reader and online trove = of=20 digital books. "Ninety-five percent of the consumer electronics world = has no=20 idea how to implement that combination of hardware, software, services = and=20 content," Krikorian says.=20

The agenda of the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show seems markedly less=20 media-focused than 2007, when keynoters included Disney and CBS toppers = Bob Iger=20 and Les Moonves. But 2008 will likely mark the swan song for Microsoft = chief=20 executive Bill Gates, who traditionally delivers the conference's = opening=20 keynote address, but who is phasing out of the company he founded to = focus more=20 on philanthropy.

TIP SHEET

What: The Consumer

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When: Today through Thursday

Where: Las Vegas Convention Center, Hilton and Sands/Venetian

Keynoters: Microsoft=92s Bill Gates, Intel=92s Paul Otellini, = Comcast=92s=20 Brian Roberts, GM=92s Rick Wagoner and CEA=92s Gary = Shapiro

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