TECH WATCH: NEWS FROM VEGAS: THE HYPE GOES ON

NEWS FROM VEGAS: THE HYPE GOES ON

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There was no blotting the bleary enthusiasm of the quarter-million conventioneers who overwhelmed Las Vegas last week for the annual computer hype-athon known as COMDEX. Teetering local phone systems that tumbled nightly at 7, double-booked hotel rooms and taxi lines that lasted longer than a Siegfried and Roy show seemed much less inconvenient when viewed as proof of the rightness of the computer revolution. Surely, the logic went, this many people can't be wrong. Even the sobering news that cash-starved CompuServe (which carries TIME online) was scrapping its failing Wow service didn't spoil the party. Instead, in lines, bathrooms and at craps tables, conventioneers--accountants, programmers, teachers--giddily hunted for the next big thing. Everyone, after all, wants to leave Vegas a winner. Below, a handful of COMDEX's better bets:

INCREDIBLE SHRINKING PC COMDEX's hottest technology appeared to do the impossible--import the legendarily clunky Windows desktop operating system to handheld computers from the likes of Casio, Compaq and Philips. The NEC Mobile Pro HPC runs fist-size versions of Microsoft Word and Excel on a 5-in. screen. $499-$649; 800-632-4636

JUNK YOUR MODEM Uniden's Axis telephone, with or without a cord, includes a keyboard for sending Internet E-mail messages, typing to-do lists and retrieving stock and weather updates from across the Net. Available next February; $299-$399; 817-858-3300

FASHION FORWARD No surprise that COMDEX attracted folks who are really attached to their computers. But literally attached? Yup. Rockwell, VIA and Xybernaut each offered "wearable" PCs. Xybernaut's Mobile Assistant II weighs 2 lbs., slips around your waist and runs on battery power. $7,995; 703-631-6925

HIDE-AND-SEEK Whether you're tracking a CIA spy through the streets of Bangkok or discreetly angling for a shot of Sean Penn, Minolta's versatile DimageV digital camera can help. The powerful zoom lens pops off on a short tether and then displays images on a 1.8-in. lcd color screen. An ideal tool for the paparazzi in all of us. Available spring '97; $750-$800; 201-825-4000

SLIM FAST Once merely the stuff of a decorator's dreams, thin computer monitors to hang on the wall or adorn the desk are fast becoming a (costly) reality. Hitachi's high-resolution plasma-thin Ovation is a skinny 3 in. deep, but it provides a 25-in. picture and can be hung as simply as a painting. Available in late '97; $10,000; 770-279-5600

For more TIME reporting from COMDEX, visit time.com/comdex