From the biggest and flashiest wireless TVs to build-it-yourself robots, the 130,000 attendees at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week will see no shortage of cutting-edge technologies and kitschy gadgets.

The show is the largest of its kind, sprawling over 1.66 million square feet of exhibit space in hotels and convention halls in SinCity. The gadget fest runs Wednesday through Friday, featuring global brands such as Sony, Google, Microsoft, and Intel, as well as startups vying to make a splash.

The $40-billion battle over the next-generation DVD format will play out at this year’s convention. Pioneer is expected to display a Blu-ray drive for a personal computer at the show, making it to market far ahead of the competing format HD-DVD (see Blu-ray Launch Set for January).

Sony, Blu-ray’s biggest fan, is expected to wait until later in the year to launch its Blu-ray-embedded video game console, the PlaySation 3. But expect catch-up announcements from the big HD-DVD backers like Intel, Microsoft, and Toshiba, looking to steal Blu-ray’s first-to-market thunder.

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates will once again give the opening night keynote, and will likely detail how its soon-to-be-released Vista will continue the software giant’s foray into the digital living room (see Microsoft’s Challenges in 2006).

The Redmond-based company recently announced a restructuring plan that will help the company target the consumer electronics space, sparking speculation about a Microsoft-manufactured iPod killer (see Microsoft’s Consumer Focus).

On the home front, count on companies like Samsung to unveil the biggest-yet flat-panel TV and Royal Philips Electronics to show off a sleek home-theater system. LG Phillips will bring out its 55-inch LCD screens, and Fremont, California-based Leadtek Research will feature one set-top box for IPTV, video streaming, DVD playback, and VOIP.

There will be no shortage of CEOs expounding their views on this $122-billion consumer electronics market. Intel CEO Paul Otellini will give a keynote speech at the Hilton Hotel on Thursday. Mr. Otellini, who became the chip giant’s CEO only last May, will use the opportunity to cast a new persona for Intel (see Intel Leaps into New Branding).

Intel, known for its computer processors, wants to shed that techie association and be known as the company that provides a variety of technologies to improve consumers’ lives, even if the products in question are still semiconductors buried in your PCs, cell phones, and set-top boxes.

Mr. Otellini can be expected to show how a computer is an indispensable part of the home entertainment system if it has the ability to record and stream TV shows, movies, songs, and photos to any display devices around the house.

Mobile Mania

Venture capitalists like Geoff Yang, a partner with Tivo-investors Redpoint Ventures, said the last two CES’s were somewhat staid, but this year he is looking forward to how cell phones will dominate the announcements at this year’s show.

“Mobility will drive the [consumer electronics] industry for the next several years,” said Mr. Yang, comparing the disruptive nature of the arrival of Tivo’s DVR with the content that will be available next year over cell phones. Redpoint invested in Amp’d Mobile’s wireless service and MobiTV’s video cell phone service.

But mobile devices don’t just run over wide-area networks; in-home wireless connections are one of the fastest-growing areas of the digital living room. Connecting all major electronics equipment wirelessly continues to be the target for semiconductor and equipment makers.

Competing technologies abound, with no clear winner so far. The wireless technologies are Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Ultrawideband, and ZigBee. Show attendees will see them embedded in everything from printers and digital cameras to home security systems and USB drives.

Wireless technologies also will play a large role for in-vehicle electronic devices. RaySat, based in Vienna, Virginia, can turn your car into a roaming Wi-Fi hot spot with its rooftop antenna, SpeedRay 3000.

Iqua, a Finnish startup staffed with ex-Nokia executives, has developed a black leather and brushed aluminum Bluetooth device that hugs a car seat’s headrest.

XM Radio also already announced a voice-activated component to its car-embedded satellite radio service, which it will display at CES with its voice component-partner VoiceBox Technologies.

But XM CEO Hugh Panero will have to work overtime as he attempts to distract attention from competitor Sirius’s launch of Howard Stern’s show, shortly after the CES ends.