• Another still camera option is the HP Photosmart R927 ($400), an 8.2-megapixel camera that's 3.8 inches long by 2.4 inches tall and an inch deep, weighing only 1.4 pounds. It also has an impressive 3-inch display.

"The story about this is bigger screens, more pixels, lower prices," Barry said.

Other items being touted by Barry on his 2006 tour include:

• iPod speakers from Altec Lansing ($150) and iPort ($120).

• The JVC Everio ($600), a hard drive camcorder. With an impressive 25X optical zoom, the Everio with 30-gigabyte memory can hold about 20 hours of video.

• Slingbox ($250), which allows people anywhere in the world with an Internet connection to watch their home TV channels on their portable computer or a growing number of handheld devices.

• The way-cool Celestron SkyScout "personal planetari-um" ($400). This handheld uses GPS technology to identify more than 6,000 stars, planets and constellations and provides information about the most popular ones, including more than 200 audio descriptions.

Running on two AA batteries, the SkyScout identifies the object it's pointed at, or, using small directional arrows, it will guide the user to a particular object. What's more, it includes text defining popular astronomy terms, text biographies of great astronomers, text descriptions of man-made items sent into space, and a USB port allowing access to a database updated with new celestial objects as they are discovered.

Tiny tech dynamos such as these are expected to boost the consumer electronics industry to $140 billion in U.S. sales this year — about $1,300 per household. Barry noted that services for those devices — satellite or cable TV, wireless phone, Internet and such — will push that overall figure to $250 billion.

"It's been up 6 or 8 percent each year the past several years, which reflects a couple of things," Barry said. "One is how integral to the way we live all this stuff has become. It has to do with how much we like what they do for us and how inexpensive some of these products have become. ... Simple, small, portable. And connected is really what a person can be now, no matter where they are."

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E-mail: bwallace@desnews.com