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For at least seven years running, Intel has been working to specify a form factor for lightweight, mobile computing devices. No, not tablets. As early as 2005, the first whispers of a joint Intel/Microsoft specification were bandied about, where Intel specifies the internals, and they supply the plastic. At the time, insiders warned that while manufacturers would be eager to rally behind an all-in-one mobile PC specification, consumers would not embrace it until 1) its battery lasted at least as long as the movie it's playing; 2) it could reasonably connect to other devices outside a radius of 50 feet; 3) one could afford it without a second mortgage.

Now, the year after the Apple iPad's unprecedented rout of the tablet market, analysts are saying Intel may finally have the magic formula. Undaunted by the fact that ultrabooks, as they're now being called, only sold 1 million units worldwide last year, according to estimates from hardware analysis firm IHS, the firm is holding true to its ultrabook sales projections for 2015 - projections that assume a 342% annual growth rate.

Planning to attend CES - the world's largest consumer electronics show? If so, you are cordially invited to join us at an exclusive private party SAY Media is throwing at the brand new venue, 1Oak at The Mirage.

There's a good possibility that Microsoft may have made a bigger splash by exiting the keynote address and booth presence at the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show than it made by being there in the four years leading up to 2012. If CES were an accurate barometer of consumer sentiment, then today we would all be snug in our vibrating chairs with our femtocell-enhanced home wireless phones (with built-in universal remotes), watching HD DVD movies with "TV Everywhere" live interactive background feeds on our plasma screens through our VIIV media PCs, and with mobile TVs in our shirt pockets feeding us live sports scores via AOL's colossal media empire.

In 2006, the spotlight of the Bill Gates Microsoft keynote was the music distribution service of the future. Called "Urge," it was a joint venture between Microsoft and MTV, at a time when the "M" in the latter's name stood for "music." Users would pay $9.95 per month to stream music videos directly to Windows Media Player 11, and receive songs in a format that was not portable to devices like iPods. That was followed up by the phone service of the future, called "Windows Live Call," which would be integrated into digital HDTVs by way of a partnership deal with DirecTV and Verizon.

At last week's annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2011) in Las Vegas, if there was any obvious industry trend, it was this: Android is everywhere. From smartphones to tablets and even TVs, the mobile operating system was present in a number of the devices being showcased at this gadget-filled event. But which phones and tablets are really deserving of praise? Which ones stood out as moving the bar forward?

We'll take a look at some of our favorites from the show below.

In this edition of the Weekly Wrapup - our newsletter summarizing the top stories of the week - we report on a new "superphone" launched by Google, take a look at how the Web is transforming personal finance, give you 5 reasons why RSS Readers still rock, get a first look at the new startup of ex-Facebook CTO Adam D'Angelo, analyze the trends that emerged from this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES), and more. And as usual we check in on our two main channels: ReadWriteEnterprise (devoted to 'enterprise 2.0' trends and products) and ReadWriteStart (our daily resource for entrepreneurs).

Also read on for details of the newly released printed edition of our current premium report, about the Real-Time Web.

Today marks the official start to the 2010 Consumer Electronics Showcase in Las Vegas where all of the biggest electronics manufacturers show off their coolest and newest products. While CES is mainly a gadget show, entrepreneurs looking for the next big thing should pay close attention to the innovative ideas being pushed into the consumer market.

The big show is just getting underway, but we are already seeing some trends emerge that could point to new opportunities for startups in 2010.

The 2010 edition of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) gets into full swing today and already we're seeing a big trend emerging: web applications being ported to consumer electronics, from the technology inside cars to Web-enabled TVs.

Yesterday we noted that online music service Pandora will be made available in cars, courtesy of a new Pioneer device that will begin selling in March. The pricey $1,200 device detects users' Pandora settings via their iPhones. Other evidence of this trend can be found in Ford's announcement of a new in-car system and Samsung's latest Internet-connected TV.

Nobody puts it in a square box, at least.

Boxee, the software that brings Internet media to your television, has been seen in the flesh at CES today.

We first heard about the Boxee Box in November, but the announcement was light on details. This time around, D-Link offered a list of specifications and media-format compatibilities at the oddly-shaped device's unveiling.

One of the most apparent trends from this month's Consumer Electronics Show (CES), was the proliferation of flat panel, internet-connected TVs. Nearly every major television manufacturer was demonstrating some sort of web-to-TV integration, including sets that offered Yahoo widgets, MySpace social networking, and Netflix built directly into the TV sets themselves. This isn't the "Web TV" of days past, but a whole new way to internet-enable the living room. This is the year of the "connected TV."