A TV that prints pictures. Gadgets galore at the 2004 Consumer Electronics Show. The consumer electronics industry recently wrapped up its annual gathering in Las Vegas... .with lots of enthusiasm on the show floor about the year ahead. Companies trotted out celebrities... .but new ideas are what really take center stage at CES. Epson, for instance, made a splash introducing big screen TVs... with memory card slots to display digital pictures. And beyond that, says the company's John Jatinen..

"There's a simple print button on the remote control. And when you hit print there's an automatic 4 by 6 printer inside the television set. Not only can I view and print my images, but if I also want to make a copy of all of the images for my friends, there's a built in CDR burner right below the unit here itself that comes with the television too."

Given what Epson is best known for, you might want to think of it as an Epson photo printer... .with a big screen TV attached. Another series of new high tech devices is coming out of Salton... .the company that brought you the George Foreman Grills. Under the Westinghouse Beyond brand name, business director Russ Whitman says the company is introducing an alarm clock that serves as a Home Hub. It connects to the Internet to show you the latest weather and headlines when you wake up... .and to a connected microwave oven and coffee maker in the kitchen...

"I'm able to tie this back to the clock radio in the bedroom. And if I forget to put in the water or the coffee beans... .it will automatically tell me so I don't wake up in the morning and not have hot coffee."

The system uses Microsoft's Windows CE operating system... which is also in Salton's under cabinet computer/TV devices... dubbed IceBox. Bloomberg Boot Camp, I'm Fred Fishkin