All the tech news this week is coming from the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas, where the giants of the industry are assembled to play the slots, get drunk, and convince you to give them more of your money. In addition to the multitude of cell phones, MP3 players, and increasingly ginormous plasma and LCD televisions, all the giants are making a commitment to downloadable content and video on demand.

The keynote announcements from Google are in line with the more believable rumors of the past couple of days: the Google Video Store, a partnership with CBS and other video content providers for downloadable video. The announcement also included the Google Pack, a freely-downloadable software bundle of internet tools made by Google and third-party developers (including the Firefox browser, Trillian IM client, and anti-virus and anti-spyware software). Even as we write this report, attendees at the Google keynote address are enjoying the antics of Robin Williams.

Image from the Lego Mindstorms site.

Yahoo announced Yahoo Go TV and Yahoo Go Mobile, services to access Yahoo content from Media PC-enabled televisions and mobile phones. Tom Cruise was on hand to pimp Mission Impossible 3; there was no mention of whether Yahoo's service is compatible with sonogram machines. Part of the announcement was Yahoo Dashboard, the renamed and relaunched version of Konfabulator, which Yahoo purchased last year.

TiVo announced its Series 3 DVR, with an improved display on the front of the unit. It'll also have better support for HD sources and digital video sources like WMV and other codecs. More photos and details are avilable at the tivolovers livejournal.

Also in the world of media convergence: DirecTV announced its own service for portable media. Microsoft showed off Windows Vista as working along with the Xbox 360 as the center of your home- and mobile-media experience. And Intel is still pushing VIIV as the technology that drives everything.

Our favorites from all the show announcements (as filtered through the tech news sites) had nothing to do with mobile video. One is the Sony Reader, an ePaper-based eBook reader. The eBook concept is one that seems mundane but somehow manages to push all our geek buttons, and even in the fuzzy show-floor pictures, the display looks print quality.

Our other favorite is the new version of Lego Mindstorms, which will have improved sensors, more options for development, and Bluetooth compatibility. Engadget has a video interview with a Lego representative, who overstates Lego's "embracing open source" a little too much. (She also refers to us as a "shadow market" of people who are over 10 and still can't wait to get one of the kits, and we don't know if we should be offended by that). The last edition of Mindstorms did a great job of making robotics and computer science accessible to a wide audience, and it looks like the new version will go even farther.