So it finally happened. The BETA - VHS battle of the 21st century, Blu-Ray v. HD DVD gets settled by none other than WalMart. Hard to figure this decision. Why make a choice in a technological environment that about having many choices?

Not that anything’s wrong with Blu-Ray, it’s beautiful and perhaps superior to HD DVD, but why would WalMart piss off all those Best Buy customers (who represent the same market) and make all those HD DVDs they got for Christman obsolete? Way too much power in the hands of one company.

Our best advice - buy a PS3, which doubles as a BluRay player. That way you get Guitar Hero and all your movies all in one.

In a digital world filled with more and more devices to distribute and playback music, it’s amazing that not one of those fancy new items seem to actively pitch the sonic quality of the music that they’re making so portable. That’s what made the High Performance Audio section of CES so refreshing. It’s good to know that somewhere in the outer reaches of the tech world, dedicated lovers of real music are slaving away at things like pitch, modulation and clarity and developing the perfect tone arm for the even more perfect turntable. Thank you, folks.

I haven’t discussed mobile phones that much. Frankly, phones need their own mini-version of CES. It’s nearly impossible to make sense of the fairly minute differences in design and functionality from product to product, and after looking at hundreds of them it just makes your head spin. Nevertheless, amid madness, a standout - The Motorola Rokr E8. On this point, there seems to be a consensus. The device won overall points from CES judges, and on major tech sites like CNET and Gizmodo. The Rokr raises the stakes a bit on the touch technology identified with iPhone, and with its dedicated photo function and real lens (not just a whole in the back) it also steps up photo capability and facilitates sharing to social networking sites. On the market in about 90 days.

Yes, another TV, and yes, this time for the TV. Pioneer smartly went the reverse of their peers and went beautiful instead of big with almost all their product lines, but most significantly in the TV realm. CES is one million square feet of exaggerated, overblown, overly lit exhibit space that not only overwhelms but blinds you after a while. For a TV monitor to make you stop and admire the picture in the midst of such confusion is a major tribute the superiority of this product.

Yeah, I know, after all those jokes about big TV’s, dumb guys and penis envy, I turn into the average guy and go for the big honking flat screen. But it’s not about a big TV. In fact, the TV part is probably the least interesting feature. This is yet another elegant mashup of things that work well separately but becomes much more when fused together. In this instance, a ginormous wall-sized screen mixed with what is essentially a computer desktop full of essential widgets. Again, let’s talk practical life here: You walk into your fairly large kitchen/family room and instead of having to abandon what you’re doing to sit down to a computer and check your calendar, then flick on the TV to see weather and pick up another device to make a call, the size of this screen allows you to get your essential information in a much more passive way, but also gives you the freedom to interact with and manipulate the experience.

Imagine someone e-mailing you, say, a list of those endless school fundraising events and having them show up on your wall for easy reference next to a tool that can tell you the weather on that date. Yes, your computer can do that now, but taking the computer out of this and giving me more engagement with my surrounding instead of a small screen sells it for me. Of everything I saw, this is what I want right now most. If it can be done as a projection instead of a 108″ display - even better.

I have somewhat of a bias when it comes to technology. As much of a gadget fan as I am, I am most excited about those products that really address some of the basic needs that people have and make life just a little bit simpler and more organized. And frankly, the home is where the sweet spot is. The refrigerator is not a very sexy product and digital frames (like iPod docks) are now ubiquitous and a dime a dozen. But the combination of a refrigerator with a digital frame is one of those simple mashed-up ideas that are inspired.

The kitchen is the centerpoint of the modern home, still much more so than the family room with that enormous flat screen. The Westinghouse refrigerator elegantly answers a few problems: (1) What do I do with all those digital photos that never see the light of day on my computer, (2) How do I get those stupid magnets off my expensive stainless steel appliances, and (3) How do I engage my family in the place that they spend the most time without turning on another TV?

I know it’s an unusual choice for a top pick with all this other cool stuff around, but in terms of practical use and ready to market availability, this is on a short list of the things I came away wanting immediately.

Who won the race for best gadget at CES? Al Gore, that’s who. Well, not specifically, but there was a decidedly “Green” tint to this year’s judges’ choice for ultimate winner.

The Phillips Eco TV, a 42″ fat panel that lets you adjust the amount of power that you use is a nice nod to the idea that many of the products that we saw at CES 2008 will not only cost you big money for wanting have the biggest and the fanciest, but they’ll also eat up your power bills.  Not eco-friendly at all. To emphasize this point, The New York Times  Magazine ran  an article Sunday on where old cellphone go to die, and the vast amounts of valuable minerals mined and then discarded when we throw away one phone to get the coolest new thing. According to the piece, some 220 pounds of earth must be manipulated to gather the materials needed for every one cellphone. The Phillips product smartly plays to the audience that is legitimately concerned about the impact of technology on the environment.

But is the Eco-TV really the Best Product of CES? In my opinion, not really. So in these next few items, my personal best of CES….

The Clix: An MP4 Video Player, Music Player, FM Tuner, Voice Recorder and Text Viewer that comes in 2BG, 4GB and 8GB versions.

The M Player: A super tiny, cute for your kids 1GB MP3 player with a Mickey Mouse theme done in concert with Disney.

Some of you who are less familiar with CES sent notes asking me that question.

The answer is simple. The Adult Video News (AVN) conference has overlapped (no pun intended) the CES for years. Until very recently, it’s been one industry that has guided the other, and you’d be surprised at the one doing the leading. Put frankly, consumer technology is where it is today because of some of the risk-taking of the adult film industry. From VHS to DVDs to the internet, technology has always provided the porn industry with the answer to one basic problem - the guilt/embarrassment/need for privacy of the film’s fans gave home-based viewing technologies to perfect reason to exist. VHS and DVD allowed people to keep it at home, and the web allowed the ability to choose and search one’s personal predilections. The shrinking of technology allowed portability.

The adult, dealing in a lot less money and lot less risk, had nothing to lose and became first adopters. Hollywood and the tech industry responded and followed after seeing the adult industry make its mistakes. Of course, the relationship is more symbiotic that anyone cares to admit. The major cable companies have been in bed with (pun intended) spinoff of huge media companies to produce and distribute adult content for years. Those hotel movies you hide from your corporate accountant? Major companies.

The Vegas location has also helped because of it’s proximity to Los Angeles, where most adult films are produced. We’ll see what happens if or when CES moves to Chicago or Orlando as it’s threatened to do.

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