Live coverage of the Philips press event

1:05pm- We're waiting with bated breath for the event to begin. Being the clever kittens that we are, we registered early and got to cruise right past the 2000 other press members in line. Mood lighting in here is awesome (must be the Ambilight); better than some raves we've attended.

1:08pm- We've been asked to take our seats...but we're already sitting down.

1:10pm- "Please turn off your cellphones." No signal in here anyway, so no biggie.

1:11pm- People are still milling about...didn't anyone learn to listen to the person in the front of the room in elementary school?

1:18pm- V.P. of Communications Andrew Goldman takes the stage, breaks down the schedule. Exciting products are being promised. Sweet, we get escorted to the next event; no taxis for us!

1:19pm- Uh oh, now it's getting crunk in here. Philips big dog (CEO) Rudy Provost hollas at the crowd (in his laid-back European way, of course). Sense and simplicity is the Phillips mojo, sez Provost. Now he's going over the company vision- "the connected planet."

1:21pm- 40GB and 80GB media centers flash on the screen. No deets, yuck. Philips wants your music to follow you from room to room. Thanks, but we live in a studio.

1:23pm- Bartlett's-worthy quote from Provost: "This is not only about being in the box business, this is about being out of the box."

1:24pm- Hmm, seems that people prefer broadband to dial-up...Now we're hearing about a partnership with Skype...Some VoIP handsets flash on the screen. Once again, no specifics.

1:25pm- Seems that Philips is partnering with Microsoft for some VoIP dealie...guess we gotta wait for Bill G's keynote to learn more.

1:26pm- Some hard drive-based Go Gear DAPs are being discussed. How one can talk so much and yet reveal so little info is beyond us.

1:26pm- More partnerships (whatever happened to a little self-reliance?) discussed. Yahoo, more Yahoo! Some vague info about V-tuner, a client for managing and listening to Internet media streams.

1:26pm- Philips likes HD.

1:26pm- Consumer Blu-ray player shown. Features sound awesome, but we don't feel like getting into it. Just kidding, no real deets here either.

1:27pm- Provost does his best Joan Rivers and mock-interviews Buena Vista president Bob Chapek...wonder if there will be any hard-hitting questions. Hmm, this doesn't sound staged at all.

1:29pm- Chapek likes Blu-ray (big surprise) because of its capacity and interactivity

1:33pm- Here comes Philips' President of North American Consumer Electronics, Reinier Jens (who looks somewhat like Reinier Wolfcastle, interestingly enough) to tell us that people recall Philips Ambilight ads when Philips reps quiz them. People like Philips.

1:34pm- Now he's showing off the HTS98004 6.1 home theater in a box that won a CES Best of Innovation award. We'd give it an award too, it looks pretty hot, plus it rocks wireless rear channels.

1:36pm- Philips flat panel sales have doubled in the last year, sez Jens, due mostly to Ambilight sets...mad heads are buying these pieces.

1:39pm- The models have made a reappearance. All is well again.

1:40pm- Now for the big news...are you ready for this? Ambilight 3! That's right, ambient lighting from only 2 sides of the display is like so last year. And if 3 sides ain't enough, here's Ambilight Surround to totally blow our minds.

1:41pm- Loud music, movie trailer being played to show off the new Ambilight models. We think they are trying to make them look cooler by flashing lights all around the room like a rock concert. Hey guys, it's just a TV with a couple of lightbulbs.

1:45pm- Its over? Weak. Give us our jump drives so we can go cover some real news.