Tech Show Loses Clout As the Place For Big News.

The International Consumer Electronics Show, which will open on Tuesday in Las Vegas, is impossible to ignore. It will smother the city's gigantic convention center with gadgets and those who make and promote them; more than 140,000 people are expected to attend for a frenzy of old-fashioned social networking with other members of the tech set. But once again, the show is unlikely to be where any blockbuster products of 2012 are introduced. Many of the hottest new gadgets in recent years -- including Apple's iPad and iPhone, Microsoft's Kinect and Amazon's Kindle Fire -- were first announced at other events, even though C.E.S. remains the world's biggest consumer technology convention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]