By Chad Sapieha, Special to CBCNews.ca

LAS VEGAS - Thanks to several exciting HP product launches last fall — including the monster HP Blackbird 002 gaming desktop and HP Home Media Server — there doesn't appear to be much in the way of heretofore unseen technologies on display at their 2008 CES booth. But during a pre-show booth tour this morning the most interesting thing that caught my eye was the MediaSmart Receiver, a box that that can be connected to any television in the home to transform it into a connected multimedia machine. It lets you draw music, photos, and video stored from PCs around the home.

Since it employs the same software found in HP's own MediaSmart LCD sets, the receiver's default mode basically turns third-party televisions into machines akin to HP TVs. However, the MediaSmart Receiver can also be used as a Windows Media Center Extender for consumers who prefer Microsoft's home theatre application. It's slated to hit stores later this year.

HP also dedicated a large section of its CES pavilion to its Voodoo-branded gaming machines. And while the aforementioned Blackbirds were the focus in this area, the showstopper was a plexiglass case that contained a 24-karat-gold encased Voodoo Omen desktop.

I inquired as to the cost of the golden Voodoo Omen, and was told — perhaps not surprisingly — that it was, for all intents and purposes, priceless.

(Chad Sapieha is a Toronto-based freelance writer)