TV Without The Cables

By Daniel Sieberg

Feel like watching TV on the patio? What's that, the cords won't reach? Fear not. At last week's Comdex convention in Las Vegas, Shanghai Visart Technologies, a Chinese firm, unveiled a 17-in. LCD monitor ($900) that doesn't need any wires. The screen can be carried anywhere within about 100 ft. of the base station, which transmits a cable-TV or DVD signal using the same frequency spectrum as cordless phones and wi-fi. A rechargeable lithium battery that lasts four to six hours cuts the TV loose from electrical wires as well. The portable tube should hit stores in the U.S. in time for the holidays. --By Daniel Sieberg