Photos: Concept PCs at IDF 2006

Hello, my TV. An Intel demo guy speaks into his remote. The PC transforms speech into text and then follows his command. Consumers are not restricted much on vocabulary. Saying "Put on Family Guy" or "I want to watch Family Guy" will give you the same results. However, it may not respond if you say, "Tell Regis Philbin to quit doing that thing with his head."

In the upper-left corner is a self-contained liquid cooling system. Gamers are increasingly demanding faster chips, which lead to increases in ambient heat. The liquid inside the system is a combination of water and antifreeze.

For those gadget nuts, here's a Viiv PC embedded in a wall. It controls the TV, DVR, DVD and stereo.

The wheels on the plane go round and round. This wheel, from a Boeing airplane, is on display at IDF. Computers monitor the wheel's air pressure when it's actually on a plane.

Attendees at IDF try out Microsoft's Vista OS. Vista comes out on PCs toward the end of the year. Vista PCs will typically come with at least 512MB or 1GB of memory, more than current PCs.

Montevallo II. This concept notebook, designed by Intel, features a screen that slides along a track. When pushed all the way back, Montevallo looks like a regular notebook. When slid forward, the keyboard is hidden from view so it won't distract you when you're watching movies. The screen can also be folded back on its hinge to turn the notebook into a tablet.

The ultramobile PC, or UMPC. These devices, which have screens measuring 5 inches to 7 inches across, come with the same software and hardware as standard notebooks. The idea is that these devices will serve as portable entertainment centers, BlackBerrys and also sometimes cell phones. The first ones come out in a few weeks, according to Mooly Eden, vice president of Intel's mobility group. The UMPCs are somewhat experimental, Intel admits. While Sony and others have tried these before, they have been priced at about $1,500. The UMPCs will sell for under $1,000.

Lenovo's X41 tablet. The PC company, a combination of a Chinese PC giant and IBM's old PC group, has begun to sell consumer computers outside of China.

Behold the majesty of Florence. A few years ago, Intel unveiled a prototype notebook called Florence, with a keyboard that could be folded under the screen and a detachable VoIP handset. Now, companies like Alienware sell notebooks based on Florence designs, demonstrating that the concept designs do make it out of the labs.

Here's side view of Florence, the notebook computer.

Montevallo 1. The screen on this PC is mounted on a telescopic, retractable arm, sort of like the arm on the iMac. It allows you to position the screen where you want it. Manufacturers will come out with commercial versions of this notebook, says Intel Vice President Mooly Eden.

Montevallo 1. Intel set up airplane seats at IDF to demonstrate how the telescopic arm makes it easier to view the screen in a tight space.

The village PC runs on a car battery. The idea is that an individual will buy one and create a business by selling access to other villagers.