DETROIT: Did you try to fly last-minute from Las Vegas to Detroit on the weekend CES ended, so you could catch up on technology at the beginning of the North American International (Detroit) Auto Show? If you were lucky, you got a middle seat. A lot of people got shut out -- certainly the nonstops. As PC/CE technology works its way into the dashboard, thousands of people want to be at both shows.

The premier U.S. auto show, which began as CES ended, was a festival of small, fuel-efficient, and hybrid cars. Since it takes 18 to 36 months to bring new cars to market, this may be part of a longer-term shift, not just a knee-jerk reaction to gas-price shock in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

POCKETFUL OF SMALL CARS

Small and subcompact cars can attain real-world economies on the order of 30 mpg to 40 mpg. The Honda Fit is something between a subcompact van and a four-door hatchback. It goes on sale this spring at about $14,000, quite nicely equipped with AM/FM/CD and power windows standard. The Nissan Versa is larger (169 inches, versus 157 inches) and comes in both hatchback and even longer sedan versions. It will be here in the fall, at $12,000 and up. This spring, Toyota will replace the Echo, one of its few sales non-hits, with the Yaris, at $15,000, in hatchback and sedan versions. The Chevrolet Aveo, built in South Korea by Daewoo, gets a refresh and goes on sale mid-year.

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MAKE MINE BIGGER

The term minivan scares off many buyers -- particularly women who don't like being typecast because they live in suburban settings and their kids play sports such as, oh, soccer. And SUV connotes a gas-guzzling, Prius-crushing behemoth. So the convergence of tall station wagon, minivan, and SUV-on-a-diet is the crossover utility vehicle, or CUV. One of the slickest CUVs is the Ford Edge and it's fairly compact at 182 inches long. The Lincoln MKX and the Mazda CX-7, shown as a prototype, have similar running gear. And Buick wants to refine its image -- and attract buyers who don't hold AARP cards -- with the Enclave.

Mini showed the Traveller, a concept with serious room for four travelers. In the current 2+2 Mini, half the passenger room in back is taken up by the seatbelt buckles. The Toyota F3R is a long, low concept minivan with three rows of seating.

The Chrysler Group brought out "Desperate Housewives" star Eva Longoria at the introduction of the Chrysler Imperial prototype; it's a stretched and highly stylized Chrysler 300. Lexus announced the LS460, the evolution of the LS430, with a 380-hp V8 engine and an eight-speed automatic transmission; it should be on sale this fall. Lexus hopes it will surpass, not just match, Mercedes-Benz and BMW.

BIGGER MARKET, SMALLER SHOW

How do the two shows differ? Although automobiles represents more of the gross domestic (or world) product than computers and consumer electronics, CES is far bigger in square footage. Detroit is more jacket-and-tie, CES more open-collar. As with other auto shows, Detroit has two or three relatively manageable press/analyst days before the public storms in; CES is theoretically trade-only, but one of the frustrations of CES exhibitors and attendees is the number of end-users and onesie-twosie buyers who get in. The continued expansion of CES means near-gridlock on the show floor at midday, and could drive out more exhibitors -- at least to hotel suites on the Las Vegas strip. CES has some barely dressed booth models; Detroit has become more demure in dress. But it's open-bar at most press conferences.

The other difference is location, and not just the fact that Las Vegas in January can be shirt-sleeve weather, while Detroit can involve winter blizzards. (Recently, NAIS has followed CES, which means if you're stranded en route to the second show, you're stuck in Las Vegas. The opposite possibility was depressing.) Detroit is home to the U.S. auto industry, and there's a hometown, home-team interest in how GM, Ford, and the Chrysler part of DaimlerChrysler are doing. Answer: Detroit hopes each year that the year's models can turn things around. That's especially the case with General Motors and Ford.

Of course, these cameras don't really help you lose weight. It is the in-camera software that does that.

One of the key trends I saw at CES was the every-growing variety of in-camera photo editing options. HP is building what it calls the HP Design Gallery into its new digital cameras. This means you can crop, add a border, or posterize your image right in the camera. It also has what it calls a "slimming" feature.

Take a look at the two pictures on the right that I got from HP. One is relatively unedited, but includes a burnt edge border. The other has been altered using the slimming effect. Round heads, turn oval. Bulging bellies are digitally diminished. If the camera adds five pounds, the new Photosmarts will remove ten.

The technique does cause some tearing at the edges of the photo, but who cares when you can stand proudly in the middle with a downsized mid-section? Who says distortion is a bad thing?

Jon Stewart must have owned a Triumph TR6 or Austin-Healy when he went to William and Mary. The host of The Daily Show on Comedy Central got in these licks when parent company Ford pulled Jaguar and Land Rover ads from gay publications in the wake of anti-Ford protests by the American Family Association: "Ford isn't discriminating against all gay people. Just rich gay people who love constant shorts in their electrical systems."

The most satisfying insurance companies to deal with if you have collision damage, according to a 2005 J.D. Power & Associates study, are USAA (available to military families only) and Erie Insurance, followed by AAA Michigan Auto Club Group (ACG), State Farm, GMAC, Liberty Mutual, St. Paul Travelers, ACSC, GEICO, American Family, and Met Life. Below average are Allstate (closest to average), Farmers, Safeco, The Hartford, Nationwide, and Progressive. The least-satisfied insurance claimants were typically drivers whose cars were totaled, Power says, perhaps because many of them are upside down -- industry lingo for owing more on a car than it's worth.

Motorists in Iraq are experiencing much the same shock over gasoline prices as Americans felt in the summer of 2005. Percentage-wise, it's even worse, as the Iraqi government raised prices by a factor of 8 at the end of 2005. Motorists endured spot shortages, early closings, and kilometer-long waits for fuel. Sound familiar?

That's the bad news. The good news is Iraqi gas is now only about 50 cents a gallon. But more costs are in the offing, as Iraq raises prices further to reach equilibrium with the average price in the Persian Gulf states: about 90 cents a gallon. The IMF (International Monetary Fund) told Iraq it has to stop subsidizing fuel prices in order for the IMF to forgive the bulk of Iraq's $120 billion foreign debt.

The rap on alternative-fuel cars is that they can't get out of their own way, acceleration-wise. So what's up with Honda building solar cells? Wouldn't you need a calendar to measure 0-to-60 times on a solar-assisted car?

In 2007 Japan's number-three automaker will begin producing solar cells on the island of Kyushu (Japan), where it has a car manufacturing plant. And Honda is proud that its production of solar cells will be less energy intensive, because it's using non-silicon materials. So will the cells replace the sunroof on your next Civic Hybrid? Not quite: Honda says they're for use in homes and commercial buildings. Phew.

Many cars have braking assist, which applies more pedal pressure to assist wimpy drivers in panic stops. Mercedes cars go a big step beyond this and automatically slow in hazardous situations a) if the car has a radar sensor (through its Distronic active cruise control) and b) when the driver's foot is already on the brake pedal.

Now, the Acura 2006 RL applies the brakes even when you don't have your foot on the pedal. Acura's "collision mitigation" braking system, part of the RL Technology Package option with active cruise control, takes over in three stages when there's a hazard within 100 meters (300 feet): First, a warning light and signal; second, light braking and retraction of the seatbelts to take out slack; and third, heavy braking and forceful seatbelt retraction. The collision mitigation braking system will not bring the car to a complete stop, however.

Since CES was going on last week, it's hard to read about anything else on the Web. However, I was able to catch this unique USB flash drive. Up until now, you've been carrying your USB drive around your neck or on your keychain. But, with Imation's new USB flash drive, you can sport it around your wrist.

Available in blue or black, the 256MB wristband is made of flexible rubber. When you're ready to use it, just unplug it from your wrist and it's ready to go. Of course, if you're not ready to start a fashion trend, you can attach the wristband to your bag or backpack instead.

It is said that you can buy the Imation Flash Wristband sometime this month, with a list price of $34.99 where Imation products are sold, such as Wal-Mart, Target, and KMart.

[Found via New Launches]