FUTURE FOR SALE : EXPO SHOWS BOFFO GIZMOS.

Byline: David E. Kalish Associated Press 

Stolen car? No problem. A new device pages you when it's stolen, pinpoints the car's location and tells the thief the police are tracking the vehicle.

Sick of getting rained on? A travel clock not only tells the current temperature, it forecasts whether the next day will bring sun, clouds or precipitation.

Executives of the world's largest electronics companies gushed in technical jargon on Thursday about such lofty subjects as the future ``convergence'' of computers and entertainment. But it was these and other nifty gadgets and gizmos - many of them made by small firms - that stole the show on the first day of the nation's largest gathering of consumer electronics makers.

Despite seeming like some Jetsons-like vision of the future, these could appear on store shelves this year, assuming they pass this week's test: captivating enough of the estimated 80,000 retailers attending the vast Consumer Electronics Show here.

Santa Ana-based PageStar Inc. showed off its brainy StarTrak car-tracking system, which employs a small device that is installed in the trunk of a car. Minutes after a break-in, the device sends out a signal that is picked up by satellite that relays the car's location to a control center, which in turn notifies the police.

The control center pages the owner with the news. At that point, the owner can call a toll-free number and punch in a security code that, within five minutes, tells the car to cut the ignition. At the same time, a warning is announced in the car that tells the thief the vehicle will soon stop and that police will be notified.

The product is available this year on upscale, high-theft cars such as Lexus and Acura. It is installed for $595 to $995, and requires a monthly fee of about $12.

Quality Source Inc., based in Dallas, was spotlighting its Weather Genius, which retails for $70. A readout on the sleek, black travel clock displays the time as well as the temperature both inside and outside - the latter read by a sensor attached to a small cord that can be dangled out a window or door.

But the most fascinating feature is its ability to read the surrounding area's barometric pressure and use that information to predict the weather over the next 12 to 24 hours.

The forecast is shown with small pictures on the screen of sun, clouds, or clouds and rain.

One new product, TripLink, is a package of software and a hand-held computer device that helps motorists plan the best route for trips. After downloading software onto a home computer, travelers can specify to the computer whether they want the speediest or most scenic route to a particular destination.

Then, a suggested route is mapped out, using either interstate highways or smaller local roads. The route map is downloaded into the hand-held computer device, about the size of a television's remote control, which a traveler can carry.

Using it, a traveler can ask for the nearest hospital or fast-food restaurant, and the device will name the closest places and how to get there.

TripLink, retailing for about $200, is expected to be available this spring.

For their part, retailers cruising the myriad aisles on the first day of the annual Consumer Electronics Show gawked at the futuristic innovations and tried to envision whether store customers would buy them.

Looking further ahead, keynote speaker Michael Bloomberg, head of the giant Bloomberg Financial Markets, which supplies financial data to brokerage firms, predicted that within two years consumers will not know the difference between a TV and a computer.

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Photo: (Color) Bruce Powell sets up the DirecTV booth at a Las Vegas consumer electronics show.

Associated Press