LAS VEGAS – The world’s biggest technology trade show officially opens Thursday with its usual sugar rush of geeky gadgets, celebrity cameos and chic parties. Perhaps some business will get done, too.

The Consumer Electronics Show is expected to lure more than 130,000 people this year, a mix of media, analysts, salespeople, executives and even consumers.

With all those people in one place, technology companies try to use the event to get as much attention as possible for their newest products. The traditional business of a trade show goes on as best it can behind the scenes.

“If you’re coming in there hoping to do business at CES, you’re not going to do anything,” said Jeffrey Citron, chief executive of Internet telephony company Vonage. Attendees have to plan their meetings far in advance, so there’s little room for spontaneous encounters that lead to business relationships, he explained.

The glitzfest roared to life late Wednesday, when Microsoft Corp. founder Bill Gates gave his traditional preshow keynote speech.

Texas Instruments Inc. chief executive Rich Templeton, who describes himself as anything but flashy, will make his debut in the CES spotlight Friday. He’s one of a handful of top industry executives who have received the coveted slot as a keynote speaker.

Industry groups and companies host lavish parties throughout the week at Las Vegas’ most fashionable nightspots. Many rent large booths on the trade show floor, snaring convention-goers with free T-shirts, celebrity entertainment or over-the-top presentations.

Sony Corp. unveiled its much-anticipated PSP portable gaming platform Wednesday afternoon in a swanky room at the Hard Rock Cafe casino, plastering the device’s logo between silver curtains and on top of the room’s modernist furniture.

“It’s compact and sleek, a downright sexy device,” cooed Kaz Hirai, chief executive officer of Sony’s U.S. digital entertainment unit.

The gaming system will be available in March, he said.

The sheer volume of news and announcements makes it difficult for even the largest companies to stand out from the crowd. Samsung, the second-largest wireless handset maker, announced its first-quarter phone lineup on Tuesday just to get the word out before the show began.

“It helps point people, if they go to the show, to where to come to see innovation,” said Pete Skarzynski, senior vice president at Samsung’s Richardson, Texas-based telecommunications unit. Samsung announced several products but sent out separate news releases for two phones, one that converts speech to text and one that offers high-speed Internet access.

No matter how a company times an announcement, the technology has to speak for itself in the end, said Citron of Vonage. With so much hype going on, only industry-changing products will get attention, he said.

His company is announcing the development of a portable Internet telephone that can run on Wi-Fi wireless networks. Vonage also will announce phones that use TI technology to connect directly to a broadband router or make calls that include video.

CES has grown so large and so important that even companies without consumer products feel the need to go.

International Business Machines Corp.’s personal computer unit, which has announced a merger with Chinese PC maker Lenovo, sent executives to the show to talk to customers and journalists about the combined company. IBM sells computers only to businesses, though Lenovo has a consumer PC business.

“CES is becoming a more useful venue for people to sit and talk,” said Bob Galush, vice president of product marketing for the IBM unit. Amid all the noise, companies do try to accomplish the same things they would at any other trade show – make new contacts, meet with sales partners and establish alliances.

Since the holiday season has subsided, executives use the meeting to go over fourth-quarter sales with retailers, tweaking strategies when necessary. And companies that collaborate on technology often use CES to get together in person, since everyone’s there anyway.

Those meetings sometimes lead to major business initiatives. Samsung’s close relationship with the TI unit that makes television chips came directly out of meetings that began at CES. And Vonage announced a partnership with TI last year that led to this year’s product announcements.

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AP-NY-01-05-05 1926EST