1999
•  TV manufacturers first sponsor network HDTV broadcasts.
•  The first cellular phone is integrated with a touchscreen PDA.
•  The first color screen handheld personal computers debut.
•  Cable modems are sold in stores for the first time.
•  Hard disk-based digital personal video recorders (PVRs) are first introduced, capable of "smart" programming and instantaneous playback of a recorded TV program, even while the program is running.
•  The Neopoint 1000, the first Web-enabled cell phone, introduced.
•  Progressive scan DVD players enter the marketplace.
•  Congress mandates that local channels be made available to direct-to-home satellite subscribers.
•  Lithium-polymer battery technology introduced.
•  The Dolby Surround EX home theater sound system introduced.
•  Consumer recordable DVD systems demonstrated.
•  DBS high-definition TV broadcasts begin.
•  The first DVD players offering progressive-scan video output for use with new DTVs arrive.
•  Satellite and digital radio formats announced.
•  The first DVD-based digital camcorder introduced.
•  DVD-Audio and Super Audio CD (SACD) players introduced.
•  First MP3 tracks distributed and first portable MP3 players available.
•  The high-definition VCR introduced.
•  The first high-definition plasma display screen introduced.
•  The pay-per-view DivX DVD format discontinued.
•  The Bluetooth wireless personal area network (PAN) standard published.
•  High-speed Wi-Fi 802.11a specification published.
•  Secure Digital Music Interface (SDMI) is announced to ensure copy protection of MP3 files.
•  Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance (WECA) formed to certify and promote various 802.11 Wi-Fi technologies; later renamed Wi-Fi Alliance.
•  The Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association (CEMA) is renamed the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) and became a separate legal entity.

1998
•  First DVD players available.
•  DVD-ROM, DVD-RAM, DVD-R and DVD+R formats introduced.
•  The DVD-Audio format agreed upon.
•  CD-Recordable decks first sold.
•  The first HDTV sets sold at retail.
•  The first consumer flat-screen, gas plasma TVs are available.
•  First HDTV satellite broadcast demonstration.
•  TV manufacturers and cable operators agree on IEEE-1394 (FireWire) with 5C copy protection.
•  Super-fast DSL Internet access using plain phones lines made available.
•  The first global satellite phones and pagers sold by Iridium.
•  The first 2.4 GHz cordless phones marketed.
•  Clarion and Microsoft unveil the AutoPC.
•  The Electronic Industries Association renamed the Electronic Industries Alliance.
•  MPEG 4 digital video compression technology adopted.
•  Special Interest Group (SIG) for Bluetooth wireless data communication standard formed.


1997
• Smart phones allow access to the Internet and e-mail via a phone with a screen and keyboard.
• Flat gas plasma and digital light processing (DLP) monitors available.
• The debut of the new Intel Pentium processors with MMX technology is said to boost the multimedia performance of PCs.
• Component video connection format introduced.
• The Wi-Fi (802.11) wireless local area network (WLAN) Ethernet standard adopted.
• 56 kbps modems hit the market.
• DivX, a pay-per-view DVD format, introduced.
• The first two-way pagers introduced.
• Fax, copying, scanning, printing and telephone functions are combined into a single multifunctional home office device.

1996
• FCC adopts ATSC HDTV standards.
• First VCRs equipped with VCR Plus+ introduced.
• WRAL, Raleigh, N.C., receives first HDTV broadcast license; first commercial HDTV broadcast by WHD-TV in Washington, D.C.
• Set-top boxes plug into televisions and allow viewers to surf the Internet via remote control.
• Congress passes the Telecommunications Act of 1996, containing a directive to television manufacturers to begin installing "V-Chips" in TVs that would allow selected programming to be blocked.
• Zenith introduces the U.S. market’s first HDTV-compatible front-projection TV.
•   CD becomes the most popular pre-recorded music format.
• The first DVD players sold in Japan.
• An agreement among broadcasters, TV manufacturers and PC makers sets the inter-industry standard for HDTV.
• Two handheld computer formats, Palm Pilot and Windows CE, introduced.

1995
•  Competing DVD standards are introduced; a single DVD standard selected.
•  The first television program (Computer Chronicles) is delivered via the Internet.
•  Internet and commercial online usage explode; the consumer online segment jumps 64 percent to almost 15 million users, while about eight percent of U.S. households are hooked into the Internet.
•  The first television station KOLD 13 uses a networked digital video server in its daily on-air operations.
•  Sony announces the first digital camcorders to be sold worldwide.
•  The Electronic Industries Association’s Consumer Electronics Group (CEG) becomes the Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association (CEMA).
•  Dolby Digital surround sound introduced.
•  Interactive cable modem trials with consumers started.
•  Quad-speed CD-ROM drives become a common feature of multimedia PCs.
•  The flash memory technology standard introduced.
•  The FCC approves 15 additional channels for cordless phones; 25-channel cordless phone models introduced.
•  RDS pagers introduced.
•  The safety warning system (SWS) technology standard finalized.
•  Flat-screen plasma display TVs introduced.
•  The first GPS-based vehicle recovery systems marketed.
•  The first voice-recognition car security systems marketed.
•  Multifunction home office products popular.
•  The first MiniDV digital video camcorders enter the market place in the U.S.
•  Digital satellite system (DSS) installations reach the one million milestone, making them the fastest growing product in consumer electronics history.
•  Digital VHS standard is agreed upon by the industry.


1994
•  GPS auto navigation systems are marketed in the United States.
•  Direct broadcast system (DBS) receivers introduced.
•  The first digital still cameras are available for sale in the U.S.
•  MPEG 2 digital video compression technology adopted.
•  Pentium and PowerPC microprocessor chips introduced.
•  Qualcomm establishes the Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) digital cellular phone standard.
•  FCC begins auction of 1900 MHz digital PCS bands for digital cell phone service.
•  The first CES Mexico is held in Mexico City.
•  First inkjet and laser printers available.

1993
•  The Grand Alliance forms for the development of the HDTV system.
•  16:9 aspect ratio (widescreen) television sets are marketed in the United States.
•  First plasma display screens available.
•  Next-generation videogames announced.
•  Personal digital assistants (PDA) introduced.
•  The FCC adopts a signal standard for AM stereo broadcasting.
•  The video CD is adopted as a five-inch optical disc standard.
•  The VCR equipped with VCR Plus+ debuts in Japan.
•  The first 625-line chip-based 16:9 widescreen format camera introduced.
•  The first wireless headset portable CD player marketed in Japan.
•  900 MHz cordless phones introduced.

1992
•  The World Wide Web becomes available.
•  MP3 music compression coding integrated into new MPEG-1 format.
•  Digital cellular phone service introduced.
•  Digital compact cassette (DCC) first marketed.
•  MiniDisc launched.
•  Radio Broadcast Data Service (RDS) introduced in the United States.
•  The CEBus Home Automation standard finalized in the United States.
•  The first camcorder with a color LCD screen instead of a viewfinder debuts.
•  The color picture videophone is available for the home market with a $1,500 price tag.
•  The Mobile Electronics Association merges into the Consumer Electronics Group of the Electronic Industries Association (EIA).

1991
•  Multimedia CD-ROM computer systems introduced.
•  The first TVs with built-in closed-caption display capability introduced in the United States.
•  U.S. testing of digital HDTV systems begins.
•  The Consumer Electronics Group of the Electronic Industries Association (EIA) and the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) set AMAX and AMAX Stereo standards for advanced AM radio performance.
•  QuickTime digital multimedia compression technology released.

1990
•  The first digital audio tape (DAT) recorders introduced.
•  The production of giant-screen (27-inches or larger) color TV picture tubes starts in the United States.
•  Legislation requiring closed captioning decoders in all color TVs 13-inches or larger and manufactured after July 1, 1993, is signed into law.
•  The all-digital high-definition television (HDTV) system is proposed; the FCC sets a field-testing schedule.
•  Color fax machines sold.
•  The Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) digital cell phone standard established.
•  The first rechargeable lithium-ion battery introduced.