Samsung Shaping up as the titan of hardware, the Korean company is a power in TVs, phones, and components such as flat screens and chips.
DANGER Lacks entertainment programming to sell with its machines, which would distance it from hardware price wars and Chinese manufacturers.

Microsoft Sees Windows linking a plethora of new music, phone, and video services. Banking on xBox and media PCs for the living room.
DANGER Couch potatoes may resist linking entertainment systems to software known for complexity, crashes, and viruses.

IBM Is betting that untangling converging technologies will be big business for its services group. Big Blue also is creating new chips with Sony for video games.
DANGER Up-and-coming Chinese chip foundries eventually may succeed in undercutting IBM on price to power next-generation game machines.

Intel Is spending $2 billion to build chips for the full gamut of coming machines, from smart phones and flat-panel TVs to handheld video players.
DANGER The chip giant is battling on enemy turf. Texas Instruments has more savvy in communications, while IBM and Sony are tops in games.

Comcast Plans to equip its 21 million subscriber homes for Web phone service within 18 months, and its Video on Demand could shake up the industry.
DANGER Its cable connections are slow by global standards. And consumers could bypass cable, to download programming directly from studios and artists.