CES

Welcome to CES (the Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas

The crazy thing is that this is not a public convention.  Unless you are a member of the press or in the industry you can't get a badge yet CES is one of the largest (or possibly THE largest) convention in Las Vegas.

CES is massive.  This year it filled the entire Las Vegas convention centre and part of the Venetian Hotel (this part only shows the convention centre).

According to the Las Vegas Convention website the convention centre is 3.2 million sq ft.  The space is divided up into booths in the open convention space...

...private rooms used for meetings and demos

...food courts and hallways  - every square inch is used.

Given the size of the show I really only hit a few of the halls - mostly the central hall (LG, Samsung, Panasonic, Sony) and the South Hall (which is more related to my industry).  Even after that I needed to take the odd break.

I have to say my favourite booth at the show was LG, of course without 3D glasses it's hard to appreciate this - but give it a go...

There were lots of toys to play with...touch screens were everywhere

 

This was neat too - two people play against each other on one TV - but with the glasses you can only see your game.  You get the full screen all to yourself and the other guy can't cheat!

Of course CES is not all TV's and cell phones - there are cars too!

The downside of being at CES is that you end up leaving the show thinking that you really need a new (and bigger) TV, a new laptop (touch screen/tablet and laptop together!), a new camera, a new stereo, a new phone...you get the picture.  Thankfully CES is a preview of products and most are either not on the market yet or are concept products that might never be on the market.  Unfortunately this is Las Vegas and they have many other ways to take your money.

You can go clubbing!  Well some people can...my friends did but I had to stay home since you have to be over 21 and they check ID at the door.  My friends told me this place was chock full of people spending way too much on alcohol, pretty servers, go-go dancers and very nice bouncers (funny how the guys that look like they could kill you are the nicest people on the planet).  It's also VERY loud, after being there for a few hours you can understand why the staff wear earplugs.  The weird thing about the Bank is that it's tiered - the more you pay the closer to the dance floor you get - if you pay for bottle service you get a table, a server, a bouncer and you don't have to mix with the pleebs.  My friend's favourite part was the champagne.  When someone orders champage it comes out in this massive glowing blue diamond and is paraded across the club with lights and party poppers.  It might seem tacky but when it costs upwards of $1000 to do this you want the entire club to know you are getting champagne...Vegas is so weird.

My favourite part of Las Vegas - as it is with most places - is the food!
This may not look special to you, but it trust me when I say that it was amazing.

Stone crab and oysters.  Delish!

Of course you have to have dessert as well - and the only dessert to have after stone crab is key lime pie!

Sadly all good things have to come to an end and we're off home...well that is if we ever get on the plane.  This is pre-boarding for people with airline status.  I think there are only about 10 people that aren't in this line...oh boy...anyway, until next time.