I woke up at 4:30 AM Vegas time, and couldn’t go back to sleep. Dang time zone change. I turned on Fox and Friends and they were talking about some medical devices linked up to iPhones/iPads. Neat stuff.
I got ready to go meet Glenn, who hooked me up with tickets, and headed out at 8:30. I was supposed to meet Glenn at 10 at the Riviera, so I figured I would be there with plenty of time to spare. Wrong. It took me 2 hours to drive the 3 miles to the Riviera, and since all the Convention parking was taken by then I had to park at the Riviera for $20 instead of the Convention Parking for $10. Finally I linked up with Glenn, and we headed in.
Media Presence
There was a lot of media coverage. As I mentioned, Fox News had a guy up there that I saw on TV. I also saw NBC and CNBC with big operations. Lots of reporting from their end. Syfy Channel also had a big booth, but it looked like they were promoting a game more than providing media coverage.
3D Isn’t Going Away
I had previously thought all the 3D stuff was just a revived fad, but they’re not kidding around with it, and it isn’t going away. Sony’s 3D offerings were extremely impressive, as were Panasonic’s. They have 3D camcorders now too, and some of them were pretty impressive. I also saw the world’s largest 3D HDTV from Panasonic, 84 inches.
Wall of Panasonic TVs
Also on the TV front, I saw this really cool I3 Wall, which was essentially an entire room that was a TV, walls, floor, and ceiling. When the picture moved it was like you were actually moving, a sensation very similar to an IMAX.
I3 Wall TV Room
Cell Phones
The coolest thing I saw today in the cell phone arena was the Motorola Atrix, which they claimed to be the fastest and most advanced cell phone in the world. And it was running Android. This phone can essentially function as a laptop. It’s got a gig processor and a gig of ram, which is pretty high spec. The only thing that wasn’t wholly impressive was the 5.0 megapixel camera. They couldn’t put in an 8.0 megapixel camera? Another problem is that it’s only going to be available on AT&T, which is lousy compared to Verizon and Sprint in my experience.
Motorola Atrix
A quick word on AT&T’s advertising: since I’ve been out here I keep seeing “AT&T is getting faster.†This makes it sound like up to now they’ve sucked, and that they still suck, just not as badly. I’m sure that’s not the message they’re trying to send.
Every other exciting new phone was available at the CES as well, minus the Apple stuff. There were numerous vendors with phone accessories too, including some interesting bedazzled phone cases and battery life extenders. All of this stuff was of interest to Glenn with his Midwest GSM company. Check them out if you’re in the cell phone reselling business.
Samsung Galaxy Family
Tablet PCs
Previously I haven’t cared much about tablet PCs. I just like having a keyboard, and my netbook (from which I’m posting this blog entry), has always served my basic mobile needs. The tablet market is really poised to explode. There’s a bunch of new stuff coming out, it’s all going to be getting cheaper and better, and people that don’t want to shell out $800 for the good version of the iPad are going to definitely going to seriously consider Android tablets. Glenn has found the 10 inch tablet size to be the one that people are after, but I think I’d rather get the 5 or 7 inch variety since they’re a little more pocket friendly. Glenn made a lot of good supplier contacts from over in Asia.
Tablets
Conclusion
So the CES has been awesome so far. I can’t wait to see more, and I’ll be posting more about it tomorrow.