CES 2010 (1 Viewer)

[Andrew M]

Received my 2010 CES Badge in the mail yesterday. In addition to the badge, Smart ExpoCard (for swiping at events & booths) and CES UNVEILED coupon; there's also the usual coupons for a free press bag (usually sponsored by Toshiba) and free lunch in the press rooms for Thursday through Sunday.

Press bags vary in style. Most press prefer the rolling kind that you can also use as carry-on luggage. Makes it a lot easier to schlep stuff around from event to event and booth to booth. Even so, I find that having a hotel nearby makes it easy to unload a full bag in the middle of the day before heading back for an eventual re-fill.

Lunch coupons are nice. CES has moved away from buffet hot lunches to providing box lunches with a variety of sandwiches. Best to be there at 11:30 when they're first distributed or you might miss out...

Rooms are still available at Casino Royale and the Imperial Palace for budget-minded attendees like myself.

 

[Andrew M]

Got this in an email from HDMI Licensing today:

HDMI Licensing, LLC, the agent responsible for licensing the HDMI specification, will be promoting The New HDMI® Specification Version 1.4 at CES Unveiled @ NY. In attendance from HDMI will be President Steve Venuti and Director of Marketing and Operations Charlene Wan.

New Features of HDMI Specification Version 1.4:

The HDMI standard just got a lot more powerful, with new capabilities designed to push the boundaries of the High Definition experience – in the home, on the go, and wherever HD is found. Here are some of the major enhancements introduced in the HDMI Specification Version 1.4:

• HDMI Ethernet Channel—integrated 100 Mb/sec. Ethernet connectivity
• Support for 4K and 3D displays

• Audio Return Channel—the ability to send audio data upstream

• HDMI Micro Connector for portable devices
• Automotive Connection System for in-car distribution of HD content
• Expanded color space support for digital cameras
• Automatic selection of viewing mode based on content type

The CES Unveiled@NY is tomorrow. Hopefully, someone from HTF will be attending and can add their thoughts on what was "unveiled." I'll be catching up on HDMI 1.4 in Las Vegas.

 

[Winman42]

Is there a thread listing who will be attending CES 2010? I'll be there, and it will be my first time. It's about time, considering I've been living In Nevada for the last 4 years.

Winston

 

[Andrew M]

Hi, Winston!

Are you attending as press/blogger? Or as a regular industry attendee?

Andrew M

 

[RayJr]

Hello Winston and Andrew,
I was not really sure were to post this....but this seems as good a place as any.

I am going to CES next week and was wondering if any forum members would like something to do Saturday night?
There will be an open house that is hosted by THX VideoTech (with HTF's Gregg Loewen)… my understanding from my email to them is, that it is open to all A/V enthusiasts
So..I figured we could use this to meet face to face with other forum members….hope to see some of you there.
Below is the info and the link to sigh up

Here is the info.

Who: THX Video Tech Open House
When: January 9, 2010 7PM-9PM
Where: Las Vegas Boulder Station Hotel and Casino

Here is the link to sigh up...... and it is FREE
http://thxvideotech.com/

Later
RayJr

 

[Andrew M]

Hi, Ray!

Thanks for the THX info. Received my invitation. Hope to see you there! Are you attending as industry or press/blogger? Have you tried to get on the Friday night party list at the Atomic Testing Museum?

http://itwontstayinvegas.com/

If you're a frequent HTF blogger you should be able to register.

Andrew M

 

[Andrew M]

The final exhibitor press event schedule is posted now: http://cesweb.org/press/events/exhibitorPressEvents.asp

Wednesday, January 6
8:00 AM - 8:45 AM
Casanova 501, The Venetian LG Electronics: LG Electronics Press Conference 9:00 AM - 9:45 AM
Marco Polo 706, The Venetian Monster Cable Products Inc.: Monster Press Conference 9:00 AM - 9:45 AM
Sands 201, Sands/Venetian NETGEAR: NETGEAR Press Conference 10:00 AM - 10:45 AM
Casanova 504, The Venetian Toshiba: Toshiba Press Conference 11:00 AM - 11:45 AM
Titian 2204, The Venetian Audiovox: 2010 Audiovox Press Event 11:00 AM - 11:45 AM
Sands 206, The Sands/Venetian Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc.: Pioneer Electronics(USA) Inc. Mobile Entertainment 12:00 PM - 12:45 PM
Sands 102, The Sands/Venetian Sharp Electronics Corporation: Sharp Electronics Corporation Press Event **INVITATION ONLY** 1:00 PM - 1:45 PM
Bellini 2105, The Venetian Casio: Casio Press Conference 1:00 PM - 1:45 PM
Titian 2305, The Venetian Cisco: Cisco Consumer Business Update *INVITATION ONLY* 2:00 PM - 2:45 PM
Marco Polo 801, The Venetian Samsung: Samsung Press Conference 3:00 PM - 3:45 PM
Bellini 2101, The Venetian Panasonic: Panasonic CES 2010 Press Conference 4:30 PM - 5:15 PM
Booth #14200, LVCC Sony: Sony Press Conference **INVITATION ONLY** 7:30 PM - 9:00 PM
San Polo 3401, The Venetian Light Touch: Post-Keynote Drinks Reception 8:00 PM - 10:00 PM
Conrad Sky Villa Suite, Hilton Polaroid: Polaroid Press Event *INVITATION ONLY*

Thursday, January 7
7:30 AM - 8:30 AM
Booth #11840, LVCC Plastic Logic: Press Conference: QUE proReader Premiere **INVITATION ONLY** 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Booth #13266, Central Hall, LVCC Bowers & Wilkins: Bowers & Wilkins New Media Press Conference 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
S221, LVCC Embertec: Introduction to Embertec Power Saving Technologies! 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Casanova 503, The Venetian Greenpeace: The New Greenpeace Guide to Greener Electronics 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Shimmer Cabaret, Las Vegas Hilton Nvidia: NVIDIA Press Conference **INVITATION ONLY** 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
S221, LVCC National Center for Electronics Recycling (NCER): Electronics Recycling Coordination Clearinghouse 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM
S227, LVCC Femto Forum: Femtocells: The Missing Link in the Digital Home 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Casanova 501, The Venetian Naim Audio: Global Product Premiere 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
#21928D, LVCC Sonic Emotion: 3D Sound Press Event 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
S221, LVCC VESA: DisplayPort 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
S227, LVCC PURE: PURE: The British "Digital Lifestyle" Invasion 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM
S221, LVCC ReCellular: RECELLULAR AND CEA TO HOST THE KICK OFF OF CELL PHONES FOR VETERANS 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Booth #3620, LVCC Vestalife, LLC: Vestalife CES Press Conference 4:30 PM - 5:30 PM
# 21928D, LVCC Sonic Emotion: 3D Sound for Bloggers 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Suite 669, Las Vegas Hilton KEF: North American Debut: Concept Blade By KEF **INVITATION ONLY** 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM
S221, LVCC Xmi Pte Ltd: The X-mini Xperience

Friday, January 8
7:30 AM - 8:30 AM
S227, LVCC YTL Communications: YTLC News Event - Breakfast 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM
Casanova 503, The Venetian CEATEC JAPAN 2010: CEATEC JAPAN 2010 Press Breakfast 8:30 AM - 9:30 AM
S221, LVCC Beijing Zhongguancun Science Park International, sponsored by Topower USA: Z- Park Press Release 9:30 AM - 10:30 AM
S227, LVCC Icron Technologies: Icron's ExtremeLink (TM) PC-on-TV Solution 10:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Booth #25437MP, South Hall 2, LVCC FLEX Lighting LLC: World's Thinnest LED Backlight for LCD TVs 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
29-310, Venetian Tower Sonneteer: Sonneteer Launch Morpheus Server to Marry with Their Music Centre as They Go Multi Colour 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM
S221, LVCC Easy Energy: News Conference to Introduce the YoGen Handheld Recharging Device 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM
Suite 28-132, The Hilton Xpand: Xpand 3D Press Conference **INVITATION ONLY** 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
S227, LVCC MusicSkins: MusicSkins Icon Series (The Beatles, Bob Marley, etc.) Revealed **INVITATION ONLY** 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM
LVCC, S221 Ankit: Launch of the coolest earphones ever! 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
S227, LVCC Apex Digital: Company & Product Review 2:30 PM - 3:30 PM
S221, LVCC Living in Digital Times: Living in Digital Times - Fast News for Fast Times 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Casanova 501, The Venetian Shuttle Computer: Shuttle Computer Press Conference 4:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Casanova 504, The Venetian Consumer Electronics Magazine: 2009-2010 TOP Brands from China 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Room #4, Las Vegas Hilton IMovee Corporation: IMOVEE - 'ROCKING THE MOBILE DTV WORLD' 4:30 PM - 5:30 PM
S221, LVCC TAITRA: TAIWAN makes IT happen! 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM
S227, LVCC NewKinetix: NewKinetix Product Announcement 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Sands 201, The Sands/Venetian Paradigm Electronics: Paradigm and Anthem Concert featuring Camaraon Ochs *INVITATION ONLY*

Some events and all of the parties are not listed.

Tuesday night will have CES Unveiled: The Official Press Event of the International CES, a major event-"Media, analysts and bloggers can get a pre-show look at who will be making news headlines at CES Unveiled. Catch all the latest products in one room. Plus, get a sneak peek at International CES product debuts and the Innovations Design and Engineering Showcase honorees — before the show officially opens."

Wednesday night there's the invitation only 'Digital Experience" from Pepcom, a themed event that has about 900 press attending to see the latest innovations in consumer electronics and computers.

Thursday and Friday afternoon there's Lunch @ Piero's another invitation only event, with about 20 exhibitors and qualified media.

Thursday night there's an invitation only event sponsored by the Digital Entertainment Group and Showstoppers, another invitation only event with about 100 exhibitors and 800 press.

Friday night is the blogger's party at the Atomic Testing Museum and the Monster Cable private concert with John Legend.

And assorted private functions, breakfasts, lunches, dinners, parties, concerts, etc.

Looks to be an exciting and exhausting CES.

 

[Sam Posten]

Have a great show guys! I'm looking forward to all the HTF and Engadget writeups! Hoping someone does full length videos!

Sam

 

[Andrew M]

Here's an edited news release from CEA on celebrities at CES:

TV PERSONALITIES, SPORTS LEGENDS AND LITERARY ICONS WILL BE AT THE 2010 INTERNATIONAL CES

Celebrity Guests Will Promote Cutting-Edge Technology Trends and Technologies Las Vegas, NV., January 4, 2010 - Television stars, sports icons, legendary actors and authors will be at the 2010 International CES® to promote and interact with the products and technologies shaping the consumer technology world. The 2010 International CES, the world's largest consumer technology tradeshow, runs January 7-10 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Drew Carey, host of the long-running CBS game show, The Price is Right, will appear as a guest on CNET LIVE at 1:45 p.m. on Thursday, January 7. A self professed tech enthusiast, Carey will tour the show floor with CNET editors and share his show favorites. The CNET stage is located in South Hall 3.

The highly anticipated CES spotlight, Living in Digital Times, is no stranger to celebrity appearances. This year the MommyTech TechZone will host the most decorated American gymnast in history, Shannon Miller, seven-time Olympic Medalist and nine-time World Medalist, at 4:15 p.m. on Friday, January 8 in N262. Martha Kanter, Under Secretary of Education, US Department of Education, will deliver an opening keynote for the HighEd Tech Summit at 10 a.m. on Friday, January 8 in N264, to examine the quickly changing world of colleges and universities. Kids@Play will host Alan Kay, Creator of the DynaBook concept and Garfield the Cat in N253 on Thursday, January 7. Kay will be available at 9 a.m., Garfield at noon. All Living in Digital Times TechZones are located in the North Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center.

As the Official HDTV of Major League Baseball, Sharp will host Milwaukee Brewer's Prince Fielder, winner of the 2009 State Farm Home Run Derby, 2009 Brewers MVP, two-time All-Star, 2007 Sharp Presents the Hank Aaron Award winner from 1-2 p.m. on Thursday, January 7 and Rick Porcello, Detroit Tigers, rookie pitching phenom, 2009 Tigers Rookie of the Year, 3rd in 2009 MLB Rookie of the Year award voting, from 4-5 p.m. Sharp starts back up on Friday, January 8 with Joba Chamberlain of the World Champion New York Yankees in Central Hall booth #11017 from 12-30-1:30 p.m. and Torii Hunter, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, nine-time golden glove winner, three time all-star, 2009 Silver Slugger award winner from 2:30-3:30 p.m.

UpNext at CES , an all-new conference program focused on ideas and strategies for producing, promoting and profiting from media content, will have Illeana Douglas , star and creator of Easy to Assemble also known for recurring roles on Ugly Betty, Six Feet Under and Law & Order and actor-producer Bradley Whitford, an Emmy-winner for West Wing from 9:30-10:30 a.m. on Friday, January 8, in N250. Ken Howard, Emmy-winning actor and president of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) will be there from 11:30-12:30 p.m.

Haier America will host NBA legends, Chris Mullin and James Worthy in Central Hall, booth #10427. Big Game James has a storied record, that includes being e lected to Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (2003); NBA champion (1985, '87, '88); NBA Finals MVP (1988); All-NBA Third Team (1990, '91); All-Rookie Team (1983); Seven-time NBA All-Star (1986-92); One of 50 Greatest Players in NBA History (1996).Worthy will be in the Haier America booth from 8-11 a.m. on Thursday, January 7. And, 6’7” swingman, Chris Mullin, who averaged 18.2 points per game over his 16 year NBA career, will be on hand from 8-11 a.m. on Friday, January 8. Worthy's honors include: All-NBA First Team (1992); All-NBA Second Team (1989, '91); All-NBA Third Team (1990); Five-time NBA All-Star; Olympic gold medalist (1984, '92).

Kodak isn't skipping a beat with its celebrity lineup at the 2010 International CES. The following big names will be in Kodak's booth in South Hall, #31400: Jill Zarin, reality star on The Real Housewives of New York City - January 7 at 11 a.m., January 8 at 11 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. and January 9 at 11 a.m., 2 p.m., 4 p.m. and 5 p.m.; Soleil Moon Frye, American actress, co-founder of the Little Seed - January 8 at 3 p.m., 4 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. and January 9 at 2 p.m., 4 p.m., and 5 p.m.; TV stars of Woke Up Dead; Jon Heder, Krysten Ritter, and Josh Gad - January 8 at 12 p.m., 4 p.m., 5:30 p.m.; Illeana Douglas, star and creator of Easy to Assemble also known for recurring roles on Ugly Betty, Six Feet Under and Law & Order - January 8 at 4 p.m.; Amber Ettinger, known as Obama Girl, - January 7 at 4 p.m.; and Kevin Steelman, professional golfer January 8 at 5:30 p.m.

Former Ms. California Deana Avila will be appearing at NTi's booth #32038 (South Hall 3) on Friday, January 8 and Saturday, January 9 from 2-6 p.m. for autographs and pictures. After winning the title of Miss California in 1995, Deana Avila went on to be California's contestant in Miss USA. She was also a judge for the Miss California USA and Miss Utah USA. The Public Record will host rock musician Tommy Lee at 4 p.m. on Saturday, January 9 in booth #4322. Lee will honor one of the Public Record users with a signed guitar and a chance to play live with him at the booth. NBA veteran, Junk Yard Dog, Jerome Williams, will be with Blackline GPS in the North Hall, booth #2035, 10:30 a.m. on Friday, January 8. Marvell is also bringing in a star studded line-up to their booth, including Stan Lee, Guy Kawasaki, James Patterson and Pauley Perrette. Comic book writer Lee, issuing a new era of digital content, will be in booth #30642 (South Hall) from 1-3 p.m. on Thursday, January 7. Best-selling author Patterson, who has sold an estimated 170 million copies world-wide and 19 consecutive #1 New York Times bestsellers, will be in the booth from 1-3 p.m. on Friday, January 8. Pauley Perrette, “Abby Sciuto” - Star of Hit TV Series NCIS and NCIS Los Angeles, will also be in the booth from 1-3 p.m. on Saturday, January 9. And see Guy Kawasaki, Founding Partner of Garage Technology Ventures and Author, at the Plugcomputer.org Partner Pavilion, booth 30344 (South Hall), on Friday, January 9 from 11 a.m. -1 p.m. He will be participating in a panel discussion starting at noon.

Tech icons and real life friends LeVar Burton and Brent Spiner will also be at CES this year walking the show floor on Saturday, January 10. For more information about the 2010 International CES before, during and after the show, including celebrity appearances and special events, visit www.CESweb.org.

And Jerry Lewis will be at the technical Emmy Awards and Brent Spiner will be at the bloggers party at the Atomic Testing Museum!

 

[Sam Posten]

Is Ron there reporting this year?

 

[Andrew M]

Getting by on about 4 hours of sleep here at CES.

Tuesday was CES Unveiled, where the standouts for me were Mitsubishi's 3DC-1000 3D adapter which allows Mitsubishi 3D-ready Home Theater TV owners the ability to display 3D from a 3D Blu-Ray player. But Parrot drew the biggest crowds with flying displays of the AR-Drone, a quadricopter with on-board Wi-Fi that can be controlled by an iPhone or iPod Touch. Looks like a match for the Department of Defense once it's made a bit more stealthier. Take a look at twitter.com/ardrone.

DTS held an invitation only dinner at Nobu at the Hard Rock. Excellent food and drink from a gracious host and the gift bag included a FlipVideo Ultra HD Camcorder.

Wednesday saw the start of the major press events. I made it to Monster Cable (watch for its new line of Miles Davis headphones), Toshiba (keep an eye on the new Cell TV, its new flagship), Audiovox, Sharp (LCDs with a 4th color pixel), Casio (new high speed cameras and digital photo frames that can display in various artistic modes), Samsung, Panasonic and Sony, where Taylor Swift perfomed live with a 3D back up band. Most of the TV manufactors are promoting TVs that can convert 2D to 3D. Only booth visits can determine how well this actually works.

Wednesday night was the Digital Experience's Digital Safari, less crowded than CES Unveiled. Tall models in boy shorts and halter tops were body painted and decorated to look like giraffes and handed out jungle and safari toys. They were popular photo ops and their pictures are probably already online. I spoke with Nuance about their latest version of Dragon Naturally Speaking 10 Speech Recognition Software with allows voice activated document and email creation and opening of applications. Will be trying this out when I get home. When Dragon works correctly it's right out of Star Trek. Clickfree provided the Transformer SE for automatic back up to free space on any USB hard drive or iPod/iPhone.

More press events today, followed by the Digital Entertainment Group at the Bellagio and Showstoppers over at the Wynn.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

We are not at CES this year.

We generally cover CEDIA instead but
who knows what we will plan for next year.

Andrew, thanks for the updates. Hope you
can continue to keep us all apprised on your
thoughts about the show.

 

[Andrew M]

Back from Lunch at Piero's 2010! (Not much of an appetite after a bad breakfast at Hash House A Go Go, the new restaurant at the Imperial Palace.) Still, Piero's was very nice. Good Italian food, tables to sit at and 21 sponsors who were set up to display and promote their products. Of interest to me was Eye-Fi with their wireless memory cards for digital cameras (www.eye.fi); FizWoz, a mobile application for selling cellphone pictures and videos to media companies(www.fizwoz.com) ; Immersion Digital with Glo, an interactive application on the Bible (www.bibleglo.com); and Openmoko with its WikiReader, the Wikipedia ebook(www.thewikireader.com). PowerGenix displayed their Nickel-Zinc (NiZn) batteries(www.powergenix.com), and Virtual Mechanics promoted SiteSpinner Pro, web design software to develop interactive web sites in both standard desktop and mobile browser resolutions(www.virtualmechanics.com).

 

[Frank Ha]

Thanks for keeping us informed, Andy. I'll be following your posts with great interest. Wish I could be there, too.

 

[Sam Posten]

Awesome Andy. Have a great time. Wish I was closer to Vegas, I would definitely go. I'll gladly go to blog for anyone who wants to pay my way there next time around =) Last CES I was at was 1991 if you can believe that, was in Chicago!

And thanks for the update Ron. Looking forward to big PJ news out of CEDIA to match the flattys here at CES. I think I just might buy Toshiba's 65" 3D flat panel announced yesterday instead of a new PJ tho!

 

[Andrew M]

Last night I went to the annual DEG (Digital Entertainment Group) award presentation at the Bellagio. Awards were given to industry retailers and DVD/Blu-Ray releases. The usual swag bag seemed slimmer than previous years. Most of the DVDs had been replaced by Blu-Ray releases. All of those who received the bags were extremely grateful. DEG is incredibly generous with their annual selection of product for the attending press. After DEG I managed to get down to the Wynn for Showstoppers. This invitation-only event is similar to the Digital Experience except Showstoppers does provide chairs for weary press to sit down.

Today I went to [SIZE= 10pt]NXT[/SIZE]'s 2010 product line introduction breakfast in their Hilton suite (www.nxtsound.com). According to invitation email the press were going to experience:

• • [SIZE= 10pt]TouchSound – Feel the difference with our bending wave haptic technology[COLOR= rgb(51, 51, 51)] as it produces tactile feedback directly from the touch screen itself.[/COLOR]

• • [/SIZE]
  • [SIZE= 12pt]BMR[/SIZE][SIZE= 10pt] drive units -- come experience our award-winning full range balanced mode radiator technology as used in JVC and VIZIO TVs as well as some of the world’s best Hi-Fi speakers.[/SIZE]
  • [SIZE= 10pt]SurfaceSound technology – The amazing audio technology that can transform ordinary materials into extraordinary speakers. Listen to the flat panel speaker concepts and hear the difference.
    
    And we did. The NXT December press release is here:
    
    http://www.nxtsound.com/index.php?id=335&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=522&tx_ttnews[backPid]=1&cHash=7e02d9fd96
    
    One lucky attendee won the press business card raffle and walked away with the new Q-TV2 2.1 Speaker System with BMR technology. This has just been released in the UK:
    
    http://www.qacoustics.co.uk/q-tv/q-tv2.htm
    
    After breakfast I attended the Icron press conference (www.icron.com). Icron has developed a wireless PC-on-TV Platform that allows full functionality of your PC on your TV. They're looking for a manufacturer to produce the units. I was extremely impressed with the capabilities of the ExtremeLink. If they can get it manufactured it could be very big.
    
    Before lunch I stopped by the JVC Booth in the Central Hall to take a look at their 3D LCD technology. I don't think it's fair to judge one brand's 3D technology against another without doing an in depth technical evaluation so I can't comment other than to say that their 3D looked good and their 2D to 3D realtime conversion wasn't as good as I expected. However, the impressive thing to see at JVC is the 4K 3D demonstration using the D-ILA Projectors. The 3D demo used two stacked 4K projectors (DLA-RS4000) with each eye seeing nine megapixels. The 2D demo footage was beautiful. Very filmlike. The 3D demo seemed to suffer from ghosting, although the could have been caused from the extreme rear right hand corner I was standing in. Retail is $175,000. There doesn't seem to be a business card raffle going for this one...
    [/SIZE]

 

[Andrew M]

Went to the "It Won't Stay In Vegas" party at the Atomic Testing Museum last. Great venue, so-so party- ran out of food in an hour, not much in the way of swag. Highlight was talking with James Segars from High Def Disc News about 3D technology. We agreed that directors and cinematographers were going to need to re-learn how to compose and edit for 3D. Changing angles rapidly and frenetic editing doesn't allow the 3D viewer enough time to readjust their vision and focal points. Sportscasters will need to rethink how to shoot their games in 3D so they can still allow the viewing audience a chance to enjoy the game without developing a splitting headache. Hopefully at some point the studios will revisit the vast library of 3D features and shorts that were filmed in earlier decades and make them available again- "Kiss Me Kate", "Dial M For Murder", "Creature From The Black Lagoon", "Inferno", "Hondo", etc.

 

[Andrew M]

Had a private 9 AM booth tour at Panasonic with Jamie Hodin, Account Executive with Cohn & Wolfe. Easy to be impressed with all the 3D technology on display and their 4K plasma (combination TV, wall and electric heater). By the way, the Panasonic 3D TVs at the booth do not do any 2D to 3D conversion, as offered by the other major manufacturers. And as I've mentioned before, all I can say is that the sets look great but let's wait until there are comparison technical reviews on the first generation 3D sets before anyone claims a particular brand is best. Panasonic did make an immediate sale to me (and I'll be ordering one on Amazon shortly): their new Steam/Dry Iron Line-up with 360 degree multi-directional ironing caught my eye. Since I need a new iron for my new home, I'll be buying one of these.

Met with Magali Valance from Sensio at 11 AM. This was a very big show for Sensio. They were back in the LVCC after several years of displaying at a suite in the Flamingo. I've blogged about Sensio before, so you might know I have a fondness for this Canadian company. Sensio announced at CES that THX supports the Sensio 3D format with the THX Media Director, that Viewsonic is incorporating the Sensio 3D format within its new products, and what is probably the most important news for Sensio, that Sensio and Vizio have signed an agreement for the integration of Sensio 3D format decoder into the Vizio 3D HDTVs. Vizio is the leading North American LCD maker and sold over 1.15 million HDTVs during the last (2009) holiday season. Can Sensio and Vizio turn Costco shoppers into 3D early adopters?

At 1:30 PM I met with Torin Roher, (Rohrer Public Relations) at Optoma. I use the Optoma MovieTime DV10 when I give film lectures in the Bay area and have been impressed with its performance. At the booth Optoma's hottest products were the HD20 1080p Home Theater DLP projector which retails for under $1000; the 3D ready GT720 GameTime DLP short throw projector and the latest Pico Pocket Projector, the PK301, a 50 lumen DLP projector with 16.9 WVGA widescreen resolution, 2000:1 contrast ratio a HDMI input and a MicroSD socket that supports up to 16GB. Retail on this 8 ounce projector is $399.

Went by Datacolor and spoke with Randy Irvine, Director, Product Management. The new Spyder3HDMI was on display. It calibrates HDTVs with the appropriate firmware using an HDMI connection. Datacolor is looking for manufacturers to incorporate the firmware in future HDTVs.

Also stopped by DTS to thank them for the great sushi dinner at Nobu and took in their demo room. This year instead of using equipment worth $200,000 to demonstrate DTS they used standard home theater equipment anyone can afford. Got a copy of the latest DTS Blu-ray Demonstration Disc 14. The demo room used a battle scene from The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian and a music video from Gloriana, Wild At Heart, both of which are on the demo disc. Once my home theater is set up again, I'll play the same cuts to see how they sound on my equipment.

If I still have energy I'll be going to the THX Video Tech Happy Hour tonight at the Las Vegas Boulder Station Hotel and Casino and for my birthday my friends are taking me to the David Copperfield show at the MGM Grand.

This is a wrap on CES. I'm leaving LV tomorrow to return to San Francisco. I didn't get to see everything I wanted but I certainly saw enough to hold me until next year.

 

[Sam Posten]

Thanks for the great recap Andy, good luck with that Steam Iron!

 

[Frank Ha]

Thanks Andy for the updates. The Spyder3HDMI sounds interesting. Does it automatically calibrate your TV based on the firmware installed on the set?

Happy Birthday (a day late).

Frank