As
your certified "ear to the street" at CES, I'm writing from the showroom floor
as I overlook the sea of exhibitors, brand advertisements, and gadget lovers
attending this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. While a flurry of
articles report an 8% decline in attendance this year compared to last year,
the showroom floor is still packed with hordes of business suits and painted
with camera flashes.
What
do
Tom Hanks, Clyde Drexler and Boston Red Sox's David Ortiz have in
common?
They are all present at CES 2009 to make up for the lack of dazzling
announcements this year. As forecasted by many of the industry analysts
I
spoke with prior to coming to Las Vegas, CES 2009 lacks the "wow
factor" it's
had in the past. Manufacturers are deciding to focus on improving
existing
products rather than unveil new designs; It's clearly a response to
consumer
price sensitivity given the economic recession.
However,
certain
products on the showroom floor have attracted a swarm of attendees
peering their heads to get a peek of "the next big thing." Some gadgets
that
caught my eye include LG's watch phone, Sharp's 108-inch LCD TV, and
Yahoo!'s
Connected TV widget channel seen on TVs made by LG, Toshiba, Sony, and
Samsung,
among other OEMs. Let it be known that Yahoo! is a client of mine, but
they did receive a lot of attention from the masses as well.
As
expected, Motorola, LG, and other cell phone manufacturers showcased their
product responses to the iPhone, which were impressive once I got my hands on
them, but nothing to write home about. However, it's worth noting that Moto's
phone was lighter, smaller, and more responsive than the iPhone, and LG's Renoir
phone had a 8-megapixel camera that even allowed for slow motion recording.
Regardless, I'll forever be a Blackberry guy myself.
Walking
through the crowd, all eyes were on those that consumed the most floor space thus
having the biggest presence- Samsung, Intel, and Blackberry. All had very
elaborate setups with demos galore. I even overheard one attendee mention that
he was overwhelmed by how much there was to demo.
As
I rest my feet, tired from dodging the crowd and walking from booth to booth, I
wonder how the show will top itself tomorrow.
-Kevin