Consumer Electronic Insiders Ready to Launch
LAS VEGAS, Jan. 8, 2007 — -- The booths are staffed, bunting is up, and the programs are printed.
Today marks the official start of the 40th annual International Consumer Electronics Show, but for the attendees who make their living off bits, bytes, watts and volts the party has already started.
"Truly the digital decade is happening," said Bill Gates, Microsoft Corp.'s co-founder and chairman, during his preshow keynote speech before a packed crowd on Sunday night at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
Citing statistics such as 2 billion digital photos snapped in 2006 and pointing out that 40 percent of homes have multiple PCs and that children are prone to spend more time on their PC than in front of the TV, Gates previewed Vista, the next generation of the Windows operating system that is set to be released in just 22 days.
His message was about the need for connectivity, and he demonstrated how computers, Xbox game consoles, and even cars needed to be able to communicate and share files for a modern digital lifestyle to progress.
Big Show in Sin City
Gates' call to action is the unofficial kickoff of an event that is expected to draw more than 140,000 attendees from 130 countries, ranging from industry titans like Gates to journalists, vendors and inventors.
Today's keynote speaker is Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger, who is expected to talk about the convergence of content and consumer electronics. Disney is the parent company of ABC News.
The sheer volume of visitors fills every hotel room and makes getting around nearly impossible, but that doesn't stop the 2,700 companies that will exhibit their goods filling 35 football fields' worth of space and 65 miles of plush convention carpet.
Consumer electronics sell best during the December holidays, but for the hospitality service workers in Las Vegas, a virtual Christmas lasts into the first week of January.
"CES is a big show for this town," said Keith, a valet parker at the Renaissance Hotel situated next to the convention center. "There are a lot of people who come to town for the show, and we always look forward to having them."
It's fitting that the gadget event takes place in Las Vegas because it certainly mirrors the dichotomy of the city of shine and soot with a dash of optimistic potential thrown in for good measure.
Large, polished vendors like Samsung dominate banner space and introduce a plethora of devices that they hope consumers will buy based on need and that are facilitated by armies of marketing experts.
At the same time, there are small startups waiting in the shadows attempting to catch a retailer's eye, so that maybe their home automation system will be available nationwide, changing our lives forever.
The everyday consumers who are responsible for the $135 billion electronics marketplace are not allowed to attend the industry event, but what happens at CES affects their shopping habits for years to come.
Format Wars
The four-day event is filled with product launches, industry meetings, conference sessions, business deals, and lots of late-night socializing. Big-name sponsors try to outdo each other for the most fun events, and that could be one reason why 100,000 cups of coffee were sold on site last year.
At times the Consumers Electronics Show may feel a bit like deja vu. A lot of the trends seem to repeat themselves until they reach critical mass and mature into acceptance.
Last year, high-definition televisions were all the rage, and 2006 will go down as the year that consumers bought HDTVs in mass, making the large electronics companies happy and motivated to start producing the next TV you may want to buy.
HDTV technology is still confusing to many consumers. Sunday's announcements from the two largest Japanese producers of the digital sets didn't simplify things. Panasonic announced its strong commitment to producing large-format plasma TVs while Sony expressed support for LCD flat screens.
Panasonic believes its second generation of 1080p plasma screens produces the fastest response times, best contrast, and good viewing angles, and can last 27 years at six hours of viewing a day.
Panasonic believes so strongly in the plasma technology that it is building a fourth production plant in Japan that will give it the capacity to produce 11 million plasma screens a year.
The 103-inch plasma screens that appeared in its booth as somewhat of a novelty last year have been in production, and Internet billionaire and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban purchased one.
They have been sold to TV sports sets, hotels, and other private homes, and more readily available units will ship at the sizes of 65, 58, 50 and 42 inches.
By contrast, Sony will introduce 16 new LCD screens as large as 70 inches in addition to an 82-inch prototype. No doubt that other manufacturers will have a variety of formats for their TVs, giving consumers more choice and more decisions to make.
Enjoy the Technological Mecca
Ironically, Panasonic and Sony are partners in the next generation of superhigh capacity, superhigh definition disks that they call Blu-Ray.
Toshiba and its partners call their version HD DVD.
LG has introduced the first hybrid player that can play HD-DVD and Blu-Ray disks. Warner Bros. has introduced a high-definition disk that will play in either an HD-DVD player or a Blu-Ray player. This leaves the following question unanswered: "Do consumers even want high-definition disks or are DVDs good enough?"
There is enough controversy and opinions to entertain the industry for years to come.
All attendees are sure to enjoy the next four days wandering the show floor, comparing products, and finding the coolest gadgets as conference goers search this technological mecca known simply as CES.