2004 Consumer Electronics Show coverage brought to you by XBox Project Gotham Racing 2.
It's not how fast you drive, it's how you drive fast!
The 2004 Consumer Electronics Show was a huge success with over 129,000 technology executives visiting 2,500 companies in 1.38 million net square feet of exhibit space. Yes, this was big and you could smell the cost of all the electronics in the air. The Las Vegas Convention Center was extremely crowded during all but the last day of the show.
The mobile electronics area occupied the entire North Hall of the convention center, and this was where we spent most of our time for obvious reasons. All the major manufacturers had elaborate booths and most had incredible I.C.E. installed in their demo cars. The Hummer H2 in Rockford Fosgate's booth had one of the loudest sound systems installed, and could be heard AND felt by anyone even remotely nearby. Other exotic setups on hand were the Patritti Rennsport Design "F1 Status" Porsche 996 Turbo in the Xtant booth and a Lamborghini Gallardo & Murcielago in the Monster Cable booth.
The plasma TV displays at the show continue to get bigger with several manufacturers displaying close to a million dollars worth of product. LG was showing off their 76" plasma display panel (the largest PDP in the world) along with the rest of their product line. These guys spent big money on advertising throughout the city with ads on buses, the Fremont St. Experience, bus stops, cabs, the airport terminals, and, most incredibly, huge banners placed on the outside of the Marriott next to the convention center. I guess a billboard wasn't big enough to get their message out as they covered the entire facade of the hotel. It certainly caught our attention, along with the heat that's emitted from the front of the 76" plasma! We almost lost our eyebrows walking by that thing ;-)
On the last day of the show it was announced early in the afternoon over the PA system that McCarren International Airport was slammed with people trying to go home from the show, with a 3-4 hour delay to get through the security checkpoint. Luckily we scheduled a Monday morning departure, sparing us the headache. If you were at CES and flew out Sunday afternoon and had to deal with the airport chaos, you have our condolences!
|
