OTHER TECH

Day 4

7:00 AM: iPod comes on playing Madonna's "Justify My Love." I'm in no shape to justify anything, let alone Madonna's love. I hit the snooze button. 7:15 AM: I swear, my iPod starts playing MC Hammer's "Let's Get it Started!" Now this is music you can wake up to. 7:45 AM: I pass the Starbucks on my way to a press event. From previous experience, I'm certain that this is a press breakfast so I resist the urge to pull in for my now routine $5 latte. 8:00 AM: I arrive at the D&M press event and, sure enough, there is food and coffee aplenty. Also free WiFi. I have been unable to get any connection - pay or otherwise - in my room during the entire stay, so I jump on for a second while I eat some scrambled eggs and sausage. 8:20 AM: I check out the wares of the D&M group, namely Denon, Escient, Marantz, Snell and McIntosh. Escient's new Vision server is super cool and I ensure that it will be at the top of my review-sample list. I sit through a demo using Denon's new $10k+ pre-pro/amp combination driving $30k worth of Snell Illusion LCR speakers. I'm the only one in the room, so I request "Grace is gone" from the Dave Matthews Blu-ray. It sounds terrific. The McIntosh demo is even more impressive. They play a demo from Ratatouille that I've seen several times but I still jump at the dynamic range of [warning: plot spoiler ahead} the lightning blast striking Little Chef. I expect the system to cost upwards of $300k, but it's surprisingly "affordable" at only $150k. 10:00 AM: I grab the D&M free limo shuttle back to the convention center. 10:20 AM: I head over into the North Hall on my way to my Sound & Vision Radio spot. The North Hall is the home of all the car audio demonstrations so I walk around for a bit and check out some of the outrageous cars. I see a Lambo, a Ferrari and Jay Leno's Jet Car. The entire time I'm walking around, I'm bombarded by a constant, bowel-loosening level of bass from every direction. 10:40 AM: I do my radio spot. I mainly talk about the things that really stood out for me at the show. The Pioneer Elite Extreme Contrast TV is at the top of the list. 11:15 AM: I head back over to the Central Hall to look at stuff I missed on my first pass, namely the Sony booth. On the way, I spend lots of time at the Samsung and Hitachi booths. The video theme this year is definitely blacker blacks and thinner thins. The next 12 to 18 months will be very exciting for TV development. I look at my watch and realize I won't have time for Sony. This means I'll be returning to the Central Hall again later. Feet are not happy to hear this news. 12:30 PM: Long walk over to the South Hall to do a live feed for Fox News. He asks about the things that have really stood out for me at the show. Guess what I mention? (Pioneer, can I get any advertising credit applied toward one of those sets?) He also asks me about the whole Green push and what I've seen in that market. We talk about the recycling partnership that several manufacturers have formed. I ask him how much power he thinks Panasonic's 150-inch Plasma sucks from the earth's core. 12:50 PM: Off to the press room for lunch. This selection is definitely getting worse each day. Today it is BBQ'd beans and beef brisket. It seems like the entire staff from Gizmodo is sitting at my table. They speak in a language that is totally foreign to me with terms like clicks and digs and farking. I feel old and out of touch. But then I remember that I'm writing this missive exclusively for the Sound & Vision Web site. Now I'm feeling really meta, baby (err, I think I am - that's some other Web term. Not sure what that means either). And frankly, I'd like to challenge these fanboys to a Plasma TV-hanging challenge. Then we'll see who the real Jedi Master is. Chest swelling with pride, I exit the press room. 1:30 PM: There is an entire second level to the South Hall so I decide to check it out. One of the first booths I encounter is HP. Good news! The laptop I purchased about two weeks ago has already been replaced and upgraded! The new model has a much better screen for the tablet PC. I immediately start planning my return procedure for the fossilized version I now own. Most of the other booths are filled by computer hardware or peripheral or storage companies, plus a lot of cell phone and cameras and more gaming stuff. 2:00 PM: There are several booths set up circus-tent-style out in the parking lot so I decide to give them a look. Nothing really interests me, but I talk to the folks at LifeWare a bit. 2:30 PM: Back to Central Hall. It's really every bit as tiring as it sounds. Again I'm distracted on my way to Sony. I wander through Panasonic's booth and check out their hallway of technological delights. I pass by the AR booth and decide to drop off my card, reminding them I want to review the remote they debuted at CEDIA. I spot the Sony booth off in the distance and head towards it. Then my ADD kicks in and I see Toshiba. I recall from their press conference that they'd be demonstrating their cell processor technology, so I swing in. The processing is very cool, especially the SD upconversion. I wander around for a bit, then make a crucial mistake. I leave the booth from a direction different than where I entered. I'm turned around and wander lost for 10 minutes before I ask for directions. I'm told Sony is behind me. At the end of the hall. I head over without further interruption and give the booth a once over. A band named Jypsi is playing some blue-grassy music so I sit and listen for a bit. I'm really more excited about the chair than the music. 4:00 PM: Stick a fork in me, I'm done. In fact, stick the whole silverware drawer in me. I head over to the Dolby lounge and it welcomes me into its cool, leather chair-filled bosom. The bar man is quick with a beer and I'm even quicker to drink it. I wolf down a bag of chips and a cookie. 4:20 PM: I head for the exit, but my path takes me by Sherwood. S&V executive editor, Rob Sabin, mentions that they had a really cool demo of some acoustic correction software so I check it out. The demo is very impressive, and at only $1,800, the new 972 receiver seems to offer an amazing feature set. 4:50 PM: If I want to beat the cab lines, it's time to leave. Of course, I walk out the wrong door, and have to take a shuttle to get to the cab line (I need to bring a GPS with me to CES next year). My cabbie takes the longest, most back-street way home I've yet traveled. I'm sure we're avoiding traffic, but we're also racking the meter. Honestly, I'm too exhausted to even care. Just get me to the Mandalay so I can lie down for a minute. Fare $20. 5:15 PM: I throw on some music and lay on the bed to type for a bit and have a few moments of what I like to call "John time." 6:30 PM: Sound & Vision's new VP/Publisher wants to meet with me, so I head down to the lobby. We discuss some different custom related ideas for a bit before he heads off for dinner. 7:00 PM: Definitive Technology's Sandy Gross has invited me to dinner at the Mayflower, a restaurant a ways off the Strip. I grab a cab and head out to make the 7:30 dinner. Finally, a cab driver who isn't afraid to drop the hammer. I watch the tach soar past 6,000 RPM and we're off. Fare $26. 7:30 PM: I kick the evening off with a Grey Goose L'Orange martini. There's a great mix of people at the restaurant and I sit next to fellow Sound & Vision writer, Pete Pachal. Pete has an iPhone and likes to show YouTube movies on it. 11:00 PM: A hired car leaves to take us back to our hotels. The Mandalay is the last hotel on the Strip, and I fear I'll be the last one dropped off. I'm beat and all I can think about is getting up at 4:45 AM to make my early flight. 12:00 AM: Yep. I'm the last one dropped off. It's been a good CES, with a ton of cool, new video technologies, but thoughts of walking the show floor another day make me both sad and angry and I'm glad I'll be going home tomorrow, err, today.