OTHER TECH

Day 1

6:30 AM: I awake to music coming from my iPod out of the hotel's cool clock radio. I'm pretty excited to get CES 2008 underway, so I jump out of bed and head into the shower. 6:45 AM: The alarm on my cell phone - used as a backup in case the "wake to iPod" feature on the alarm clock lets me down - starts going off. The phone beeps. Incessantly. Over and over. I'm in the shower and can do nothing. 7:30 AM: I walk past a Starbucks on my way to the Mandalay Bay's taxi stand but decide I'll just get some at the first press event. I mean, they're obviously going to have coffee at an 8 AM press conference, right? 7:40 AM: Slowest, most cautious cab ride I've ever had. The guy was driving like it was his grandmother's car out on loan. Mandalay to Sands Expo: $15. 8:00 AM: LG press conference. It is packed and there is no coffee. Not cool. I really wanted to hear details about their new partnership with Netflix, but disappointingly, LG offers no new details. 9:00 AM: Pioneer press conference. Again, no coffee. They talk about how black their Kuro sets are and how the next gen panels will be even blacker and amazingly thin. 9:45 AM: I get some coffee out of an urn in the hallway. It's in a horrible Styrofoam cup. Note to self: Do not make this mistake tomorrow. 10:00 AM: Toshiba press conference. We're all waiting like jackals to hear what Toshiba will say about the recent Warner announcement to discontinue support for HD-DVD. Admirably, Toshiba is very forthcoming about their shock and disappointment, but says that "reports of HD DVDs death have been reported before." 11:00 AM: Panasonic press conference. There were lots of rumors going around the press corps that Panasonic was going to unveil a 150-inch Plasma TV. No such luck. 12:00 PM: Sharp press conference. We're greeted to a full box lunch. Out of the entire Sound & Vision team, only my box contains a unique, wagon-wheel sized brownie. I feel like I've won a prize. I then eat my prize. 1:00 PM: Philips press conference. They unveil the girliest looking TV I have ever seen. They're clearly marketing this toward women, but I think any woman who brings this TV home would be greeted by looks of hurt from her husband. Clearly she doesn't want her man to have any friends or feel good about himself when he's watching this new lady-set. 2:00 PM: Samsung press conference. Their new "Touch of color" sets buck the all-black trend, but not in the womanly way of another non-black TV I saw. Their sets have a subtle touch of red that's actually pretty cool and arty looking. After they give us a big buildup of how simple one of their new technologies is to use, their president was unable to make it work. Classic! 3:00 PM: Off to the press room to fire off three blogs for the day. Usually the press room is stocked with drinks and some snacks. My choices are water or nothing. I go for the water. 4:00 PM: Cab ride back to Mandalay Bay. I joke with my cabbie about my earlier driver. He's not much better. Same $15 price though. 4:30-6:30 PM: Decide to kill some time before my next event by walking around the casino. I'm drawn to the high rollers Baccarat and Black Jack tables. Something about watching people bet $200 per hand is more exciting and less depressing than watching old women shovel pennies and nickels into slot machines. After watching for a while, one thing is clear: These big, beautiful hotels all over the city were not built because people win. 6:45 PM: Cab ride to Caesar's Palace. This guy is all business, takes a back road and gets it done. I like his style. $12. 7:00 PM: There's a girl at the front door dressed as a cheerleader with a sign that says "Ask me how to get to the Digital Experience." I ask. I am concerned when she says, "Walk down that hallway. Now it is going to be a really long way, but keep going…" 7:20 PM: Tired, I eventually make it to the Digital Experience. There are about 150 different manufacturers spread throughout a Vegas-sized ballroom. I come up with a plan to methodically walk the aisles. But first, some food. 7:30 PM: Halfway through a steak fajita, features editor Mike Gaughn calls and asks if I want to join him for dinner around 9:30. Sounds good. See you in hell, steak fajita! 9:10 PM: I happen across another Sound & Vision staffer at the very front of the cab line. Sweet! 9:50 PM: We did say 9:30, right? Gaughn, where are you? 10:15 PM: I'm really not as hungry as you might think, what with my body clock thinking it is 1:15 AM and all. I just don't sit down to dinner that late usually. Nonetheless, we go to a great seafood restaurant, and I wuss out and share a tuna entrée with a woman who describes herself as the "Chic geek." That would be entertainment lifestyle specialist Janna Robinson. 12:00 AM: Back in my room, feeling beat. Set the alarm clock for 7:30 to make my first appointment at 9:00 AM. I fully trust the "wake to iPod" feature, and discard my cell phone like an analog TV.

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