This all started with a close friend suggesting I take a chance. Eventually, I decided to take her advice. And as a result, I ended up emailing my managers, managers, manager a question. It essentially said that I truly wanted to go to CES 2017. So much so, that I didn't care what I had to do, and was willing to even pay my own way if it meant I'd be able to attend.
Much to my surprise, while I was visiting a friend in North Carolina (Around the time Rogue One came out), I got a text from my manager saying he needed some info so they could finish my registration, and they needed it same day. I replied a few seconds later once the shock and awe had subsided.
Once I got back to Philly, there was still no guarantee anything would come of it, so again I kept my hopes in check in case it didn't work out. I also simultaneously started pricing flights and hotels. Just in case my hopes won. Buying anything before it was confirmed would be a massive mistake. But planning it was free.
And so on December 20th 2016, I got the confirmation in an email. To say my eyes lit up would be an understatement. I was on cloud 9. That same night, after a few hours, I had the hotel and flights booked. And by this time, I also knew that I'd actually be getting reimbursed for this. Because I'd be going to assist with the Booth & Suite setup. My wallet breathed a sigh of relief.
On January 2nd 2017, I got on my flight, and at the same time set a new record for how far west I'd gone. Up until then, I hadn't gone past Denver (Also a company trip). The flight was so cold I got sick.... Not the best start. But still, I was going to a City I'd never been, to go attend a show I'd only read and seen videos about. I downed enough Vitamin C to hopefully wipe out whatever got to me, and hit the bed. Afterall, I was meeting with the team I was there to assist the next day. And there was no way I'd let myself miss out on seeing CES before it looks camera ready.
There's more to this story, but in an attempt to not write a book, I'll let the pictures and captions below speak for themselves. CES was amazing. Las Vegas was cool too..... There were a few times at CES that I was in complete Awe. We're talking sees something, stops in tracks, eyes become dinner plates, mouth wide open awe.
Every single day I saw something brand new to me. Whether it was walking in Vegas, or exploring the frankly massive show floor. And every day I was glad I took that chance, and asked that seemingly impossible question.
So, since this was my first time in a new city, it makes sense I'd highlight it first. The city itself was actually pretty interesting. Coincidentally, I was on the 26th floor of the Excalibur. I also work on the 26th floor normally. It took a day or so to pick up on that, but it was something random and fun.
Up until the point I type this, on February 16th in 2017, Las Vegas is now the furthest West I've been. I actually didn't get a chance to see all that much of it though. Aside from walking down the strip to and from the Venetian Convention Center. That whole being sick thing kinda slowed me down....
Having said that, the city was still a pretty interesting place. It was obvious that the city was all about tourism. As that image of an Aria billboard shows, big and flashy win the day. Even a shopping center has a massive billboard. Incidentally, I managed to fight the urge and didn't go into that Krispy Kreme. It was not an easy thing to do. There was even one in the Excalibur.
Ironically, I didn't really want to go to Las Vegas, so much as I wanted to go to CES. It seemed like an interesting place, but it wasn't really for me on multiple levels. I don't gamble, don't shop often, wasn't interested in any of the shows, and couldn't really explore. I was there to work, not really to play, so I didn't even let myself go on to the awesome Ferris Wheel. Known as the High Roller, the 550 ft. tall Wheel is the worlds highest observation wheel. It also has an open bar.
On one of my final days there, I noticed the Lion in the MGM Grand had a little addition. A VR Headset. A friendly reminder the nerds are in town.
So, since this was my first time in a new city, it makes sense I'd highlight it first. The city itself was actually pretty interesting. Coincidentally, I was on the 26th floor of the Excalibur. I also work on the 26th floor normally. It took a day or so to pick up on that, but it was something random and fun.
With the massive increase of technology in our cars, it makes sense that they'd show up at CES. That being said, I never expected to see a Chinese Company like HiSense in NASCAR.
Also, the the lower right, you'll see the much hyped Faraday Future FF 91. A 1000HP whatever it's supposed to be. I'd sound more enthusiastic, but this car is over hyped, and the company has had issues paying its suppliers. Also, and this is entirely subjective, but it's big and ugly.....
More practical was Ford, the BMW i8 in the Intel Booth, and the Tesla with the Nvidia PX2 processor at the heart of its self driving capabilities.
Above, we have two... Well, I doubt they're consumer level drones. One looked like a small scale predator, with tilting rotors, the the other a tilt-rotor meets quadcopter. The one to the right is called the Kestrel, and costs $10k - $15k. Joking aside, the concept of it is actually really cool. vertical takeoff with fixed wing range and speed. The drone to the Left? Apparently that's just a mockup of... something.
To the right, we have one of the multiple under water drones. This one was cool because it was named the Seawolf. And while it's definitely not as deadly as the class of nuclear powered attack submarine that bears the same name, it's still fun.
The Freefly Alta 6, a Hexa-Copter with the camera mounted on top. It can also be mounted in a normal location, under the rotors. Capable of lifting nearly 15lbs, all jokes aside this thing is no toy.
As you'd expect though, the biggest companies were Yuneec, and of course the market leader, DJI. Having never seen one of the DJI drones up close, it was actually surprising how small the Phantoms were. The Inspire, with it's rising landing gear was particularly attention grabbing. And while the little Red Phantom got on this site, the massive M600 Pro was what actually got my attention.
Above is the much lauded Razer triple screen prototype laptop. Apparently, there were atleast 2 of these, each with a different hinge mechanism. Interestingly, a few of these prototypes were actually stolen at some point. Whereabouts unknown.
And, to the right, a nice follow up to the drone section. The Airbus Defense "Xpeller" Anti-Drone system. With a tagline like "We Bring it Down" I had to get a picture.
To the left, we have an oil cooled Server from Gigabyte. This being CES, I didn't expect to see an oil cooled multi-socket server.
And the last two pictures are also interesting. You see, the picture to the left? Yeah, that booth was full the first time I'd gone by. And the Duracell booth? That to was at one point manned. I'd heard about companies running into legal troubles at CES, but I didn't expect to actually see the end result.
I'm not exactly sure how to explain that the Sony booth "felt" like a Sony area, but it did. The Sony booth had wood, smooth lines, and loads of technology. It just felt like it was something Sony would do.
And to the left, we have the new Sony Bravia A1E OLED TV. Aside from the easel like design, the TV also used speakers that actually vibrate the screen itself to produce sound. There's also a subwoffer in the back stand portion, where the inputs and guts of the TV also reside. It runs Android TV, and like you'd expect from OLED, it has a stunning picture.
What you likely didn't suspect, was that the screen is actually and LG panel. And those cool speakers are also an LG technology. Something can be said for being a conglomerate with a good product. The stand itself can also perform the duties of being a mount for the TV if you want to wall mount it.
And here, we have the Sony CLEDIS Large Format Video System. Composed of quite a few ~17" x 13" borderless segments with a 320 x 360 resolution per module.
Controlled by a "Display Controller", the maximum resolution you can output to the screen is 4K. Up to 72 of the Displays can be connected together, for a total 8 million pixels. Which happens to be how many pixels are in a 4K panel, 8,294,400. Oh, and you can also combine up to 20 controllers together. For a total of 1440 panels, and 165,888,000 pixels. And it can do all of that at 120fps.
Also great are the viewing angles, which are claimed to be 180 degrees.
And here we have a comparison between the display I'm typing this on, the LG 34UC98 on the right, and to the left, the LG38UC99. Say those 5 times fast....
While curved TV's are generally pointless due to typical seating positions, and their glare, for computer monitors the curve is much more useful. I'd be lying if I didn't say I was biased towards curved screens. I use a dual 1920 x 1200 monitor setup at work, and had a dual 1920 x 1080 setup at home before I got the 34UC98. And I prefer the curved monitor to both.
The 38" version is not only bigger, it fixes some of the weird ghost image issues that happen on the 34UC98. It also goes from a resolution of 3440 x 1440 to a near 4K 3840 x 1600.
The LG booth continued to wow with what was, bar none, the thinnest TV I saw at CES.
First off, let's get it out of the way, this TV, even in the smaller 65" form seen here, starts at $8k. That is a big number. Now for the small ones. Width? 0.2", 5.08mm. That's the dimension that, to me, is the most important for this TV. For comparison, an iPhone 7 is 7.1mm thick. This TV, is thinner than a phone.
The screen itself has no inputs except for a single solitary ribbon cable running down to the soundbar. The soundbar itself is where all of the other standard HDMI, USB, Optical Audio and other inputs are. That soundbar also has Dolby Atmos, and two speakers that mechanically rise from the main bar whenever it's in use.
Oh, and did I mention the screen itself is also marginally flexible? Because it is. It isn't curve it around a pillar flexible, but there is some flexibility.
This is the last for a reason. Because it was one of the first booths I went to, and the one that by far had me the most amazed. I don't know how they got that video to work on that many screens simultaneously. But it results in a spectacular result. My mouth was wide open and my eyes were wide open.
Composed of multiple 4K OLED TV's, they seamlessly show the video to the left. Floor to ceiling in an arch. Perfect contrast courtesy of being OLED. Everyone I was working with had the LG booth, and likely this experience specifically, at near the top of their lists.