CES 2014 - Part 1

Following a wonderful Christmas experience with my family, I headed straight to Las Vegas for a business trip.  The focus of the trip was to attend the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show.  This is an annual gathering of several industries - all focused around the electronic gadgets and devices that consumers buy throughout the year:  TVs, computers, phones, cars, appliances, game systems...basically anything you would find in a Best Buy/FutureShop and more.

For those of you that know me...I'm not a fan of Las Vegas.  I'm fine with the spectacle of it all...however, when you add 150,000 extra people to the town - it gets crowded and expensive.  Normal hotel rooms that go for $180/night, run up to $600/night during CES!  I arrived in town a few days early to participate in a press conference that my company held.  We launched a new computer chip that will power both notebook and desktop PCs.  It was a revolutionary architecture for computers, and I was there to give an hour-long speech about the software that would take advantage of this new chip.

We held the event at the brand-new Cosmopolitan Hotel.  It's an absolutely gorgeous facility, nestled next to the Bellagio:

The Chandelier Bar...a spectacular two-level bar in the center of the main atrium

My company arranged for over 110 members of the press (from around the globe) to attend.  The hotel treated me like a VIP - even delivering a gift basket to my door after I checked in.

Just to prove I was there, I took this picture from my balcony...it's about the best I could do ; )

One of the coolest aspects of this hotel was its parking garage.  Yeah, I know that sounds strange.  However, they were really smart.  Basically, when you pull into the garage, you see a series of small lights down each row.  These lights are placed above every single parking spot.  There is a sensor that can detect if a car is parked in that spot, or not.  If the space is vacant, the light turns green, letting you know EXACTLY where an open space is located.

This makes me very happy...not having to search up-and-down rows for what might be an open space.  Even better, they have displays that will tell you exactly how many parking spaces are open on each row.  Genius!!!

After setting up equipment, we held a small reception at one of their top restaurants.  From the balcony, you had a spectacular view of the Las Vegas Strip:

The next day was the "big show".  We call it a "Tech Day" as we spend several hours talking to computer hardware press about the details of the new APU (accelerated processing unit) or simply "the chip".  

The room was packed with reporters, all writing as we presented different aspects of the new system.

My presentation went really, really well.  Not bad, considering that none of the software was working up until 1 hour before showtime ; )  I think that's the closest I've ever come to a complete failure in front of the press.  Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures from my presentation. It seems that none of my colleagues remember how to use the camera on their phones ; )

That evening, we held a special reception for the press at the Foundation Room, located on top of the Mandalay Bay resort.  This is a members-only lounge that has another incredible view of the Las Vegas Strip.  Amazing what a few million lights will do to enhance the view ; )

The next day, after conducting 1-on-1 interviews with press from China, Australia and the U.S., I had to switch to another hotel - for a cheaper room rate.  This time, the room only cost $400/night, instead of $600 ; )  I stayed at the MGM Grand Hotel:

That evening, we held a more "public" press conference that was open to mainstream press, not just the folks that focus on computer hardware.  We talked about the fact that our chips were powering the new PlayStation 4, as well as the new Xbox One.  In addition, our graphics technology is featured in the new Mac Pro - an unbelievably slick computer from Apple.  You can see it here at our press conference - the unit is on the right and the cover is on the left.  It's a tiny, but powerful design for a desktop computer.

We also showed some innovative new technology in different areas.  For gaming on tablets, imagine you take your tablet/iPad and place it in a hand-held "cradle".  The cradle comes with a controller under each hand that let's you play advanced games and hear amazing sound out of speakers on the bottom:

Remember that trip to Redmond a few weeks ago?  We showcased Project Spark in our booth and people loved what they saw.  I can't wait for more people to be able to try this game-creation system:

The highlight of the show, and the item that garnered a lot of press for us, was the AMD Nano PC.  Basically, we took a fully-functioning PC and put it into a form no larger than a thick envelope.  It comes complete with a camera, and allows you to do everything you would an a full computer - full high-def games, entertainment, access to word processors, spreadsheets, etc. This thing sits right on top of your TV and will recognize gestures to control movies, games, etc.

One of the highlights of the night was our presentation of the latest graphics technology that we're using to project inside a dome - to create something approaching the Star Trek Holodeck.  We had Levar Burton (Geordi LeForge) there as a guest. He was such a nice guy and we talked about technology advancements

Inside the AMD booth (actually, it was a gigantic tent), we also show advanced PC games being played on five screens at once.  Despite the light from outside reflecting on the screens...this is a really cool way to play games.

That's it for this post.  In our next installment, I'll show you some of the most interesting gadgets from the rest of CES.