CES: Same Old Show, Some New Ideas

One million exhibitors. Sixty million attendees. Four trillion booths spread across an area the size of Rhode Island.

Those aren't really the specs for the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, but it sure feels like it. C.E.S. is the largest (and most exhausting) trade show in North America, and most of the people who attend it -- exclusively media and electronics-industry personnel -- approach C.E.S. with queasy dread. You emerge from each day with aching feet, a pocket full of business cards and a craving for food that hasn't been reconstituted, thawed and overpriced.

You also emerge with a sneak peek at the product-release timeline for the year ahead. Lots of companies make new-product announcements here, even six or eight months before the products show up in stores.

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