CES (formerly an initialism for Consumer Electronics Show[1]) is an annual trade show organized by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA). Held in January at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States, the event typically hosts presentations of new products and technologies in the consumer electronics industry.
The winter show was successfully held in Las Vegas in 1995 as planned.[3] However, since the summer Chicago shows were beginning to lose popularity, the organizers decided to experiment by having the show travel around to different cities starting in 1995 with a planned show in Philadelphia at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.[citation needed] However, the inaugural E3 gaming show was scheduled to be held on the West Coast in May and proved a source of increasing competition, causing the Philadelphia Summer CES show to be cancelled.[4] The 1996 Winter show was again held in Las Vegas in January,[5][6] followed by a Summer show this time in Orlando, Florida, however only a fraction of the traditional exhibitors participated.[6] Again, the 1997 Winter show in Las Vegas was very successful. The next "Summer" show was scheduled to be held in conjunction with Spring COMDEX in Atlanta, however when only two dozen-or-so exhibitors signed on, the CES portion of the show was cancelled.
In 1998, the show changed to a once-a-year format with Las Vegas as the location. In Las Vegas, the show is one of the largest (the other being CONEXPO-CON/AGG), taking up to 18 days to set up, run and break down.[7]
The first CES was held in New York City from June 24 to 28, 1967. The 200 exhibitors attracted 17,500 attendees to the Hilton and Americana hotels over those four days. On view: the latest pocket radios and TVs with integrated circuits.[8]
Philips unveiled the first-ever home VCR, the N1500 videocassette recorder. Until that point, VCRs cost upward of $50,000 and were used mainly by TV stations, but the Philips model with a built-in tuner was just $900.[9]
Winter CES held January 7–9 in Chicago, at the Conrad Hilton Hotel. Per the show guide, it included video (with television receivers and video systems panels), audio (including CB radio, radio, audio compacts, audio components, and tape equipment panels), and calculator and watch areas, considered separate component conferences. Speakers included the FTC's Joan Bernstein on "The Warranty Law -- Its Status and Impact," and the FCC's Richard M. Smith on "Regulating Citizens' Band Radios."
Summer CES held June 13–16 also in Chicago, at McCormick Place.
Philips unveiled the first-ever home VCR, the N1500 videocassette recorder. Until that point, VCRs cost upward of $50,000 and were used mainly by TV stations, but the Philips model with a built-in tuner was just $900.
Philips unveiled the first-ever home VCR, the N1500 videocassette recorder. Until that point, VCRs cost upward of $50,000 and were used mainly by TV stations, but the Philips model with a built-in tuner was just $900.[9]
Winter CES held January 7–9 in Chicago, at the Conrad Hilton Hotel. Per the show guide, it included vid
Winter CES held January 7–9 in Chicago, at the Conrad Hilton Hotel. Per the show guide, it included video (with television receivers and video systems panels), audio (including CB radio, radio, audio compacts, audio components, and tape equipment panels), and calculator and watch areas, considered separate component conferences. Speakers included the FTC's Joan Bernstein on "The Warranty Law -- Its Status and Impact," and the FCC's Richard M. Smith on "Regulating Citizens' Band Radios."
Summer CES held June 13–16 also in Chicago, at McCormick Place.
Summer CES June 6 at Chicago saw the first appearance of Commodore 64 and General Consumer Electronics' (GCE) Vectrex.Summer CES June 6 at Chicago saw the first appearance of Commodore 64 and General Consumer Electronics' (GCE) Vectrex.[11]
Japanese jazz fusion artist, Ryo Kawasaki, performed with the Commodore 64 at the Summer CES (June 3–June 6 at Chicago) as a demo for the Kawasaki Synthesizer.[12]
At Summer CES. Nintendo unveiled the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), the American version of its Famicom, with a new case redesigned by Lance Barr and featuring a "zero insertion force" cartridge slot.[13]
In Summer CES, Sony revealed a Super Famicom with a built-in CD-ROM drive, that incorporated Green Book technology or CD-i, called "Play Station" (also known as SNES-CD). However, a day after the announcement at CES, Nintendo announced that it would be breaking its partnership with Sony, opting to go with Philips instead while using the same technology.[14][15]
Winter CES saw unveiling of Game Gear.[16] Games for NEC's TurboGrafx-16, Game Gear.[16] Games for NEC's TurboGrafx-16, Sega Genesis, and SNK's Neo-Geo took center stage [17]
In the summer CES held in Chicago and dominated by video game products,[18] Apple Inc. unveiled off its Newton MessagePad.[19] First recorders introduced for the two rival digital systems targeted as replacements for the Philips Compact Cassette analog audio tape system: MiniDisc created by Sony and Digital Compact Cassette (DCC), created by Philips and Matsushita.[20][21]
In a one-time experiment, the Summer CES 1993 was open to the general public.[22]
Major announcements during this edition were:
Microsoft officially unveiled the final design of its Xbox console.
Microsoft officially unveiled the final design of its Xbox console.[28] Microsoft chairman Bill Gates showed the finished design of the Xbox console and controller.[29] The Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation (RBRC) announced expansion of Charge Up to Recycle! program to include all consumer rechargeable batteries, adding Nickel Metal Hydride (Ni-MH), Lithium Ion (Li-Ion), and Small VRLA (SSLA/Pb).
Microsoft demonstrated a preview version of Windows XP Media Center Edition at CES 2002.[30]
The Memory Stick PRO was introduced as a joint effort between Sony and SanDisk,.[31] Adobe announced Adobe Photoshop Album to import, organize and edit digital photos, and allows quick and easy searching and sharing of entire photo collections. Pentax announced the OptioS digital camera. Sony launched its first DVD Handycam Camcorders. Olympus announced weather proof metal body Olympus mju U10D, S300D, u300D and 400 Digital cameras[32]
The Blu-ray Group held at the January 2004 CES the first US press conference to promote the Blu-ray Disc format.[33]
The 2005 CES was from January 6 to 9, 2005, in Las Vegas, Nevada, at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The event started off with a twist when the main keynote address by Microsoft chairman Bill Gates went wrong, as his demonstration of Windows Media Center resulted in a Blue Screen of Death,[34] much to the amusement of the onlookers. Samsung showed off a 102-inch (2.6 m) plasma television.[35]
Zimiti Ltd (renamed Boardbug Ltd in 2007) won the "Best of Innovators"[36] award for Personal Electronics. It is the only British company to have won this award.
The 2006 exhibition took place on January 5–8, 2006, at the Las Vegas Convention Center, the Sands Convention Center, the Alexis Park hotel and the Las Vegas Hilton hotel. HDTV was a central theme in the Bill Gates keynote[37] as well as many of the other manufacturer's speeches. The standards competition between HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc was conspicuous, with some of the first HD movie releases[38] and first HD players being announced at the show. Philips showed a rollable display prototype whose screen can retain an image for several months without electricity. Hillcrest Labs won the "Best Of Innovations" award in the video accessories category for software and hardware that allows a television to be controlled with natural gestures.[39][40] Attendance was over 150,000 individuals in 1.67 million net square feet of space, making it the largest electronics event in the United States.
In a break from recent tradition, the 2007 CES exhibition did not begin on a Thursday, nor span a weekend. It ran from Monday to Thursday on January 8–11, 2007. The venues also changed slightly, with the high-performance audio and home theater expo moving from the Alexis Park venue to The Venetian. The remaining venues were the same as previous years: the Las Vegas Convention Center was the center of events, with the adjacent Las Vegas Hilton, and the Sands Expo and Convention Center hosting satellite exhibitions.
The location for the main keynotes was the other major change for 2007. Previously held at the Las Vegas Hilton's Main Theater, they staged for the first time at The Palazzo Ballroom in The Venetian. Bill Gates gave his ninth pre-show The Palazzo Ballroom in The Venetian. Bill Gates gave his ninth pre-show keynote address on the Sunday evening. The opening keynote was presented by Gary Shapiro (President/CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association, which hosts the event), with Ed Zander, Chairman/CEO of Motorola. Other keynote speakers scheduled included Robert Iger from The Walt Disney Company, Michael Dell, founder of Dell Inc., and Leslie Moonves of CBS.
Finally, Industry Insider presentations moved to the Las Vegas Hilton, with contributions from Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, CEO of Nokia and John Chambers, CEO of Cisco.
In the gaming section for Windows Vista and DirectX 10, there were two games shown: Age of Conan and Crysis.
The 2008 exhibition was from January 7 to 10, 2008, in Las Vegas with 141,150 attendees. Bill Gates gave the keynote speech, in which he formally announced his retirement from his day-to-day duties at Microsoft. Along with the announcement, he presented a lengthy comedy skit on what his last day with Microsoft would be like, complete with cameos from celebrities including Jay-Z, Steven Spielberg, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and many others.[41][failed verification]
Panasonic attracted much attention by releasing a 150" Plasma TV, as well as a 50" TV as thin as 0.46 in. (11.6 mm).
The 2016 CES was held January 6–9, 2016, in Las Vegas and 3,600 companies attended; the CES 2016 venues of the Las Vegas Convention Center, the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino and the Sands Expo & Convention Center had over 2.4 million square feet utilized for the event. The 2016 event had notably more security with full bag searches and police officers in armored gear and explosives detection dogs.[98]
In 2016, there were only 22 CES Innovation Awards Honorees in the Tech for a Better World category. These included Advanced Ordnance Teaching, Clinical Bidet, Ossia’s Cota Wireless Power Technology,[99] eFit, eGeeTouch
In 2016, there were only 22 CES Innovation Awards Honorees in the Tech for a Better World category. These included Advanced Ordnance Teaching, Clinical Bidet, Ossia’s Cota Wireless Power Technology,[99] eFit, eGeeTouch Smart Fingerprint-NFC Luggage Lock, Eye Tribe Tracker Pro, homnistat, Hydrao, Jacoti Hearing Suite, K-1 Assistive Device, Luminon, MATRIX, Netatmo Presence, Noke U Locke, Owlet Baby Monitor, PanaCast 2, RemoPill, SCiO, Smart Air Purifier, The New Kano, Whirlpool Smart Top Load, and ZPower.[100]
One of the most anticipated technologies at 2016 CES was experiencing consumer device charging without wires—or "wireless power" --, as shown by companies like Energous, Ossia, and WiTricity.[101]
CES 2017 was held January 5–8, 2017, in Las Vegas.[102] Even with tight security at the show, two prototype Razer triple-screen gaming laptops were stolen during the show. Min-Liang Tan, co-founder and chief executive officer of Razer, said that the company is treating the case as "industrial espionage". A Razer spokesperson said they were offering $25,000 for any "original information leading to the identification, arrest and conviction" of anyone who was involved with the crime.[103]
CES 2018 was held January 9–12, 2018, in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. Many companies such as Amazon, Nvidia, and Google had a presence at the event.[104]
The newest model of Sony's Aibo companion robot was featured here, and was noticed as one of the standout items of 2018.
In this year, there were 31 CES Innovation Award categories. CES Best of Innovation Award Honorees included Siren Diabetic Socks, 2018 Nissan Leaf, Samsung's first consumer M
The newest model of Sony's Aibo companion robot was featured here, and was noticed as one of the standout items of 2018.
In this year, there were 31 CES Innovation Award categories. CES Best of Innovation Award Honorees included Siren Diabetic Socks, 2018 Nissan Leaf, Samsung's first consumer Micro LED TV, Wi-Charge's Long-Range Wireless Power Technology,[105] Intel Movidius Neural Compute Stick, 3D Touch Surface Display by Continental Automotive Systems, Aipoly Autonomous Store Platform, AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950X, Amaryllo's AR4, A.I. security camera, IRIVER media player, Bang & Olufsen's BeoSound Shape, BUDDY robot by Blue Frog Robotics, HP's 3D Camera, Dell Ocean-Bound Plastics Packaging Program, ElliQ by Intuition Robotics, Ethereal Halo by Ethereal Machines, InstruMMents 01 world’s first Dimensioning Instrument, Kensington VeriMark Fingerprint Key, Lancey smart space heater, LG 4K UHD Projector, Light L16 multi-aperture camera, Looxid VR, MARS smart TWS earbuds, Sproutel's social robot, Nura headphones, NUVIZ Head-Up Display for motorcyclists, Samsung Family Hub 3.0 Refrigerator, Trident 3 Arctic gaming console, Dynamic's WalletCard, WHILL Model Ci and Willow Wearable Breast Pump.
In a way of celebrating CES 2018, a Las Vegas strip club even decided to introduce the public to their creations, which were the world’s first ever robot strippers.[106]
CES 2019 was held on January 8–11, 2019 in Las Vegas Valley, Nevada with 182K+ total attendants and 4.4K+ companies exhibited. John Deere had a presence at the event[107] while Mercedes Benz debuted the second-generation CLA Class at the show.[108] Hikvision and IFlytek, two companies later sanctioned by the U.S. government for allegedly enabling human rights abuses in Xinjiang with their technology, were also present.[109]
Honda introduced the Autonomous Work Vehicle and P.A.T.H. (Predicting Action of The Human) Bot at the show.[110] Russia's search giant Yandex announced that they had been offering free driverless rides as a demo of their autonomous Yandex taxi service.[111] There are 30 CES Innovation Award categories. CES Best of Innovation Honorees include the KitchenAid Cook Processor Connect, LG V40 ThinQ, Zumi RoboCar, Ring Spotlight Cam, Samsung 2019 Family Hub, and the 2018 Nissan Leaf for the second time in a row.[112] Google had set up its Google Assistant-themed ride at their booth.[113]
Notoriously, CES received a large amount of negative press and backlash from feminists worldwide for its decision (later reversed) to revoke a CES Innovations Award for a female pleasure device presented to Lora DiCarlo, with CES stating the reasoning for the revocation was “products that are immoral, obs
Notoriously, CES received a large amount of negative press and backlash from feminists worldwide for its decision (later reversed) to revoke a CES Innovations Award for a female pleasure device presented to Lora DiCarlo, with CES stating the reasoning for the revocation was “products that are immoral, obscene, indecent, profane, or not in keeping with CTA’s image will be disqualified.".[114] The award was later reinstated.[115]
The 53rd CES was held in Las Vegas, Nevada from January 7–10, 2020.[116] Apple Inc. attended its first CES since 1992.[116][117]
Automotive has become a major part of CES with focus on innovation in electric vehicles, infotainment, telematics, autonomous capabilities and ride sharing. Even major OEMs are now using CES to introduce new automotive technologies to the public the first time. Suppliers to the automotive industry involving electronics are increasingly present at the CES. At the CES 2020 it was particularly noticeable that a large number of vendors in autonomous (self driving) technology were present. Mercedes showcased their Vision AVTR concept car of the future inspired by the movie Avatar.[4] Sony was possibly the biggest surprise at CES 2020 with their electric vehicle concept incorporating Sony technologies for sensors and infotainment.[5] A range of the electric vehicles shown at CES 2020 are expected to enter production in the next 1–2 years from the established OEMs as well as startups such as Rivian, BYTON, Faraday Future and others.[6].
Hyundai and Uber announced a joint-initiative at CES 2020 to develop a 100% electrically-powered flying taxi that will feature vertical take off/landing and a four-passenger capacity at 180 mph. The partnership marks the first for the Uber Elevate initiative for aerial ridesharing.[118]
Consumer-focused internet security startup, Clario Tech Limited,[119] launched at CES 2020, announcing their new cross-platform security application, while hosting booth #12055.[120]
CES 2021 will be a full-digital event[121] due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The CES created a corresponding Asian conference, CES Asia, was planned to happen annually during the month of June in Shanghai, but has been cancelled indefinitely:[122]
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