So Day 1 of CES 2019 is in the books. Just to recap, the drive to Las Vegas was very smooth giving me ample time to get settled in before heading to the Las Vegas Convention Center for the opening of the exhibits at 10am.
I spent the first three hours in the South Hall which to my surprise had lots of neat hardware available namely in the form of cloud storage devices, server equipment, and lots of different types of drones.
After a short lunch break, I was able to attend a couple of keynote addresses into the afternoon which centered on the growing cyber security threat facing today’s world. It was a very informative panel discussion with the main points being 1) we are ill prepared to handle the potential threats posed by the many gadgets that can now be connected to a home or business network and 2) there is an alarming labor shortage in the field of cyber security which has led to a potential shortfall of over 1 million (!) workers. If you or someone you know wants to get their foot in the door of the IT industry, it’s safe to say that the easiest way to get in is to specialize in cyber security.
After the keynotes, I spent the remainder of my day (until the closing of the exhibits at 6pm) in the North and Central Halls which had lots of big name vendors such as Samsung, LG, Qualcomm, Sony, and Intel displaying and debuting their latest offerings. I was amazed at how lots of auto manufacturers (i.e. Mercedes, Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, Ford, etc.) and accessory companies (i.e. Pioneer, Diamond Audio, Kenwood, Powerbass, etc.) literally had the biggest presence I’ve seen since I started attending CES many years ago. It goes without saying that technology in our vehicles is a major focus in the competition for new auto buyers.
Tomorrow, I plan on heading to the Sands Convention Center and the Venetian hotel which looks to have some more promising exhibits and keynote addresses. Until then, time for my feet to rest and onward to day 2…
