The CES is always held in the beginning of January in Las Vegas. It’s one of the shows I’ve been attending for nearly 25 years (ouch!) and it continues to be an interesting assignment. This year, we’re focusing on technology that has applications to the automotive industry. That includes navigation, multimedia, video, and even Internet technologies. In fact, we’re learning that in 2008, many kids will want to migrate away from watching DVDs and will instead want to watch YouTube, all while traveling down the highway.
As per our standard, we now shoot everything in HD, even if the end product will be standard def – or in this case, web-based. This is one show where shooting with smaller cameras is a big plus, as we move from place to place rapidly. This run and gun style of production is useful when working with so many variables.
For a show like this, we typically look for things that we can cover a bit differently. So, rather than just shoot a reporter talking about the latest SYNC System from Microsoft, we’ll interview key engineers from Europe who worked with Microsoft and Ford to bring SYNC to market. We will also look for things that aren’t here yet; an example being the new navigation software that is part of the “Microsoft Auto” suite being shown in the parking lot outside of the convention center.
As this is a technology show, there is plenty of video to check out, too. Last year, HD transmission of 1080i and 720p images was the talk of the town. This year, things have become progressive, with 1080p (due to HD DVDs) the hot topic. HD DVD is dead and Blu Ray is going to survive, but for how long? I wonder if by 2010, we’re all just downloading our movies from a server somewhere.