CES 2011: Covering the show

20,000 products, 2,700 tech companies, 5,000 press and bloggers plus an estimated 140,000 attendees rummaging through a sprawling 1.8 million square feet of gadgets in four days. Now that the Consumer Electronics Show is done, we discuss what the experience was like and the type of gadgets and gear that we used to bring live reports plus timely video from the show floor. Covering CES is a daunting but worthwhile experience.

Jason Oxman, Senior Vice President of Industry Affairs, Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)A few weeks before the show, we had dinner with Jason Oxman, Senior Vice President, Industry Affairs, at Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), who came to Toronto to discuss his expectations for CES 2011. 

“There is a sense of recovery in the air at CES," Oxman said. "Companies are feeling more optimistic about the prospective of economic recovery. There’s just an incredible level of innovation happening in our industry and the entire technology segment wanted to be here to experience that."

Oxman also advised us to wear comfy shoes, keep hand sanitizer handy and keep hydrated. Great advice, which helped us power through the tech extravaganza.

On the ground

The gear used covering  this year's CES included the following-

Cameras:

 Canon EOS 7D - With the ability to shoot digital video plus stills few DSLRs come close to the 7D specially since it has stellar battery life. Tough, dependable and fast, the 7D delivered the goods. We only wish it took SD cards as well as CF cards.

Nikon P6000- An advanced point and shoot option, for the days when we didn't want to lug a large DSLR and lens, this 13 Megapixel camera worked great. The only gripe is that the battery is only good for 200 shots.

Sanyo Xacti HD 2000 - Small, unobtrusive yet capable of shooting clean HD video, the Xacti HD 2000 is ideal for getting footage out of tight situations. The fact that it doubles as a 8 megapixel stills camera, just makes it all the more versatile.

Computers:

13-inch MacBook Pro - Long battery life, Adobe Lightroom 3, Photoshop, GraphicConverter and Microsoft Office.

Apple iPad  Wi-Fi- Didn't get much use except as a content consumption device. The iPhone was a more robust and portable solution.

Wireless devices:

iPhone 4  running on Telus - The iPhone 4 allowed us to blog on-the-spot. The camera is decent and the availability of blogging apps makes this an incredibly powerful tool. It was also our de facto Twitter device throughout CES. Aside from the Squarespace app, we also used Camera + extensively for quick photo adjustments and a better range of features than the standard iPhone camera app.

Mophie Juice Air for iPhone 4 - Doubled our iPhone's battery life and provided ample protection without bulking it up too much, got us through the longer days.

Sierra Wireless Compass 597 (Telus)  - Quick fix Internet access that was reliable and fast.

Sprint MiFi 2200 by Novatel Wireless - This rented personal Wi-Fi hotspot saved us from incurring obscene roaming data charges and kept us connected on the show floor as events unfolded. Speed was so-so most of the time we can't wait for 2012 when 4G pocket hotspots hit the mainstream.