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CES 2012: Ben's Journal Day 1 Part 1

by: Ben Berry -
More On: CES 2012
After a great end to my first day in Vegas, I was looking forward to my first day on the main show floor. Did I forget to mention in my Day Zero journal that I had left my CES badge and all of the accompanying paperwork back in the drawer in North Carolina? Well, because they’ve got their stuff down pat here, it took only 2 minutes for me to get everything replaced and ready to hit the show.

After a great end to my first day in Vegas, I was looking forward to my first day on the main show floor. Did I forget to mention in my Day Zero journal that I had left my CES badge and all of the accompanying paperwork back in the drawer in North Carolina? Well, because they’ve got their stuff down pat here, it took only 2 minutes for me to get everything replaced and ready to hit the show.
 
I started the morning with a short appointment with Archos, the tablet maker. The traffic to the show on the first day is always unbearably slow, and even leaving early still left me late for the meeting. I had just enough time to spend a few minutes with their 10.1 G9; a 10 inch tablet that has all the bells and whistles along with the form factor anyone with large thumbs like me who has been looking for in a gaming tablet. No more bleeding over onto the screen area while grasping the sides of the tablet.
 
My next stop on the docket was a visit with TOSY Robotics. Not truly gaming related, I try to venture outside the box as to what I look at. TOSY has a couple of interesting products in the desktop entertainment range, including the DiscoRobo, a dancing robot that’s hard not to enjoy and could be a nice change of pace while watching load screens on your TV or monitor. You’ll hear more about them in my Day 2 journal as I’ll be attending a press conference featuring Justin Beiber of all people as they announce a new product on Wednesday.
 
Another stop on my road through CES was Road Mice. I’ve covered their products the prior to CES’s and they’re continuing to expand their line with more and more licensed vehicles including the most recent models from Chevrolet and Chrysler with even more on the horizon. A recently signed agreement has them on track to thrill military fans with a HUMVEE shaped mouse. Imagine playing MW3 with that sucker. Talk about getting in the mood. Plus, they’ve finally taken the obvious step of signing a NASCAR license, and will be additionally producing mouse pads and keyboards with matching branding for the various licensed drivers. Danicka Patrick is first one the list, but probably won’t be last. You can look for one of their car mice and a mouse pads in one of our upcoming product giveaways on Twitter.
 
Diamond Multimedia was my last official stop for the day on the show floor. I went there to see their newest monster card, the Radeon HD 7970, a top of the line screamer that looks like a guaranteed winner. The fastest single processor video card in the world, plus it comes with PCI-E 3.0, it’s the current wet dream of video cards. Following hot on it’s heels will be the 7950 which will debut in February. We’ll be reviewing one or maybe even both cards in the coming weeks and months, so definitely look forward to that.