LAS VEGAS — CES International turns Las Vegas on its head. 150,000 people stream in, fill up the hotels, clog the roads and spend hours and hours meeting, eating and greeting. Throughout all this, Vegas natives and hospitality services work hard to keep everybody happy, well fed and, on occasion, slightly lubricated.
See also: Technology in 2014: What to Expect
On Sunday night, CES held its first press event, CES Unveiled. Along with all the journalists were a handful of drink stations and some veteran bartenders. Joe Lanuto is one such barkeep. He had a ready smile as he served up beers, vodka and tonics and my own ginger ale. The Brooklyn, N.Y., native came to Vegas 35 years ago and has been bartending ever since.
When I asked him if he would wear Google Glass for a few minutes while he worked, Lanuto immediately agreed. Now you get to see the world through his eyes.
Your next bed may be able to track how well you slept the night before and if you should lay off the caffeine. Manufacturer Sleep Number introduced the x12 bed at CES this year, a voice-activated bed that monitors your sleep and aims to improve the quality of your snoozing. With a few commands, it can adjust firmness, elevation or give you a massage.
The Babolat Play ($399) is the world's first connected tennis racquet. Intended for both beginners and advanced players, sensors on the handle collect data about the player's swing, power, endurance, technique and ball impact.
Whirlpool is showing off an interactive cooktop concept at 2014 International CES that not only turns a typical kitchen surface into a stovetop, but also a place to check the weather, find recipes on Pinterest, research cooking tips and post pictures to Facebook.
If you're looking to produce real 4K video on the cheap, look no further than Sony's FDR-AX100 Handycam — a consumer 4K camcorder that costs a mere $1,999.
France-based robotics company Induct announced on Monday that its intelligent, electric and driverless vehicle is now available in the U.S.. The Navia shuttle will likely be used at public places such as airports, college campuses, theme parks or sports arenas to eliminate pollution and congestion, rather than at home.
A view of the Vegas Strip from CES 2014.
At CES 2014, Lacie introduced a new Christofle-designed hard drive- the 1TB LaCie Sphere. Plated in silver and polished to a shine, the sphere has a single USB 3.0 cable that connects and powers the hard drive, with a blue status light set into the base. The Sphere will launch later this quarter at $490.
Packing the same technology as its Z1 big brother, the Xperia Z1 Compact has a 4.3-inch display. It's powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor, sports a 20-megapixel camera and includes Sony's Triluminous display technology for a better picture for video playback.
Five new colors were introduced in the GUNNAR Optiks collection to go along with the Onyx that the original one came in. The colors are Cobalt, Fire, Kryptonite, Ghost and Ink. As with the other Optiks glasses, the lenses offer a slight magnification and help filter out harsh light.
Sony claims the α5000 is the lightest Wi-Fi mirrorless camera you can buy, with a body that weighs just 8 ounces. It has a 20.1-megapixel APS-C sensor, as well as Sony's BIONZ image-processing tech, which the company says can reduce noise in low-light photos.
Samsung is supercharging its tablet line with its new Galaxy NoteProand TabPro tablets. The new tablets, which go up to sizes as big as 12.2-inches, are designed to, in Samsung's words, "redefine what a tablet can do."
Samsung announced the Chef Collection suite of premium, "professional chef-level" kitchen appliances designed to meet the needs of even the most discerning home cook. Developed with the input of culinary experts through Samsung's Club Des Chefs initiative, these appliances promise to help consumers manage and master the entire cooking process in style.
Samsung unveiled its 105-Inch Curved 4K TVMonday, and it's a stunner. Samsung is claiming this is "the world's first and largest curved HD TV," but LG might take some issue with that. No price has been released yet.
The brick is a two-way device, meaning you can either pop your SIM card in it and use it as your regular cell, or you can connect to it via Bluetooth. The base model ($70) has a whole month of battery life and the bigger version ($100) has a whopping three months of power.
Unveiled today at CES, Toyota debuted it's latest Fuel Cell Vehicle concept car. Fuel cell vehicles combine pure hydrogen with air to create water, a reaction that also produces electricity. The fuel cell channels the electricity to a drive motor, powering the car.
Samsung's U9000 UHD TVs feature a wider field of view and a balanced and uniform viewing distance across all areas of the screen. The company claims that a curved TV offers up to two times the enhanced contrast ratio of a flat TV in a normal viewing environment.
The Eyelock Myris takes biometric security to the next level. Plug this device into your device's USB port, and it will scan your eye to grant access.
A view of Pepcom at CES 2014 in Las Vegas, NV.
LG G Flex, the first curved phone with a "flexible" display, is moving out of the lab and into U.S. markets in the first quarter of 2014.
Panasonic has dropped the production of plasma TVs, instead focus efforts on increased levels of interaction. The Life+ will come in both 4K and 1080p, but the real feature of note is facial recognition.
For CES 2014, Pebble is showing off its new Pebble 2.0 software, the Pebble app store and Pebble Steel, its premium smart watch. Like the original Pebble, the Pebble Steel is waterproof and has a battery life of 5 to 7 days. The e-paper display is the same, too — only now it's covered with Corning Gorilla Glass.
The Lenovo ThinkPad 8 is sized to compete with the iPad Mini, but the comparison is only skin deep. Lance Ulanoff wonders if Windows 8.1 can compete with Android and iOS.
Sharp's Aquos Quattron technology is capable of creating a picture that comes close to 4K, but from a 1080p set. The new TV's start at a decent price point – the SQ Q+ TVs start a $2,299.99 and the UQ models start at $2,999.99.
Philips' new PicoPix PPX3610
Schwinn unveiled the CycleNav Smart Bike Navigator. Schwinn CycleNav is a free mobile application paired with a handlebar-mounted smart-bike navigation unit designed to give riders turn-by-turn audio and visual navigation from their handlebars.
The SOL Republic Relays are designed to fill two niches: everyday wear and fitness wear. Mashable reporter Pete Pachal says they're some of the most comfortable he's worn.
Toshiba joins the list of Chromebook manufacturers with a 13.3-inch netbook. While it isn't the largest-resolution Chromebook on the market, Toshiba's Chromebook has an impressive $279 price tag.
This smart bracelet, from Neatatmo, measures sun exposure and connects to iOS devices to let users know if they've had too much (or too little) sun.
The Tao coaches you through 50 exercises related to isometrics — the science of applying pressure, which is the basis of many popular workouts such as pilates and plank exercising — and adds a gaming element.
At CES Unveiled, Sphero introduced the 2B model, the second model of the popular Orbotix toy.
Kolibree introduced a smart toothbrush that monitors user's brushing habits and let's them keep track of their routines on an app.
Any CES wouldn't be complete without a fleet of drones. Parrot introduced a minidrone model at CES Unveiled.
Chevrolet announced it is bringing 4G LTE to its OnStar infotainment system.
The 2015 Corvette Stingray has a performance data recorder which allows drivers to record hi-definition video and share with friends.
Image: Mashable/Nina Frazier