Top 10 best and worst of CES 2009

The highlights of this year's CES show included the launch of the Palm Pre and several skinny displays

The keynotes have passed, the press conferences have wrapped up, and the show floor has closed its doors on CES 2009. As an estimated 130,000 people start to head home it's time we look back on our pick for the top 10 stories that made the 2009 show memorable, for the right and wrong reasons.

Las Vegas is all about glitz and showmanship and, once that wears out, all that's left will be the cold hard light of day. Overall CES got by, but it neither prospered nor showed revolutionary advances. This made picking the list and awarding just 10 places particularly tricky.

The Consumer Electronics Association, by contrast, gave out more than 300 awards this year, out of about 1,000 applicants. That gives an awards strike rate that would have the average betting shop customer fighting to put money on, and not a few chief executives or marketing directors it seems.

So here it is, our take of the highs and lows of CES 2009.

The Best ...

1. Palm
Iain Thomson: We knew beforehand that the Palm press conference was going to be important. The company has been dying by degrees for years now and this really was their last chance to try and get back the hearts and minds of users.

Well, they didn't disappoint. The Palm Pre is one of the most exciting bits of kit I've seen in years, and my immediate reaction was I WANT ONE NOW. The Pre has a few faults to be sure - it's only for the US market (big mistake), it's short on memory and doesn't have removable storage - but the operating system is fantastic and I'm actually tempted to buy one for the first time in years.

Whether the Pre will mend Palm's fortunes is still in doubt; the company has a long way to go yet. But the Pre gives me hope that the company that kick-started the handheld PC market might actually survive in it.

Shaun Nichols: Everyone likes to describe their latest smartphone as an 'iPhone killer', but few ever come close to matching the style and experience Apple delivers.

Palm may just have done it this time. Though there are still a lot of questions surrounding the Pre, most notably price and availability, we may be looking at the next big thing in smartphones.

Windows Mobile could be the big loser here. The Microsoft OS now faces the prospect of having three other big systems to compete with between the BlackBerry, Palm and iPhone operating systems, not to mention Google's Android.

2. Light turnout
Shaun Nichols: When you're talking about a show that usually draws about 150,000 people, "light turnout" is a relative term. Still, there was a slightly noticeable difference in the crowds at this year's CES. The queues were just a bit shorter, the walkways a tiny bit less crowded, and the taxi lines slightly more bearable.

Though it was not the best news for the hotels and event organisers, a lower turnout at CES did make Las Vegas a bit easier to navigate.

Iain Thomson: Having 300 fewer companies to display was not popular, but the show still covered 1.7 million square feet this year.

The stands were busy and the companies were largely reporting a steady amount of business to be done. However, economies have been made, with companies like Microsoft cutting total staffing levels at the show by up to two thirds this year.

Some reduction is possibly a good thing for the show in a way, and there were still some products on display that I suspect are destined for the dustbin of industrial history. One such was a tubular headset to plug your mobile phone into which holds it in the correct position to make your calls, thus eliminating the need to deal with "troublesome Bluetooth synchronisation"!

I can't help feeling that CES should consider resetting the date of the show for the industry, however. Many people are saying that the timing of the show is hurting the trade, because companies have to build their schedules around making a splash at CES, thus denying themselves publicity in the months during the lucrative Christmas season.

3. Skinny displays
Iain Thomson: A walk around the show floor has shown that monitors are getting skinnier and skinnier, which is no bad thing. As someone who was raised on CRT technology, today's screens just look amazing.

Panasonic's thin plasma screens look very nice indeed and some of the organic LED (OLED) displays we saw look amazing. Kudos too to Samsung and Sharp, which have been displaying TV sets that make you seriously question your current model.

We also saw very skinny screens on laptops. Sony's Vaio range has wafer thin screens and Asus too has been showing off some very slim models.

Shaun Nichols: Big bright screens lend themselves very well to a show floor, so it's no wonder that displays rank as the big draws at CES year in and year out. This year was no exception.

Sharp and Panasonic had some very cool screens to show off, while Samsung's massive gallery of screens bordered on the surreal. Elsewhere the show floor was packed full of displays flashing product information or attention-seeking adverts.

4. Green technology
Shaun Nichols: It is definitely about time that CES paid major attention to the green technology industry. This year, companies ranging from solar-power vendors to makers of energy-saving gadgets and carbon footprint calculators were given prime billing at the show.

In the end, of course, CES is about commerce, so the big names and big money have to get the most billing. Still, companies and event organisers can still turn a nice profit and show a conscience at the same time.

Iain Thomson: Well I've got strong doubts regarding some of the claims by vendors to be lovers of the environment, but progress is being made.

We had a big recycling announcement and many companies making pledges to cut the amount of hazardous material in the average PC and the ease of its recycling. This is driven by government regulation, like the EU WEEE directives, or just by simple economics with people wanting to buy environmentally friendly.

But the most important long-term effects for the environment come from the effort PC system builders are now putting into longevity. Forget any return to buying PCs that were expected to be in operation for a couple of years before needing to be upgraded.

Chip density may be following Moore's engineering predictions, but who needs more power? Most people looking to buy a system today are going to have pretty much all the available hardware specifications needed to compute for about five years, given Linux's efficiency and Windows 7, which seems to need the same or less processing power than Vista.

5. Microsoft keynote
Iain Thomson: OK, Microsoft are bottom of the good list, but Ballmer does get credit in my book for handling his first CES opening keynote well.

Ballmer isn't an inspiring speaker at the best of times, preferring the shouty, shouty approach to nuance and depth. However, he has either had speech training or has realised that this is not a good sound and was actually rather pleasant to listen to.

He's obviously enthusiastic about Windows 7, but he also managed to enthuse listeners – the key component of any keynote speaker. As you listened you began to think that actually what he was saying was right, we were at a juncture in technological history and that things would never be the same again.

Of course, that feeling almost never lasts and you realise after it ends that the world is still on its axis and he'd just announced a lot of new products and a few nebulous ideas, but it's the spirit that counts.

Shaun Nichols: After the last couple of showings Gates has put forth at CES, Steve Ballmer most certainly had a tough act to follow in Vegas. The Microsoft chief executive is also known for getting too carried away at events and making himself out as a bit of a buffoon, so his smooth and professional performance on the tech world's largest stage most definitely deserves recognition.

That said, I think there was just so much more Microsoft could have done, but you can read more on that later.

The worst ...

1. Microsoft keynote
Shaun Nichols: We gave them a bit of recognition earlier for not having a complete disaster, but in reality, Microsoft let a golden opportunity slip away this year.

This could have been a huge moment for Microsoft: the stage was set perfectly. For the first time in years, Apple had failed to blow anyone away at Macworld, the floundering economy had everyone itching for good news, and the recent departure of Bill Gates had the stage set for the company to usher in a bright new era for Microsoft.

Unfortunately, the company let this big opportunity get away. While he didn't self-destruct, Steve Ballmer also underwhelmed with his keynote. There were no super-cool demos, no memorable celebrity cameo, and the company failed to whip up much excitement over Windows 7.

Microsoft really wasted a chance to steal the show and, for the first time in years, get itself squarely in the tech spotlight in a positive light.

Iain Thomson: The keynote may have been well delivered, but there was precious little to steal the headlines with rival Apple having a light news New Year, in content as well as organisation.

Based on the demonstrations it looks like Microsoft is beginning to grasp the importance of some of the networking technology it is going to need in the future. It's far behind the technological bleeding edge, but its bulk still gives protection of a sorts from being slightly behind the pack.

Ballmer's speech was also an acknowledgement that Vista is pretty much toast. He slipped up by mentioning it a couple of times, but Microsoft is all about Windows 7 at the moment. There's even talk that it's low-balling expectations on the release date and getting it on sale by Christmas.

2. Traffic
Iain Thomson: You could tell instantly the day CES started – the area gridlocked. We got here for the press day, which is the day before the show starts, and the taxi ride was quick and efficient. The next day for the last half mile it would have been quicker to have got out and walked.

Las Vegas is one of the most traffic-friendly cities, in a nation of cities built to accommodate the automobile. Nevertheless, getting between halls was a pain in the backside and highly frustrating when you're trying to deliver a video camera for someone to use.

There is, of course, the famed monorail to get you to the convention centre. However, it only runs to a few hotels and those were way outside our budget. I'm sure taxi drivers love the long waits, but for the showgoer they are a major irritant.

Shaun Nichols: Even a slow CES is a total nightmare as far as traffic and crowds are concerned. If you're claustrophobic, germophobic, or just enjoy your personal space, it's going to be a rough week for you.

Economic worries aside, 130,000 people packed into a small area will always cause some logistical problems. This year's event suffered from all the same issues as previous shows, even if they were to a slightly lesser extent.

3. The 'no photos' police
Shaun Nichols: Is there anything more asinine than forbidding 130,000 people from taking photos while visiting an open booth at one of the industry's biggest trade shows? This year, Samsung in particular was one such offender, with more than one showgoer being told to put their cameras away rather than get a shot of one of the company's new displays.

Apparently, Samsung's management wants to make it very clear that the general public outside of CES should not be looking at the company's television sets, and they were not alone. Brilliant strategy all round.

Iain Thomson: It does seem a trifle odd that some companies are publicity shy when they pay so much for the floorspace. Still I'm sure it will bring them dividends, although not in the financial sense.

Still I found security surprisingly light at most of the show. Companies were practically encouraging you to try out the systems on display, and photography was not an issue, showing an awareness that people trying to sell their board on a new system will be better prepared if they had video footage of it.

4. Hotels
Iain Thomson: Las Vegas is a city built around the hotel trade. If you've got the money you can have a whale of a time and many do, but the city is also built to cater for the budget traveller if you believe the hype.

However, at the budget end of the scale the choices are not exactly inspiring for the many thousands of delegates. No Wi-Fi, paper-thin walls and a relaxed approach to housekeeping are commonplace complaints on the show floor and in the crews outside the outdoor food stands.

But the other oddity of the show was that the hotels themselves were panicking. Usually you have to book hotels well in advance because space is at a premium and prices go up the closer you get to CES. This year prices actually fell as the show approached; a worrying sign.

Shaun Nichols: CES 2009 defied all logic in that as the show grew closer, the room prices got lower. I guess that's how it goes in Vegas.

While I can completely understand the textbook supply and demand issues that come about during the show, it can be very frustrating to shell out top-dollar for rooms that are normally a third of their CES prices. The first thought upon entering any room at CES is a reflection on what sort of room that money would get at any other time of the year.

5. CES Flu
Shaun Nichols: It's pretty much inevitable. You go to CES healthy, you come home sick as a dog. Breathing in an insidious mixture of close quarters, high stress, and nonstop hand-shaking, the heinous viruses that spread throughout the show have become the stuff of legend.

The CES flu has caused more tech workers to call in sick than a new iPhone release. Even as I write this, I can feel the dreaded illness making its way into my sinus passages and taking up residence in the back of my throat. Let's just hope there's still some vitamin C drops left at the airport pharmacy.

Iain Thomson: With so many nations represented at CES it's inevitable that someone's going to be travelling sick so any show of this size acts as a huge jump in the illness rate of attendees.

A visit to a stand guarantees you a handshake or two and there was plenty of hacking and spluttering going on in the press conferences, on some company's claims as well as through disease.

Lots of people are touching the same hardware and walkways on the show floor are fairly narrow at CES and if you're moving through at more than a snail's pace you tend to knock into clumps of people like a human pinball machine. This means many delegates bring back more than a pocketful of business cards and product data.