CESUnveiled 2013 Largest Ever; Sennheiser, HzO, KidsGear, Ampjacket

CES 2013, held on Sunday at The Mandalay Bay Hotel, was the largest of its kind, ever. (Zennie62 coverage sponsored by Tout.com) There was too much to cover, so this year, I picked a few companies and focused on them. What follows are highlights with more indepth videos to come later today.

(Also, if you’re at CES or the New Media Expo, on Tuesday, January 8th, come to the “You Don’t Have To Be A Blogger Party” at Mandalay Bay, Tuesday at 11 PM at Mix Lounge on the 64th floor!)

First, an admission: the drawback of covering CES for the 3rd year in a row is you think you know where everything is, so you don’t need to read anything. That’s the dumb mistake this blogger made, and in Las Vegas, where the buildings are enormous as as the distances between them, you pay for it.

CES Unveiled has been at The Venetian Hotel for the last two years (at least), so it was logical to expect it to be there again. Plus, with the New Media Expo also going on Sunday at Rio, the result was going from Excalibur to Las Vegas Convention Center via Monorail to get the CES badge ($5), then cab to Rio to get the New Media Expo badge ($15), then cab to The Venetian ($13), only to discover that CES Unveiled was at Mandalay Bay, calling for another cab ($14).

After getting my badge, I was almost impailed:

Second, once there, one has to walk a mile from the hotel lobby to the South Convention Center, where CES Unveiled was held. Plus, I have my shoulder bag with computer and camcorder equipment, which is about 40 pounds. Sunday was a good workout, but it was worth it. Here’s why.

CES Unveiled Had A Ton Of Press And Products

The room for CES Unveiled was just plain huge, as this Tout will show:

And the product offerings were dominated by headphones – far more than I’ve ever seen before. There were offerings I’ve featured before, specifically Bob Marley’s Headphones, and then there was the busy Sennheiser booth, where they’re known for high-end headphones “in pursuit of the perfect sound” which can cost as much as $349 or more (YouTube video coming).

But looking at the booths revealed a more products of that type than ever. Why? Demand. As one Sennheiser rep told me, “people want headphones that reflect a certain style and image.” If that’s the case, Dr. Dre’s headphone line that made him one of the riches men in the World is the going image everyone wants. Unfortunately, Dre was not at CES Unveiled. But then, he didn’t need to be, I guess.

But then where there weren’t headphones, there were devices like the Ampjacket by Kubxlab. It’s a device for the iPhone 5 that boosts the sound by a factor of 2.

HzO

This is a cool product to have if you’ve ever dropped your phone in a glass of beer. Here’s the press release summary for HzO:

NavELite, a global provider of backlit magnetic compasses,has signed an agreement with HZO, Inc. provider of a patented, award winning WaterBlock technology used to protect electronics from damage due to moisture, water and small debris.

And as my video will show, that’s what it does!

Finally, we have KidsGear (http://www.GearForKids.com), a popular set of headphones and products designed for kids.

The family-run firm created by founder and mother Laurie Peterson has grown to near-pop-culture status with the award-winning Grown-up Performance, Built for Kids! brand, announced today the new Kidz Gear line of KidzControl™ Volume Limit Headphones, now available in five colors. Building on the success of the original Gray colored headphones, Kidz Gear has now expanded its product line to include five new colors: Pink, Orange, Blue, Green and Purple, to match their personal color preference and style. Compatible with all audio devices that use a 3.5mm (1/8”) audio jack, the Kidz Gear Headphones work with MP3 players, iPads, iPods, game consoles, and even standard DVD and CD players.

I met KidsGear VP of Sales and Marketing Jack Peterson for dinner at Fleur at Mandalay Bay, where we had an extensive video interview, and a long talk after that. So stay tuned for more on KidsGear!

Stay tuned for more, and follow me on Tout.com and on Twitter.com, @Zennie62.