CES 2012: Basics For Beginners

For those that have never heard of CES, aka the Consumer Electronics Show, think of it like this: it's like a comic book convention where everything is brand new and instead of superheros, there are robots, gigantic computer displays, and so many USB sticks we'll never again have to buy a new one. The following is a very basic guide on what you should expect from it as it occurs this month. CES 2012 will be taking place in Las Vegas, Nevada, and will this year start on Monday the 9th of January, 2012, and end on Friday the 13th (bum bum bummm), but there will be events before (and possibly after) this depending on where we (SlashGear, the site you'll be watching for the world's greatest coverage of the events), decide ultimately to go. CES 2012 will have nearly 150,000 attendees this year, this including everyone from attendees to investors to analysts to representatives from manufacturers, developer groups, mobile carriers, and much, much more.

CES is a show, this meaning that there are several elements in play, the first being the main show floor. On the floor there will be hoards of visitors walking through hundreds of stands that brands have set up to show off their wares. We'll be running through the floor from time to time, but for the most part we'll be at events. The other big element in a show such as this is events – keynote speeches and town-hall meetings. Essentially anything where someone or a set of people stand on stage and talk to the audience that stands before them. That's where the big products will be revealed, and that's where we'll be primarily.

There are also meetings that occur between us, the press, and the brands that want to show off their products up close and personal to you, the user and the consumer. We've got meetings set up with all the big brands (as well as a bunch of up-and-coming brands) that have excellent goodies to let us in on.

Everyone and their tech-loving grandmother will be there. For example AT&T will be there, LG, Intel, Sharp, and Pioneer, Panasonic, Sony Ericsson, and Qualcomm. There's Fujifilm, the DISH Network, Casio, Texas Instrument, NVIDIA, and Ford. Verizon will be there, AUDI, Microsoft, Samsung, and Sharp. And that's only a small spattering. There's so many people here your eyes will bleed when you're done reading all the posts we'll be putting up over the next week – you can bank on it!

I would direct you back to the post we've got up about the CES mobile application for that sort of knowledge. You can tell us what you'd like us to inspect, or you can follow along with the schedule of all the main events from your smartphone or tablet, then watch SlashGear as we bring you the best coverage of each of those events as they occur! Furthermore, we'll continue to have "what we'll see at CES 2012" posts up until the event itself – check out our CES 2012 Leaks post for now!

You sure can, all you've got to do is head to our [CES 2012 portal] to see all the news before, during, and after the show! It's just that easy!

BONUS: for a look at how we'll be covering the events as well as a glimpse of how far-spanning the CES events end up being in effect, check out our [CES 2011 portal] from last year!