2009 CES Overview

I’ve attended all of the CES shows held in Las Vegas over the past eight years and I was pleasantly surprised by the low attendance by both the manufactures and buyers which would be attributed to the poor economy.

One casualty was Uniden and their lineup of the windshield mounted GPS devices that they had introduced at last year’s show. Weeks prior to the show they had laid off a large percentage of their staff and their radar detector line was removed from their website.

However the poor economic climate did not stop Rayee Technologies of China with their wares of “cheap ass radar detectors” that violated trademarks and patents of several established companies.

Rocky Mountain Radar also had their booth set up in front of the hall but my interview with Rayee Technologies was so overwhelming that I couldn’t bring myself to have another face off with another bunch of thieves.

I had the opportunity to have lunch with Mike Batton a lead Whistler engineer. I couldn’t coax Mike to appear on camera as he related that he was developing a new radar detector that he felt would “blow me away” and if he started talking he wouldn’t be able to stop. However he did promise me that he would get with me just prior to its release in the next few months.

The emphasis in the radar detector industry this year revolved around the integration of GPS and the detection of fixed photo enforcement cameras. Cobra Electronics really stepped forward this year in their marketing of these devices at the CES show with a very informative and engaging presentation.

And of course whom I consider the leader in the radar detector industry the folks from Beltronics/Escort were present and I had a great time interviewing Everett Morrs about their product line.