Introduce yourself to Mario, the gregarious restaurant manager and host who makes you feel like you’re part of the family. Word on the street is that Mario is particularly fond of sharing chilled Patron Gold shots with his favorite patrons.

There are tons of really cool mobile phones on display in the Nokia booth (also in the South Hall).

You’ll likely have to battle some pretty big crowds there, though. It was one of the most consistantly crowded booths I saw this week.

They also have this ”green” (literally) Toyota in display in their booth. Not what most people mean when they say “going green”, but, hey, it’s CES.

Thanks Qualcomm :-)

I caught these guys from LA yesterday, who I was told were called Maleno Flamenco (although I searched the web and can’t seem to find them, so please let me know if can). They were incredible.

Belkin was also a finalist for a ”best of CES” award for there cool new wireless HD dongle device, Belkin FlyWire, which is built on technology from semiconductor company AMIMON and instantly turns any HDTV and HD source, such as a HD DVD player, “wireless”.

A fridge that sports a docking station just might be the coolest kitchen innovation at CES this year. Whirlpool’s Centralpark connections refrigerator is 270 pounds of stainless steel that does more than keep food cold. You can dock a tablet PC, digital photo frame or even an iPod stereo system to the door. Maybe next year I’ll see a fridge that can also tell me when my leftover casserole is going bad. Or one that knows when I’m low on milk and can generate a grocery list for me.

This thing is gotta be one of the craziest things launched at this year’s CES. A leopard skinned taser! As if there weren’t enough issues with that topic. Have you ever been tased? Tempted to buy this thing?

Plantronics is the official sponsor of the 2008 CES Blog and Podcast Lounge.  The lounge features wireless and hard line Internet, over 60 workstations, lounge space to rest and relax and a ’sound proof’ podcast room for interviews, as well as couches, tables, TVs and refreshments. 

The lounge has been a great place for bloggers and podcasters to come and have a quiet place to work and relax in the midst of the CES craziness.  Check out these pictures.

Players wear a little battery powered pack on their hip connected to a mini amp and a “magical” belt buckle that picks up cords as they move the included “magical” pick up and down in front of the belt buckle to the designated song.

Demo guy and gals rockin out:

Here’s the gear and packaging up close. And also check out the videos here and here!

I just had to give it a try…it’s amazing how hard it is to do your best “rocker face” when commanded to do so by a crowd of random onlookers. I thought the hat would help, but the result is less rocker and more “I just ate a lemon”. Oh well, you get the point.

Game is out March 1st and cost is only about 20 bones.

The first one I saw was by a company called 3DV Systems, who uses this nifty 3-D camera to control deliver an interactive gaming experience like the boxing demo they were doing below. Notice the player is not wearing any sensors or gloves or anything at all. The camera simply translates his movements into 3D actions within the game:

Here’s an up-close of the nifty camera:

The product also enables hand movements to open and close files and browse through images –think of the wall in that move, Minority Report.

Another cool technology was these underwater camera goggles by Liquid Image. Definitely a necessary addition for anyone traveling to Hawaii and enjoying the the beautiful snorkeling there. Or anyone with a family pool and kids who enjoy developing underwater dances, I suppose.

The software/service has an iTunes plugin downloadable for free, which I saw demoed today and helps auto create music playlists based in similar songs or even similar “energy” levels.

Go by and see them in the exhibit hall at the Venetian

Their software is also coming standard on several MP3 players such as ones by Disney. They had several on display.