As the Consumer Electronics Show prepares to open Thursday in Las Vegas, companies are hard at work getting ready for the world's largest gadget coming-out party.
James Martin
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It's the eve of the world's largest gadget convention of the year, the Consumer Electronics Show, which officially gets under way Thursday.
With thousands of exhibitors and attendees descending on the Las Vegas Strip, this show is where many of the newest cutting edge gadgets have their coming-out party. It's a big show, and an awful lot of work goes into its production. Here, outside the Las Vegas Convention Center, there is a quiet calm. But inside, there's a flurry of activity as exhibitors rush to put the finishing touches on their booths.
Take a look at some of the work going on inside just hours before the show kicks off.
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Getting ready at CES
While some booths are nearly complete in preparation for Thursday's opening, other exhibitors are just wandering in, and likely have a long night of setup ahead of them in the hectic South Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center.
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Boost Mobile
At the Boost Mobile prepaid cellular booth, a worker makes some last-minute changes to the display.
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Ed Hardy
At the Ed Hardy booth, preparations are made to a display showing off some of Ed Hardy's Icing designs, which outfit mobile gear with hip, fresh designs.
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Nokia
At the Nokia booth, carpet is being rolled out and the finishing touches being put on the lighting.
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Asus
By this time tomorrow, this tangle of wires at the Asus booth will be a sleek, clean display in time for the opening of CES.
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South Hall
While some exhibitors are ahead of the game and set up, others are running frantically throughout the South Hall hanging signs, rolling out carpet, and adjusting lighting of their products.
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Cranes
The show floor is an obstacle course, with cranes and forklifts squeezing through tight spaces hanging signs, banners, and lights that showcase the next big thing.
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Monitors
Monitors throughout the show are dark today, but tomorrow will be bright with the ideas and products coming to consumers in 2010.
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Hands
Display cases that are filled with empty hands today will be holding the newest phones and MP3 players tomorrow.
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Bubble wrap
The floor is filled with cardboard boxes and bubble wrap now. But tomorrow this venue will be swarming with thousands of people.
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Open
LED signs in the South Hall are being unloaded and set up.
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Cases
A worker hangs colorful phone cases on a wall Wednesday afternoon at CES in Las Vegas.
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Set up
Hundreds of thousands of square feet are still being worked on less than 16 hours from the opening of the show floor.
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Gold headphones
We are in Las Vegas, after all. Here, these flashy gold-encrusted headphones go well with the lights and glitter of the city.
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Still to come
A rig sits on the ground as a worker hurries to get a design together and raised to the ceiling with the help of a nearby crane.
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Miles of halls
At the back of the South Hall, the show floor becomes a labyrinth of meeting rooms where one can quickly become lost in the maze.
