Feature: The Biggest CES Pissing Contests

Companies spend a ridiculous amount of money coming out to CES so it makes sense that everyone wants to be the best. But sometimes the competition gets a little out of hand and you end up with companies whipping 'em out to measure 'em.

1. Biggest TV
Sharp put up a good fight last year, but Panasonic must have answered a lot of spam e-mails about enlargement to get their game up to 150-inches. I didn't even see anything remotely close to it in size walking the floor. Sure, there were a bunch of 100-inch sets, but those are so 2005.
Winner: Panasonic
The crap talking continues after the link below

2. Biggest Booth
Microsoft's area is always huge so that doesn't really count. LG and Samsonic both had displays going that were the size of small countries, but it was Intel that really stepped it up. Not only did they have a humongous area inside the hall, but they also had a huge area out in the Central Plaza (read: parking lot) with a real F1 car.
Winner: Intel

3. Best supply of hot booth babes
I know, those girls from the Goodyear booth had something special going on, but when it came right down to it, it was Creative that had the largest, most consistent bunch. Their girls were all dolled up like sexy nurses and there had to be at least 10 of them so they're up there in both quantity and quality.
Winner: Creative

4. Most impressive celebrity appearance
Gibson had Kevin Costner hanging out in their mammoth tent in the parking lot, but I think the winner here is Dell for getting Billy Bob Thornton to sit on the couch in the Dell Lounge.  It's nice to see an actor hanging around without having to listen to their band play a bunch of songs.
Winner: Dell

5. Biggest Party
As much as it sucked, Monster Cable's pep rally at the Paris hotel was the biggest bash of the week, just like they do every year. The Mary J. Blige performance definitely put them over the top. Intel came kind of close, though with their party at Rain with Smashmouth. Luckily Intel kept the crowd small enough that it didn't completely suck like the Monster one.
Winner: (sigh)Monster

6. Biggest Announcement
Ask just about anyone who has been to the show more than once and they'll tell you that this year's roster of announcements lacked the luster of past years. But if one has to be the winner, it's definitely Blu-ray's about Warner Bros. leaving HD-DVD. Then to celebrate, Blu-ray built a hugely elaborate, pirate-themed booth.
Winner: Blu-ray

7. Most Unavoidable Advertisements
Everyone spends a lot time waiting for the stupid shuttle buses, so there was just no escaping those big, silly Windows Home Server ads. They're kind of funny, I guess, but they're even a little geeky for my tastes. How the hell should I know where servers belong? Well, besides TGI Fridays, of course. Oh, it's a different kind of server? Whatever. There were so many of them that I forgot to take a picture and had to borrow one from Engadget.
Winner: Microsoft Windows Home Servers

8. Biggest Swag
The fact that people were carrying around those stupid, inflatable body boards in the 50-degree weather kind of blew my mind. OK, maybe they wanted to bring them home for their kids or something, but why wouldn't you just deflate it before walking around with it? No, instead you're going to try and cram onto the shuttle with it. Good move, jerks. Oh, and they're from some company called U.S. Amps. Their give aways made me so furious I didn't bother going to their booth, but my guess is that they make amps.
Winner: U.S. Amps.