Comdex Fall 2002 Day 1: Nvidia Launches GeforceFX

Day one of Comdex was like no other than we have experienced. Attendance looks to be down since last year. Most companies have opted to move from the comfort and expense of the LVCC show floor to suites and meeting rooms in local hotels. This has made the number of vendors on the show floor even fewer that we thought was possible. Key3Media has announced that it might be fighting some financial problems and might be forced to sell the Comdex name and rights. Yes, it is Comdex, but not like the Comdex that we remember.

Amid the cavernous and desolate halls of the Las Vegas Hilton, where the overflow of Comdexes past came to settle, we searched for refreshment or even a surly employee of Key3Media, the show organizers. Alas, in space no one can hear you scream.

Still your THG staff is out here in the trenches once again to bring you the goings on of this year's Comdex event. We are planning four reports, three this week and a wrap up report on Saturday. This is provided that we can find enough to write about. If the first day of Comdex is any indication, companies have also been impacted by the financial times and they don't seem to be as aggressive with new product announcements as in years past. Still, we are planning on avoiding the temptation of sitting in font of one of the one-armed-bandits in the casino, and getting out there and finding a story.

It Will Be Called GeForceFX

Well, it comes as no surprise that the story of the day was Nvidia's launch of the GeForceFX. In a posh affair at the Bellagio this morning, Nvidia announced that the next-generation card that had been known by the code name "NV30" for so long was going to be christened the GeForceFX.

Jen Hsun Huang, Nvidia's CEO, steps into action and finally tells everyone that the next generation card that everyone is waiting for will be called GeForceFX.

In case you missed it, Lars wrote an outstanding article titled GeForceFX: NVIDIA goes Hollywood? , that we posted yesterday. Like this editor, Lars was left with more questions than answers about the GeForceFX. In my opinion, the two key take-away points where that we will not see sample boards to test for awhile, and that no one is going to be able to buy the GeForceFX for awhile, either. So, really, the waiting isn't over yet, and perhaps this might be the most difficult thing for many to cope with.