- Samsung's news conference Monday featured the most talked-about moment yet of CES 2014.
The tech giant brought out director Michael Bay to help unveil its curved UHD TVs at the Consumer Electronics Show being held in Las Vegas. But a teleprompter glitch appeared to catch Bay off guard.
Bay, who was on stage for all of 70 uncomfortable seconds, began by saying: "Uh my job as a director is I get to dream for a living."
Then he said: "Um I create visual worlds that are so beyond everyone's normal life experiences and Hollywood is a place that creates uh a viewer escape and um what I try to do as a director is I try to ..."
At this point, he trailed off before finally uttering a disgusted, "Ugh."
"The type is all off, sorry, but I'll just wing this," he said, appearing agitated. Joe Stinziano, Samsung executive vice president, tried to smooth over the situation, gently prodding Bay to "tell us what you think."
Bay began again: "I try to take people on an emotional ride and um..."
Stinziano again tried to salvage the appearance, saying: "The curve? How do you think it's gonna impact how viewers experience your movies?"
But Bay had had enough. He turned and walked off. "Excuse me, I'm sorry. I'm sorry," the director said.
Other things generating talk at CES 2014:
Dozens of companies were pitching their newest, coolest and nerdiest tech wares for the media during press day. See our latest real-time updates at the bottom of this post.
Samsung has been everywhere at CES 2014, hosting receptions, a news conference and private dinners to tout its latest products. Besides Bay, also getting buzz for Samsung was its 105-inch curved ultra-high-def television and it's 85-inch bendable TV, which goes from flat to curved with the press of a button.
Samsung will begin selling curved UHD TVs in spring.
Another big gadget announcement was the Pebble Steel, the second edition of the popular smartwatch. The device features a smaller build and nicer material. It uses a stainless-steel watch face and offers the choice of either a steel or leather band. The new Pebble Steel is available now for $249 -- $100 more than its predecessor -- and will begin shipping Jan. 28.
Earlier in the day, Mozilla and Panasonic announced a partnership to develop smart TVs that use Firefox OS. Smart TVs are integrated with the Internet, bringing video on demand, instant messaging and more to the TV screen. Now, the software behind the Firefox Web browser will be put on Panasonic's Web-connected TVs.
Vizio on Monday morning officially announced the specs of its 120-inch Ultra HD TV. The Reference Series Ultra HD LED Smart TV is more than 6 feet high, nearly 9 feet wide and weighs more than 100 pounds. And LG confirmed plans for its curved smartphone.
The giant consumer electronics show opens Tuesday, when 150,000 industry attendees are expected.
A team of Los Angeles Times reporters is at the scene to bring you all the happenings live.
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