Las Vegas Student Entrepreneurs Pitch Their Business Ideas at CES 2018

Late morning on Wednesday, the power went down in a main hall at the Las Vegas Convention Center, sending thousands of vendors and visitors outdoors or to other venues.

The lights went out here shortly after 11 am on the second day of the show.

THE WORLD'S largest technology show ground to a halt for more than two hours today when a blackout plunged some of its biggest showpieces into darkness, causing evacuations, huge queues, and mass frustration. My colleague @jeffersongraham is inside South Hall here and says there is still power. The room was dimly lit thanks to emergency overhead lights and the glow of laptops running on battery power.

Rick Rohmer, a product engineer with electrical-systems specialist Legrand, said the power outage affected only part of a booth for Qi, a consortium of companies that make wireless chargers.

The annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is about to get underway, and some of its key themes are already clear.

"In our ongoing and relentless pursuit to own and define the modern pizza experience for our customers, we are focused on technology-based solutions that enable our team members and drivers to deliver even better customer experiences", said Artie Starrs, President, Pizza Hut, US. We will continue to limit access to the LVCC until full power has been restored.

The organisers and convention centre officials blamed the blackout to the heavy rains, which resulted in attendees being evacuated from the building.

New products shown by Samsung included a digital white board called Flip, a 146-inch modular TV called "The Wall", and a new version of its Notebook 9 laptop that works with the S-Pen from Samsung's mobile devices.

On Twitter, pictures of phone charging stations circulated, with some users gloating as they pointed out and giggled at the misfortune of folks who had their phones locked inside, not charging. It's amusing to see a phone held captive in what's essentially an electricity vending machine as its owner paces back and forth.