Today was the first day of press conferences at CES 2011 in Las Vegas. After dragging myself out of bed at 5am, we met for breakfast and headed to the Venetian for the 8am LG press conference. They announced a couple of new Android smartphones, the Optimus 2X and the Optimus Black.

Next we headed over to the Lenovo area for some one-on-one time with their latest products includ

ing the Android/Windows 7 hybrid clamshell LePad, and their excellent line of All-in-Ones and laptops. Seriously nice hardware.

We tried to go to the Samsung event, but it seems as though everyone in Vegas was also there. We decided to head up to the Motorola event a little early, and caught up on charging and granola bars waiting for it to start. Once there, we saw some very impressive hardware and software in the Droid Bionic and Atrix 4G. The Xoom tablet was also in the mix. I got some hands-on time with both new phones, and I was definitely impressed. The qHD displays were very clear, and the hardware felt very solid.

We ventured back to the hotel and did a little podcasting before dinner. I got to Facetime with my wife and daughters, and then we headed to Diablo’s to eat.

We had planned to do a recap podcast tonight, but after blogging our news and editing all our videos, we decided to wait until we were in a little better state of mind. I’m really excited about our meetings with LG, HTC, and T-Mobile tomorrow.

If you’ve never been to CES, and you love electronic gadgets, this is a must-attend. Having a blast! Stay tuned, and check out TheSimulcast.com for all the deets on the tech we’re handling.