Last week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, attendees prayed for good wireless bandwidth for their smart phones and laptops. An independent study from RootMetrics says that T-Mobile customers got lucky with the fastest connection, while Verizon Wireless customers had the "most reliable" 3G network. Meanwhile, 3G customers on AT&T and Sprint suffered from relatively poor reliability.

Though the report (here in PDF) contains many a chart and infographic, the one I selected above represents the most common and crucial bandwidth scenario: downloads. The tests ran from Thursday Jan. 6 through Sunday Jan. 9, and the above graph compiles all of the data, not just a single day's worth. As you can see, both AT&T and T-Mobile have highest peaks, but they also were the most impacted by traffic during peak hours.

As for comparison studies, here's a bit of fascinating data for would-be iPhone switchers:

Verizon showed the most reliable performance throughout the event with very consistent data scores that recorded access failure rates at less than 10 percent each day, with three out of four days recording data access failures of less than 2 percent. AT&T’s 3G network measured an overall 89 percent data failure rate during the first day ... Day two was similarly challenging for AT&T ... AT&T’s network failed 26 percent of the time in data uploads and 31 percent in downloads.

If the vast number of busy iPhones in show-goers pockets are to blame for the high AT&T failure rates, I am sure current and future Verizon customers hope the trend doesn't persist as the phone moves to its second U.S. carrier.

Many at CES, including your beloved msnbc.com correspondent crew, were dependent on wireless data. Though we were mostly at the Venetian complex, too far from Root's test module at the Las Vegas Convention Center to corroborate, we did experience similar results. I used T-Mobile's myTouch 4G Android phone as a personal hotspot and got decent speeds for the most part, but it did tend to crap out at peak hours. Our sole Verizon MiFi was definitely the go-to device when every other connection was tapped.

The only difference we had with Root's findings was with Sprint 4G. Root says Sprint earned the fastest and most reliable titles in the 4G category, because it didn't get affected by peak traffic like T-Mobile's 4G network. But as someone who carried a Sprint Overdrive much of the week, I can only say that I never saw this reliability. At times when I needed it, the Overdrive failed me. I trust Root's findings, but there's always a point where even the most well designed tests don't match real-world experience. [RootMetrics; Root iPhone coverage map app - iTunes link]

Matthew Rivera / msnbc.com

AVA, a concept robot, went about its business at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, going back and forth and checking things out, as show-goers checked it out.

You know iRobot for its Roomba vacuum cleaner, and you may have even heard of its new Scooba 230, a 3.5-inch high round robot due out this spring that is supposed to clean around toilets and other nefarious areas so you don't have to.

The Scooba ($299.99) is being shown at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, but another one of iRobot's robots is the real star of the company's exhibit. It's a 5-foot-tall robot named AVA that looks a little like a 21st-century version of Rosie, The Jetsons' family robot maid — but without the apron or the hat.

Unlike Scooba, AVA isn't for sale. There's no mysterious or fudged availability date, as with so many products shown at CES.

AVA is a "concept robot," says Gerry Caron, director of product management for iRobot. And while AVA is a "she," he says, her name is not really meant to be of any gender; AVA is short for "avatar."

"We want to show people a vision of what they can have" at some point with a home robot that's designed for several uses, Caron said. (Tell them, AVA: "No, I don't do toilets.")

AVA can run apps — hence the iPad for the robot's "head." But it wouldn't have to be an iPad; AVA can use other tablets or devices in the iPad's place that would be used to run all different kinds of apps: for security, for a "telepresence" for video conferencing or for navigation.

Meanwhile, AVA has three wheels which "move sideways or in any direction," without the robot swinging out or around to do so.

AVA also won't bump into anything around the house. The robot uses a depth-sensing camera, similar to the Kinect from Microsoft, and PrimeSense's sensors to find its way around the room.

The robot's potential for apps is another reason iRobot is showing AVA off, hoping that developers will be as smitten with the 40-pound robot as those attending CES are.

As the electronics show in Las Vegas reaches its peak, we hit the floor to take in the sights, colors and characters of super geekdom.

Takuma Iwasa wears a camera on his helmet to stream video from his experience at CES in Las Vegas. (John Brecher / msnbc.com)

Journalists look at new phones following the Verizon press conference at CES in Las Vegas. (John Brecher / msnbc.com)

Michael Jenkins tries out a chair outfitted with an iPad holder. (John Brecher / msnbc.com)

Bill Lavoy and Ted Sevransky watch a 3D television at Panasonic's booth. (John Brecher / msnbc.com)

A crowds gather to watch live television produced at the NBC Universal booth. (Matthew Rivera / msnbc.com)

Panasonic created a sand sculpture to demonstrate their 3D consumer video cameras. (Matthew Rivera / msnbc.com)

Attendees lined up at the Panasonic booth to watch a giant 3D TV wall. (Matthew Rivera / msnbc.com)

Performers appeared on stage at Canon's CES booth. (Matthew Rivera / msnbc.com)

The car from the upcoming movie, "The Green Hornet," was displayed at the Sony booth. (Matthew Rivera / msnbc.com)

Sony built a large, high-definition screen at their CES booth. (Matthew Rivera / msnbc.com)

After a week of high-level Verizon Wireless announcements surrounding the carrier's launch of 4G LTE, we get yet another invitation, this time to an event sharing "the latest news" hosted by a bigger cheese than any of the super high level guys here at CES in Las Vegas. So what is it? We assume that Apple will announce the Verizon iPhone before Verizon does, but seriously, Verizon? If this thing isn't an iPhone, you are going to have an angry mob on your hands. We love LTE, but bring it out already!

It was strongly rumored that Samsung would introduce a Google TV product, despite the critical thrashing that Google got for its half-baked set-top OS. And guess what? The rumor was right.

But it doesn't seem that Samsung is too proud of their product, as it was left out of their multiple press unveilings. Instead, a Blu-ray player and set-top "companion box" are on display in the booth, along with special remotes, with an extremely vague release date of "first half of 2011." Maybe Samsung is waiting for the next version of Google TV, like everyone else.

The Ford Focus Electric charges in just three hours and can top out at 84 mph, For says. (Ford Motor Co.)

UPDATE 2:50 p.m. ET: We're off to ride an electric scooter by GM. Here's Ford's full release with details of the Focus Electric. (.pdf) 

UPDATE 2:45 p.m. ET: They're finished up with the Focus Electric hardware and are now talking about MyFord Mobile, a suite of mobile device apps to work with the Sync navigation system.

UPDATE 2:35 p.m. ET: Ford has a technical schematic of the Focus Electric here (.pdf).

Sherif Marakby, Ford's director of electrification, doesn't say how far the Focus Electric will go on a single charge, but he says it's competitive witb the Chevy Volt. The car can top out at 84 mph and can fully recharge on just three hours, which Marakby says is half the time of all its competitors.

UPDATE 2:24 p.m. ET: No price, but Kuzak says the Focus Electric will dramatically cut fuel and operating costs in the first two years of ownership.

UPDATE 2:20 p.m. ET: Derrick Kuzak, head of Ford product development, says there will be five all-electric cars by 2012 in the United States. Details will be dropped at the International Auto Show in a couple of weeks. "It's about meeting the needs of the present without compromising the needs of the future," he declares.

UPDATE 2:16 p.m. ET: Turns out it's actually an all-electric car called the Ford Focus Electric.

UPDATE 2:14 p.m. ET: Mulally says he's about to announce a new Focus that fits into the "electrified lifestyle." This should be the Focus BEV.

UPDATE 2:12 p.m. ET: Mulally opens by announcing a new software update is coming for its Microsoft-built Sync navigation and communications system, adding MyFord Touch, a two-screen touchpad interface.

UPDATE 2:05 p.m. ET: As usual, Consumer Electronics Association CEO Gary Shapiro is on first, giving a highly laudatory introduction for Mulally, who's coming out now.

1:50 p.m. ET: Ford Chief Executive Alan Mulally is scheduled to take the stage at 2 p.m. ET for the automotive keynote presentation at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. We'll he live-blogging it, and you should be able to watch it live here. Given the history of things, he probably won't be out until about 2:15 or a little later.

Ford won't explicitly say what he's announcing, but if you go to its Facebook page you'll find word that he's supposed to make "big news" alongside lots of teasers about the Focus BEV (for "battery electric vehicle") and an intriguing picture of a glowing charging port.

We've written up an overview here of CES's auto tech offerings, which are heavy on hybrids like the Focus BEV and full electric cars.

 Update: This show is now concluded

Got questions for our reporters in the field at CES? Send them on Twitter to msnbc.com's tech editor Wilson Rothman: @wjrothman

Want to check out some new gadgets and hear the dirt on all of the latest announcements? Wilson joins Mario Armstrong, XM radio host and tech guru, for a one-hour LIVE chat right here on Technolog.

Visteon's C-Beyond concept car compiles more than 40 of the most advanced technology products the company creates for automakers, including a voice-activated navigation and communications package that can project two screens onto the windshield. (Visteon)

"Science fiction is becoming fact," Gary Shapiro, chief executive of the Consumer Electronics Association (and a man who doesn't know the meaning of the word "restraint"), said yesterday as he helped show off the latest gleaming product at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

It wasn't a computer or a TV or a mega-phone. It was a car — specifically, the e-tron Spyder, a concept hybrid car from Audi.

In fact, it's the opposite of science fiction. Automobiles and computer technology appeal to many of the same people, so it's not strange at all that cars are going electric and are being loaded with high-tech audiovisual and navigation gear. Every year, the auto pavilion is one of the biggest attractions at CES as cars with USB ports, Wi-Fi, touch screens, voice GPS — you name it — verge ever closer to becoming indistinguishable from your computer.

Audi is by no means the only major manufacturer featuring hybrid and all-electric cars here this year. For the first time, CES has a stand-alone electric-vehicle tech zone, where you can look over not only the e-tron Spyder — an extended-range hybrid that runs on four motors — but also hybris and electric cars and related technology from Ford, General Motors and Toyota.

Visteon's C-Beyond is drawing especially curious crowds at CES, where it is making its North American debut. You may not have heard of Visteon, but it's the company behind much of the high-tech gear that shows up in the big automakers' cars. The C-Beyond is its demonstration model showing off more than 40 of Visteon's most advanced products, including haptic-feedback news, weather and entertainment consoles; next-generation climate control; and futuristic recessed interior and exterior lighting, which make it look vaguely like what the crew on ET's mothership might come up with if it were marooned in Detroit.

It even has ports in the hatch to attach a keyboard and a mouse to help run everything.

A lot of buzz is also surrounding the keynote presentation today by Ford CEO Alan Mulally, which starts at 2 p.m. ET. Ford won't explicitly say what he's announcing, but if you go to its Facebook page you'll find word that he's supposed to make "big news" alongside lots of teasers about the Focus BEV (for "battery electric vehicle") and an intriguing picture of a glowing charging port:

(Ford Motor Co.)

Only automakers make actual autos, of course, so cars themselves are just a small part of the auto zone. Dozens of companies are here pushing their computer-in-the-car products, heavy on navigation and systems that they say allow drivers to play their stored media, check e-mail and communicate with others safely at the wheel.

They're pretty much full computers. For example, Microsoft's voice-activated Sync software, which it developed with Ford and which has been a marquee attraction at CES for several years, is adding support for the Pandora Internet music service and will soon be available on the Mustang.

Microsoft is a small part of a rival voice-activated system announced this week by Toyota, called Entune, which uses Bing as its search engine, while Hyundai is also getting into the game, rolling out Bluelink, which adds iTunes-like music software to the now-standard navigation and infotainment features.

Systems like those are often among the most eye-catching displays at CES, but new technology ideas can still pop up and surprise you. For instance, how about an Android car?

Parrot SA, a French company that specialized in wireless technologies, has drawn some of the biggest crowds this week to its Asteroid system, which is pretty much a Google Android computer embedded in the dashboard. (It's run by Google Voice commands, Parrot is quick to say, so drivers aren't fiddling with a keyboard at 70 mph.)

Asteroid runs Android's versions of navigation and location-based services, making it seem at first not so different from Sync or GM's OnStar. And speaking of OnStar, it will be available for the first time on non-GM cars through a cellular-equipped rear-view mirror with that familiar gray button, to be sold at Best Buy.

What distinguishes Asteroid from the competition is its access to the Android Market — the same one on Android smartphones and tablets. The company hasn't publicized details on how exactly that will work, but conceivably the system should be able to install and run most Android apps that can operate through voice control.

The limitation? Just like Android on any other platform — and most computers these days, whether they're four-wheeled or not — it's essentially crippled if it doesn't have a reliable connection to the Internet.

Got questions for our reporters in the field at CES? Want to check out some new gadgets and hear the dirt on all of the latest announcements? Msnbc.com's tech editor Wilson Rothman will join Mario Armstrong, XM radio host and tech guru, for a one-hour LIVE chat right here on Technolog. Before — and even during — the show, you can leave questions in comments here, or tweet us questions at @wjrothman and @MarioArmstrong.

Sphero was created by robotics lovers, types with PhDs, but you'd never know it just to play with it — it all seems so simple and fun. And that's OK: that's what the creators behind it want you to have with this ball controlled by an iPhone.

Inside the basic-looking, baseball-sized ball are some high-tech elements, including Bluetooth and a wireless induction charger. On the iPhone, the software lets you change the color of Sphero or control its movementup to 80 feet away. Just crazy stuff from some serious thinkers (Orbotix) out of Boulder, Colo., who demonstrated Sphero at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

You can't buy Sphero yet — the developers hope to have it out late this year. But for now, have a ball watching it in action.