Here's a report from the two days I spent late last week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. I attended in hopes of staying ahead of consumer trends that may affect The Californian's business.
There was tons going on as you might expect with thousands of exhibitors and more than 100,000 attendees, so I'll try to provide a lot of quick hits that highlight general trends rather than specific product features.
Long story short: Expect more technology around the corner that feeds short-attention spans and less on tools for long-form content. The ongoing challenge of fighting for consumers' time and money isn't going to get any easier for traditional news businesses competing against whiz-bang technology.
Tablet, tablets, tablets: The hot storyline of this year's show is the explosion of tablet computers, most running the open-source Android operating system. That wave of tablets at CES was such big news it even made the front page of The Californian on Saturday. Here's the good news. There will be more good choices for tablets in 2011 beyond the hot-selling iPad and Samsung Galaxy. And the growth in Android offerings -- including the first operating system designed specifically for tablets -- means prices generally will fall, into what I call "good enough" territory: not iPad quality but also not as expensive. Here's the bad news. There reportedly are at least 50 Android tablets on display at CES and many of those I tested were crap, as in I wouldn't spend $20 on them. I saw more than a few Asian knockoffs that look kinda like an iPad if you're drunk but had buttons that didn't work, horrible resolution and limited functionality. There were some good tablets, yes, but those tended to be name brands. So buyer beware: Do NOT buy an unbelievably priced tablet mail order unless you've actually physically tested the product. Name brands charge a premium and in this case that's appropriate as this sector gets crowded before there’s time for clear winners to appear.
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Blackberry's new tablet offers surprisingly good performanceBlackberry tablet: I was surprised at how much I enjoyed RIM's new tablet, set for release this quarter. It's a Blackberry product so the specs are confined to fit that audience but I was impressed with the functionality and tools. It's not nearly the device the iPad or Galaxy is but I think brand-loyal RIM users will love this. The company has posted a video that shows off some of the features.
Sexy beast: Verizon may not be the sexiest name around but its live new-product announcements -- 10 new devices and a 4G network -- drew overflow crowds more common for cutting-edge products.
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Mashing TV and social media is a trend for 2011Smart TVs and thin TVs: It’s not enough any more to have an HD big screen. The hot trend are smart TVs that integrate the Internet and social networks. Makes a lot of sense, but the days of TV being a passive experience are coming to an end soon. Also saw quite a few;)
Yep, that's a very thin HD/3D bigscreen -- thinner than a deck of cards incredibly thin big screens. Its amazing to think big thick boxes were popular not too long ago.
Swiss Army knife: One of the weirdest sights was a surprisingly large display for Victorimox brand Swiss Army knives. The digital connection is there were knives that doubled as flash drives, but more people seemed intrigued by the over-the-top "analog" knives.
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Free copies galore of tech magazines ranging from mass media (Wired) to niches within the wireless industry.Looking ahead: The New York Times had a booth with no clear message but whose focus was signing people up for digital subscriptions. NYT is on track for some kind of tiered digital pricing in 2011. On the opposite end of that equation, CES offers publication racks throughout the show that offer free copies of printed magazines of every high-tech publication you can imagine. I didn't see too many people grabbing copies, so think the distribution may have been more an ad play than readership demand.
Networked appliances: Kenmore and GE both had some cool appliance technologies, bringing us closer to online networked management of our appliances and energy usage. Imagine jumping on your smartphone as you get ready to leave for work to turn on the heater so your house -- cool during the day when you're not there -- is nice and toasty when you get home. Look for actual product promotion to kick in during Q3.
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Audi's display featured some very cool rides, including 3D technology3D: 3D TV was the CES storyline last year but consumer sales fizzled as prices were too high and technology too raw. But features continue to improve as prices fall and 3D products were everywhere at CES (I even saw a mobile phone with a 3D screen). A couple standouts for me were “glasses free” 3D monitors that were pretty good and ESPN 3D, which is jaw dropping in its depth (I felt like I was in the huddle; no joke). If ESPN could demo its 3D service at places like local malls and county fairs, it would become a hit among a wide audience. It's hard to describe other than it takes sports programming to a completely different buzz worthy level. And in one of the more offbeat uses, an Audi concept car features 3D gauges.
Phones: Lots of interesting new devices, led by a sickening number of new Android models. My favorite was the sleek new Google Nexus S, which runs the latest version on Android and takes hardware and software UI to new levels. Motorola rolled out its new Droid, which features dual core processors, which I think is a first for a mobile device. Dual core allows improved performance and battery life. The downside is the device is, well, Droid-like and not exactly sleek as cutting edge carries weight.
People: CES says more than 120,000 will attend the four-day show and it seemed like most were on hand Thursday and Friday. Not a good experience for browsers like me. CES is a physical challenge because it covers so much acreage; toss in tons of self-centered people and you have lots of elbowing just to fight through the maze.
Sony: Tons of great stuff, anchored by a stadium-worthy big screen showing mind-boggling live demonstrations of its new Playstation Move game system, which follows Microsoft Kinect in rethinking game controllers. As one of the demonstrators said, Move is a "completely different way of using free space."
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Hyundai's new "green" cars turned headsGreen tech: There’s been some speculation that environmentally friendly products were a fad. If CES is an indicator, green tech is here to stay. Tons of products alleging their were environmentally friendly, and a few companies -- Ford and Hyundai among them -- who seem to be positioning themselves front and center with environmental strategies and targeting wired consumers who are willing to pay a bit more for cars that fit their lifestyles.
Scanner mouse: This makes so much sense: a mouse that doubles as a document scanner.
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Colorful headphones and earbuds were everpresent at CESHeadphones and high-end audio: Earbud vendors were all over the place -- Skullcandy’s booth featuring live DJ and dancing babes was especially popular -- but headphone and high-end audio vendors were even more evident. After years of pushing the low-fi quality of MP3, bandwidth improvements mean people can easily download larger audio files, which now puts a premium on sound quality. Amen.;)
Crosley had a full-line of multi-use turntables Headphones of every color imaginable are coming your way, led by trendsetters like Dr. Dre. And I saw more than a few vendors pitching turntables, including Crosley, which had a variety of interesting options.
Soundbars: Home theater systems are so passe now that relatively low priced sound bars have proved to be adequate replacements. As little as $250 can buy a tidy sound bar that can fit into your home entertainment system and deliver 3D sound.
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NBC Universal had a high-tech display featuring an onion-like ball whose walls were on rails that could be closed during recordings.Live media: Lots of tech podcasters were present, and NBC/Bravo threw a lot of money into its set for a variety of live shows (including “Top Chef”). My favorite moment came when I passed a small room in a press area inhabited by three very good looking brunettes. I had to see what was up, and soon found out they were staffers in the Fox News/Fox Business News press room. Of course.
E-readers: Tablet computers took more of a spotlight than dedicated e-readers but I did find a company called Copia interesting. Copia touts itself as a social network for e-readers, making “it easy to curate your digital library, follow readers who share your tastes and join discussions about books you love.” I haven’t tried it but think it could work.
Accessories: Technology is just the beginning of a product’s lifecycle, with accessories following soon after. You name it, there were accessories, especially for iPhones/iPods.
Low-tech: Not everything at CES was high tech. I saw booths for Trojan condoms and an Chinese distributor of rooftop TV antennae.
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Panasonic was just one of the companies that spent a fortune on their displays;)
Panasonic's display featured three artists creating a sand sculpture that showed off the company's 3D technologyPricey displays: The level of vendor ranged from mom and pops to the most famous names in global business. To that end, booths ranges from vanilla to over the top. Some companies spent fortunes on their displays, including LG, Panasonic, Sony, Motorola, Samsung and many more. Many even had second-story sections for meetings with prospective buyers, media or VIPs. That kind of short-term infrastructure takes major bucks, so you know that tote these set-ups around the world.
Logan Molen