The beginning of a new year always brings with it a ritual for everyone who keeps a close eye on technology: the International CES, produced by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA). First held in 1967, this year’s show featured 3,200 exhibitors and more than 2 million square feet of exhibit space, making it a premier location for exhibiting new technology and innovation.
With so much on display, there are obviously many different themes on the radar. The Internet of Things was pegged as a major topic before the show and definitely made a splash, but the tremendous opportunity associated with this macro trend will take at least a decade to fully materialize, and the specific implementations of intelligent devices in different industries and companies will be major undertakings. Obviously, the show is highly focused on the consumer space, so gadgets such as the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset (a popular pick for Best in Show) drew a lot of attention.
Out of all the storylines, there were three that stood out to me, each with an element of surprise and a degree of business interest, even if the connection isn’t immediately obvious or completely ready for prime time.
1. Wearables Taking a Narrow View. Along with the Internet of Things, wearable technology was supposed to be a huge theme for the show. It was, but not quite in the way I was expecting. The vast majority of wearable news coming out of Las Vegas seemed to be fitness-related, with the Pebble Steel smartwatch being the one higher-function device that seemed the most viable. There was no Google Glass competition that significantly moved the ball forward in the eyeglass space, and wrist wear was limited to the Pebble and a flood of fitness trackers. With consumer behavior and fashion sense much more important for wearables than other mobile tech, it seems like the greatest successes in the space will be in highly targeted use cases for now.
2. The Connected Car. The automotive industry has become very high tech, and cars have been a major part of International CES for a while now. But the notion of having those cars fully connected to the Internet was a huge part of this year’s show. Google, in partnership with Nvidia and several car manufacturers, announced the Open Automative Alliance; a push to get Android running on dashboards to compete with Apple’s comparable iOS initiative. Although entertainment might be the primary motivation, it’s obvious that the car is becoming one more space to fight for in building out ecosystems that entertain as well as offer business function – and there will be plenty of room for these activities as cars come closer to driving themselves.
3. Android? Windows? How About Both? The rapid adoption of mobile devices has created a new challenge in the technology space: living in multiple environments. With Windows dominating computing for the better part of 20 years and most people owning a fairly limited number of devices, this wasn’t a major concern. Today, it’s much more common to have pieces of your digital life spread across Apple, Google and Microsoft environments. Virtual desktops are growing in popularity, but still carry some baggage and require robust connections. Intel’s dual-OS systems – especially when those systems are hybrid tablet/laptop combos – offer an interesting solution. Three-and-a-half seconds to switch OSes is still probably too much friction, but as component prices come down and manufacturers explore the use of multiple chipsets, this could be a method for getting everything you want in a single device.
As the consumer and corporate spaces become increasingly blurred, it will be important to keep an eye on popular trends across both arenas and look for ways to build business value. What other trends did you notice last week? How are you planning on creating value on top of the current and future innovations?
