CES Trends and Wrap Up

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January at Las Vegas is the technology industry's annual mega convention, bringing together upwards of 140,000 attendees to see the latest and greatest products, services, and Apps -- all the building blocks of our tech-centric, hyper-connected culture.   Key trends at the 2012 CES show include:

• Mobile Smartphones - Hot phones this year included the Nokia Lumia 900, HTC Titan II, Motorola Droid 4, Droid Razr Maxx, and Samsung's Galaxy Nexus. Interestingly, despite expectations, there were not many phones using Ice Cream Sandwich, the latest version of the Android operating system -- these were largely missing. Instead, 4G LTE, AT&T, and Windows Phone seemed to be the stars of the mobile show.   The Lumina 900 won best of show.  This represents Nokia's return to the U.S. market which has been dominated by Android phones and Apple's iPhone.  Nokia's move here was to partner with Microsoft and run the Windows Phone 7 operating system.  No announcements about which carriers this phone will emerge on, but watch AT&T who is one of the biggest suppliers of Windows Phones.  Latest rumor is the 900 will be available from AT&T in March at $99 with a standard 2 yr contract.
• Networking:  One of the show highlights was the D-Link Amplifi HD Media Router 3000 (DIR-857).   Wireless routers are a critical part of any home network, but they're no longer limited to just converting your home broadband to Wi-Fi. The  DIR-857 serves multiple functions that match our needs today.  For example, the DIR-857 optimizes online video (Netflix, Hulu, Crackle, etc) with blazing dual-band speeds and an "HD Fuel" feature which prioritizes video streams.  Also supports USB 3.0 for optimal connections to connected devices (printers, storage) and an ability to access and manage via a Web browser, iOS, or Android apps!
• Thunderbolt - This is the new high-speed port technology standard from Intel that is starting to be picked up by other manufacturers than just Apple. It is a new trend that promises faster networking and performance interfaces with storage devices and affordable with add-on adapters.
• Best Software/App:  The new BlueStacks for Windows won best in show and will ship preinstalled on Windows 8 machines to bring the entire Android Market to Microsoft's O/S.  It  is expected to ship by the end of 2012.  When Windows 8 launches, more than 400,000 Android apps will be available to users!   BlueStacks is designed to be fully integrated into Windows' new "Metro" interface so your key Android apps can get their own dedicated tile assigned.
• Cloud-based Services and Wi-Fi - Cloud-based storage and services was also a very popular item at CES.   Related to this, there was much talk about 802.11ac, the new Wi-Fi high speed standard (sometimes called 5G Wi-Fi).   Although there were no working devices at the show, all the networking vendors were committed to offering 802.11ac devices this year.
• Ultrabooks - These ultra-thin and light powerful devices seemed to be the new hot consumer trend pushed by the computing industry. New tablets did appear but these were more off brands and not the kind of competition worthy for the iPad. The market dominance of the iPad seems to be unchanged from last year.  Pay special note to the best in show HP Envy 14 Spectre. This device distinguished itself with an all-Gorilla glass lid and palm rest and was clearly one of the sharpest lookers at the show.
• Gorilla Glass 2 - This was a clear winner at CES. Not because it is particularly snazzy in itself, but it has so much promise in what it enables in new products. It promises 20% lighter glass that is thinner, stronger, and enables more light passage and touch sensitivity that will make our new products even more snazzy.
• Tablets:  The ASUS Memo 370T stood out as one of the best tablets at the show.  It's a 7 inch Android tablet powered by a quad core Nvidia Tegra 3 with 1GB RAM, 8 megapixel camera, 16GB storage, HDMI, and 1200 x 800 pixel resolution screen.  Looks like it will give great competition to the Amazon Kindle and other tablets at a price point target around $250.
• Cameras: The big trend for cameras seems to be the move toward  "interchangeable lens cameras" or ILCs which offer much better quality than point-and-shoot and megazoom cameras, but in smaller and lighter form factors than digital SLR cameras.  The Fujifilm X-Pro 1 is it's ILC mirrorless model that won best in show.   This camera incorporates several innovations including a promising new sensor with a color filter array and a hybrid viewfinder, all in a sleek retro design targeted for professionals.
• Home Theater:  The Simple.TV DVR/video streamer won best in show award.  For those who want to cut the dependence on cableTV providers, the Simple.TV DVR might be the next big thing.  It's doesn't have a built-in hard drive or video output (for cost savings) and instead lets you supply your own hard drive, then stream over-the-air TV to the Simple.TV app available on iPad, Roku, Google TV, Boxee. It can even stream over-the-air TV outside your home network if you sign up for their $5/month premium service.
• TVs - 3D is NOT the hot trend it was last year at CES. This year it is Internet-connected TVs with feature-rich options for streaming and gesture-driven or voice-recognition navigation. Microsoft Kinect gesture-driven technology is a clear winner in gaming and as expected is broadening as a general platform for TV and entertainment.  Make sure to note the best in show LG 55EM9800 TV with it's Organic Light-Emitting Display (OLED) technology which offers terrific performance with absolute black levels, excellent viewing angles, ultrafast, and all without the need for backlighting.  This TV has an fantastic picture packed into a frame that's just 4mm thick.  Likely to be very expensive this year, but to high-end customers it might be worth it.
• Best Car Tech:  New Blackberry technology for cars?  Canada's Research In Motion is busy upgrading the next generation of BlackBerry smartphones to a new operating system known as QNX.  But what's also happening is that QNX is being prepped for deployment to cars.  At CES, the QNX-powered dashboard was very impressive with an innovative application of NFC (near-field communication) technology to "instantly and automatically" pair a Bluetooth smartphone!  Also it sported an Ultra HD voice technology that brings stereo CD quality audio to basic phone calls.  There was also Apps integration for both front- and backseat passengers.

  (Research Sources:  CNET, etc)