CES2019

Ultra definition TVs coming faster and cheaper, CEA predicts

5 January 2015 by Steve Blum
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Click for the full presentation.

The Consumer Electronics Association is forecasting 4 million 4K televisions will be sold in the U.S. in 2015, representing 20% of the market for 40-inch or larger screens. That prediction ramps to 14 million – 63% of the big screen category – in 2018. Those numbers are significant: in a short period of time, ultra HD TV’s will move from technophiles – less than 1% of the market – into the hands of the 15% to 20% of consumers who can be characterised as mainstream early adopters.… More

Wearables flood in, home hubs back out from CES Unveiled

4 January 2015 by Steve Blum
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The pot calls the kettle back.

The 2015 Consumer Electronics Show will be about networked wristbands and coffee pots, if CES Unveiled – the opening press group grope – is anything to judge by. Wearables and home automation – products that lived in a geek ghetto only a couple of years ago – are the hot new categories this year.

Contenders in the wearable fitness tracker category seem to be following a common path: cram some sensors and a Bluetooth module into a sleek looking wristband, write iOS and Android apps to talk to it, then beef it up with some server-side analysis.… More

Update: CEA makes bullish prediction for ultra HD products

4 January 2015 by Steve Blum
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At its opening press conference at CES this afternoon, the Consumer Electronics Association predicted that 4 million ultra high definition – 4K – television sets will be sold in 2015, against 77,000 in 2013 and an estimated 1.3 million in 2014. By 2018, CEA says that annual 4K sales volume will hit 14 million. Price points for sets in the 50-inch range – the smaller end of the scale in 4K terms – are expected to drop below $1,000.

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Don't expect consumer electronics to drive FTTH builds in 2015

4 January 2015 by Steve Blum
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Don’t expect them to do your job for you. Not this year, anyway.

If there’s one new consumer electronics product on the horizon that’s going to drive demand for fiber to the home service, it’s advanced televisions of the 4K and 8K ultra high definition variety. The big players at this week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas will be showcasing their latest ultra TVs, and several events and panel sessions are devoted to it.… More

Time for a CES power play

3 January 2015 by Steve Blum

As good as it gets.

The limits of mobile devices – convenience and capability – are set by battery life and the means to recharge. Top of my scouting list for the coming week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas is genuinely innovative power sources.

Wearables have moved from the novelty accessory category to mainstream product line status, ensuring CES will be packed with cool new gizmos. But with tiny batteries, designers have to work within tight performance and feature constraints, and ultimately rely on another device, usually a mobile phone, for connectivity.… More

Broadcasters descending into madness, says CEA president

23 May 2014 by Steve Blum
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Gary Shapiro, the president of the Consumer Electronics Association, has published a blistering attack on U.S. broadcasters, characterising their rear-guard opposition to new technology as the madness and nonsense of Alice’s Wonderland and urging congress to yank the licenses of television stations that act against the public interest. Not just in what they put on the air, but also their business practices. Shapiro points to a decision by CBS executives to suppress a news story that didn’t fall in line with their business goals…

Last year, CBS leadership reversed a decision by 40 CNET editors who voted the DISH Hopper Sling the best innovation at the 2013 International CES®.

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Bullies and nannies alike threaten Internet freedoms

2 February 2014 by Steve Blum
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“Everything we’re talking about are threats to authoritarian regimes, and they have the votes”, said Robert McDowell, formerly an FCC commissioner and currently a thinker (or would that be a tanker?) at the Hudson Institute think tank. He was speaking at CES earlier in January. His concern is maintaining the vitality of an open Internet and everyone’s freedom to use it as they please. “A big threat to this is international regulation and governance”, he said, renewing his warning that some governments – via international organisations as well as their own efforts – want to bring online activists and entrepreneurs to heel.… More

ARM is a growing server-side threat to Intel

1 February 2014 by Steve Blum
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Low profile, high potential.

2014 will be the year that specialised ARM-based chips gather momentum in the server market. That was not good news for Intel as it scrambled at CES to maintain relevance in the mobile device market. The last thing it needs – but the next thing it’s going to get – is competitive pressure on server processors, an increasingly rare example of a growth market that it dominates.

ARM maintained a relatively low profile at CES, leaving center stage to companies, like Qualcomm, that license its microprocessor architecture and make the chips that rule the smart phone and tablet space.… More

Start ups join identity verification battle

25 January 2014 by Steve Blum
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Cash is king, but kings are increasingly scarce.

There are two ways to look at threats to the electronic payment systems consumers and retailers – online and brick and mortar – rely upon: as an ongoing process of swatting down isolated and rarely successful attacks, or as a full scale war that the good guys are completely capable of losing. Since the holiday mega-crack at Target stores, I’m leaning towards the latter.

The point of sale is a critically weak link.… More

Smart home business models proliferate despite need to consolidate

19 January 2014 by Steve Blum
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Smart homes need a platform, not a box.

Google’s purchase of Nest, a smart thermostat maker, adds one more contender for king of the home automation business models. The prospect – and it’s only that – of a free, ad-supported smart home web portal is attractive, because the growth of home automation products and services depends on an easy and easily understood selling proposition.

It was clear at CES that the home automation market is still fragmented beyond consumer comprehension.… More