consumer electronics

CEA report good news for connected homes, even with a grain of salt

21 April 2013 by Steve Blum
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Structured wiring is not necessarily Ethernet.

Broadband cabling is fast becoming a standard feature in new homes built in the U.S., with 92% being pre-wired to one degree or another. Many include sophisticated video and/or data distribution networks. That’s the conclusion of a report just released by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA).

The CEA’s eleventh annual State of the Builder study found that “structured wiring” is installed in 70% of new homes. That doesn’t necessarily mean all of those homes are completely wired for Internet.… More

Satellite first, FTTH (much) later

25 March 2013 by Steve Blum
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Not all crazy ideas are crazy.

Netflix is talking about delivering ultra high definition content to its subscribers, using the 4K video format currently under development. Real time streaming of 4K content will require something like a 100 Mbps to 1 Gbps connection. Or it could be downloaded, over time, to in-home hard drives at slower speeds.

Either way, it would strain existing networks. A gigabit is only possible with fiber. In theory, cable modem service can support 100 Mbps speeds, but only for a very limited number of homes in a given area and only intermittently over long periods of time.… More

HBO legend sees a long road to 4K television

23 March 2013 by Steve Blum
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Zitter didn’t just look into the future, he made it.

Bob Zitter, HBO’s revered chief technology officer, retires this month, ending more than thirty years at the cutting edge of television technology. In a valedictory keynote at the TV Connect conference in London, Zitter expressed near-term skepticism about the future of 3D and 4K television technology, but held out long term hope.

HBO tried offering 3D content, but Zitter said they never believed in it.… More

Netflix making consumer case for gigabit service

20 March 2013 by Steve Blum
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Building a business on 4K content.

Netflix is throwing its weight behind the new 4K ultra-high definition video format and, once again, potentially disrupting the broadband industry. Neil Hunt, chief product officer at Netflix, told The Verge “we expect to be delivering 4K within a year or two.” Sony has also floated the possibility of supporting 4K services in future networked products.

Network routers won’t start melting under the strain anytime soon. There’s not much content that meets the 4K spec yet.… More

Dell's consumer business plummets

19 February 2013 by Steve Blum
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Apple delivers the buzz in Dell’s zone.

Dell’s fourth quarter 2012 financial results show a rapidly deteriorating presence in the consumer sector specifically and personal devices generally. Released this afternoon after Wall Street trading had closed for the day, the figures show a 24% decline in Dell’s consumer business and an overall decline of 20% in desktop and mobile device sales.

On the plus side, Dell says its networking sales are up 42%, its enterprise services business grew 6% and it’s seeing better PC results from large accounts – those numbers only dropped 7%.… More

Three elephants still standing


Samsung had their attention at CES 2013.

Samsung left Las Vegas with a firm grip on the industry’s leadership crown. Its CES presence overshadowed other traditional consumer electronics companies, cementing its position as a dominant global technology player.

Paying Bill Clinton to guest star at its keynote address was just icing on the cake. Arguably, the flexible touch screen that Stephen Woo, Samsung’s president of electronic device solutions, also demonstrated on stage drew more attention than the ex-president.… More

Simplicity key to manufacturers' home automation solutions


Cloud-based server checks to see how it's running. You can look inside yourself to see if you need milk.

Three competing, and perhaps ultimately complementary, home automation business models are emerging:

  • Manufacturer supported.
  • Consumer-centric.
  • Carrier managed platform.

Lowes and AT&T moved aggressively at CES last week to position themselves as leaders in the consumer and service provider categories, respectively. Several companies were pitching to manufacturers, but the leader in that space looks to be Arrayent at this point.… More

Next wave of global technology brands coming from Southeast Asia

16 January 2013 by Steve Blum
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Disco fever, Hanoi style.

Southeast Asian manufacturers fared better at CES last week than companies from Africa, South America or even India, where the exhibitor count was two, none and ten, respectively.

I counted a total of twenty-one companies from the ASEAN region, with Singapore accounting for thirteen of those and Thailand with three.

Tosy, the sole Vietnamese manufacturer, had the biggest floor presence. The Hanoi-based toy maker was demonstrating its range of dancing robots on a big stage in the Las Vegas Convention Center's Central Hall.… More

Ready, fire, aim for real

12 January 2013 by Steve Blum
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High caliber consumer electronics takes on new meaning.

To shoot something a thousand meters away with a rifle, you need a sharp eye and steady hands. Or a high tech rifle that tracks your target and pulls the trigger for you.

TrackingPoint offers just such a weapon, and introduced it to the CES world at the Showstoppers event last week. It has a video camera, processing power and WiFi capability so someone can watch what you're doing in real time.… More

Wearable computing delivered

9 January 2013 by Steve Blum
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Migicovsky shows Pebble watch and app.

“We're proud of it, it's a full blown consumer electronics product,” said Eric Migicovsky, CEO of Pebble, as he introduced the Pebble smart watch at CES, promising a shipping date of 23 January 2013.

It's a real watch. It sits on your wrist, tells the time and you can swim with it. It's also “a connected device, which talks to your smart phone,” Migicovsky explained.

If the production units perform like this morning's demo, Pebble has a shot at being the first mass market, non-geek smart watch.… More