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CES 2011 Highlights

Yet another CES concluded last week. Another big one, with over 2700 booths and 140,000 attendees makes one believe the economy is alive and kicking. Here are some highlights:






Tablets
iPad can expect to have some serious competition.  Analysts estimate that there are now over 80+ iPad clones including Asus (Eee Pad Slate), Lenovo (LePad) and Sharp (Galapagos). CNET chose Motorola's Xoom as best in show for 2011, but Moto wasn't alone in entering the Android tab fray. BlackBberry's tablet entry, the Playbook, also made its first appearance to massive crowds - and it stood apart from most other players simply because it's not built on Android, but rather on BlackBerry's operating system.

Connected Home
More and more devices would now be connected over your home network. Internet is now built into TVs, Ovens and Refrigerators.  Samsung and LG showcased their own versions of "SmartTV," both ripe with basic applications meant to enhance the TV viewing experience and keep the viewer connected. It will be really interesting to see how manufacturers and developers bring social functionality to the big screen. Facebook and Twitter are already there, but that's only the beginning. There were several new versions of networked  home theaters too, and some were going to support Apple's AirPlay technology. GE showing up for the first time in CES, had its focus on “smart” home technologies aimed to give attendees of the mammoth trade show an idea of how the company believes the “Connected Home of the Future” will operate. According to GE, the technologies showcased at CES 2011 “will help consumers reduce health- and energy-related costs and redefine the benchmark for household performance.”

Mobile Phones
The highlight clearly was Motorola's Atrix, a standard Android phone, but has several firsts, atleast for a mobile phone.  It plugs into a laptop shell to afford the user a full keyboard and larger screen. Moto is also making docks for other devices like TVs. The Atrix can output full 1080p video via its dock, making it an impressive machine for both productivity and entertainment. There was also a buzz of a slew of 4G devices from AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and other wireless carriers.

TVs
3D TVs made their debut in last year's CES. For the second year in a row, blurry, double-vision flat panels were visible everywhere - televisions that looked sharp only when you put on ridiculous-looking 3D glasses. Many of those glasses are just as big, heavy and expensive. Further, with new technologies, shrinking form factors shrinking and prices plummeting, the television biz is clearly ready for primetime in 2011. Some models go bigger, e.g. Mitsubishi’s new 92-inch 3D Home Cinema unit. Others, including the LG LW9500, add full-array LED backlighting for better colors and contrast, plus super-thin dimensions. But the most progressive promise glasses-free 3D or add WiFi compatibility for streaming music, movies and TV, or access to social networks, online video and games through downloadable apps.

There were some other small tidbits too:

• Apart from the iPad clones there were plenty of iPad cases, iPad holders, iPad keyboards, iPad chargers, iPad alarm clocks. Also, iPads had displaced laptops/PCs in the booths for presentations.
• Ultra-thin laptops and Blu-ray players such as Samsung’s 9 Series and BD-D7500 (a scant 1.1 inches deep, despite boasting WiFi connectivity and 2D-to-3D image upconversion). Other ultra-thin gadgets include: Smartphones like the 9.2mm thick LG Optimus Black, external hard drives such as Seagate’s minute GoFlex HDD and gizmos including Casio’s adjustable frame-sporting Tryx camera etc.,
• Some companies introduced Smart energy monitoring, as more and more devices in the home will start getting connected.
• Connected cars. Ford Sync continues to innovate and Hyundai was showing a very cool demo of an augmented-reality interface that's projected onto the windshield as you're driving. Toyota owners can soon enjoy in-car online searches, restaurant reservations and Internet radio courtesy of multimedia app system Entune. 

Thank you very much,


RamP!
ramp [dot] ramp [at] gmail [dot] com