Gearing up for tech mega-hits
50th Consumer Electronics Show expected to focus on smart software
It was June 1967, the beginning of the summer of love. The Beatles had set the mood with the release of Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and a sense of optimism filled New York’s warm air.
This was the backdrop of the world’s first Consumer Electronics Show, a celebration of new technologies that were displayed in glittering hotel lobbies and event rooms across the city.
CES would grow to be the largest tech gathering in the world, playing host to major technology debuts, including the first videocassette recorder and CD player.
Half a century later, the show has relocated to Las Vegas and is preparing to celebrate its 50th birthday. On the surface the conference doesn’t appear to have changed much.
Hundreds of companies will gather to show off their products to buyers and fans. They will be watching one another, too, looking for the next innovation in their field.
The frenzy showcased at CES produces mixed results. For instance, the proliferation of smart devices — from pet feeders, umbrellas and water bottles to jewelry, clothing and watches — has met muted applause.
Transforming regular “dumb” objects into connected ones by fitting them with sensors and wireless chips has not created anything like the excitement of the smartphone boom of the late 2000s.
“Vendors haven’t really figured out how to make wearables interesting enough to make them a must-have item like the smartphone,” says Annette Zimmerman, research vice-president at Gartner.
The same goes for smart gadgets. “Some of them are certainly gimmicky and I don’t see a future for all of the devices,” she adds. “But I think the potential is reflected in the growth of the fitness band market.”
The rapid growth of fitness bands, which have doubled sales year on year in the U.K. and U.S., makes Zimmerman believe there is a market for smart devices — but only if they have a clear use case.
“A lot of people still don’t know what the uses are of a smartwatch, let alone gadgets that have a single use,” she says.
Even if some of the products launched fail to live up to their promise, it is not a total loss because these devices will make up the building blocks of the efficient home, office and person of the future.
This year a new tech arms race is in the offing at CES that will finally give smart devices meaning and purpose. While the hardware has been established for some time now, what the industry has been waiting for is the intelligent software that can power such gadgets, interpreting the data their sensors collect and translating it into meaningful help for consumers.
“The devices won’t go away, they’ll still be there. But companies will layer intelligence on top of them,” says Ben Wood, chief of research at CCS Insight.
The integration with computer-powered analysis and machine learning that can extract useful information from reams of data will make these devices more interesting. A door that can be remotely unlocked with a security camera that has facial recognition and machine learning becomes more helpful.
Imagine your parents arrive at the door, and the camera autonomously recognizes them and unlocks it. Mark Zuckerberg revealed he built such a system in a video released ahead of Christmas.
It is through linking smart devices and enhancing their capabilities with AI that companies will be able to differentiate their products at this year’s CES.
We saw tech giants starting the process last year, with Facebook, Microsoft, Google, Apple and Amazon all releasing AI-powered intelligent assistants housed in smartphones, computers and speakers.