A burst of tracking devices at CES
Gadgets to be unveiled at consumer electronics show
Customisable, wearable technology that can track everything someone does is shaping up to be the focus of this year’s International CES in Las Vegas, which opens today. International CES, held every year in January, is the world’s largest consumer electronics show.
“The wearable category will explode,” said Shawn DuBravac, the chief economist and director of research for the Consumer Electronics Association, which runs CES.
75 new devices
DuBravac gave a presentation on industry trends for 2014 before Tuesday’s opening. He said he expects 75 new devices to be announced at this year’s show.
New gadgets on tap this year include everything from smart watches to “Fit Bark,” an activity tracker for pets.
Many of these devices will also be customisable, DuBravac said, pointing to websites like CafePress, which offers consumers the options of customising everything from clothing to wall art.
He also noted the recent release of the Moto X smartphone by Motorola and the live help desk feed on Amazon’s Kindle Fire, which offers real time advice on how to personalise the device, as further examples of the customisability trend.
A number of devices that were announced last year, such as smart watches and Ultra High Definition ( UHD) televisions, were also expected to see more launches in 2014.
DuBravac said the number of smart watches sold in 2014 is expected to reach 1.5 million globally, with approximately two- third of those sales being in the United States. Sales of smart watches could reach 2.5 million in 2015, he estimates.
Most smart watches will likely tie into a smartphone, such as Samsung’s Galaxy Gear does with the Galaxy Note III, with the phone acting as a hub for a person’s gadget. The smartphones, along with cloud computing, will provide the majority of the watches computing power.
DuBravac estimates that sometime over the next two years, the number of mobile devices, currently estimated at around 1.5 billion, will surpass the number of PCs globally, which currently has an estimated install base of around 2 billion.
However, recent data breaches and other security issues, especially government snooping, around the globe have put a spotlight on how such devices store data and how much security is needed.
Data protection
“Security in an issue on the radar for all the exhibitors as CES,” he said, but added that he does not think that all data needs to be protected. Different levels of security should be applied appropriately, he said, as not everything consumers do is needs to safe guarded. Other devices launched last year that were expected to get more traction are UHD televisions.
While many companies launched Ultra High Defintion ( UHD, which is also known as 4K due to the number of pixels per inch) television during last year’s CES show, this year will be see even more units sold as a consumers adopt the new technology.
UHD shipments are expected to rise to 485,000 in 2014 in the US, and could cross the 1 million mark in 2015.
“UHD is still a very nascent market,” he said.
Other trends will also make headlines in 2014, even if they aren’t ready yet for the consumer market. DuBravac said there will also probably be more focus on curved screens at this years show, but don’t ex- pect many of those to be available at your local shop just yet.
“A lot of what we are showing is what is technology feasible, but it may be another 5 years before it’s commercially viable,” he said.