This year, I was lucky enough to view the Consumer Electronics Show through fresh eyes with Endeavour, some of the brightest rising talent from across the Maxus network. Cue an exhausting three days experiencing the latest innovations in consumer electronics. Summarising an event this vast is a feat, but the spotlight was definitely on three areas: connected homes, cars and ultra HD TV – with wearable technology, cameras and robots/drones also vying for attention.
Innovation in mobile was notably limited, although we saw standout advances in mobile processing power – watch this space for developments in 4K video in mobile devices, as seen with Qualcomm's Snapdragon processor. Meanwhile, the tablets on show were bigger and more powerful, moving closer to legitimately challenging the laptop as a primary device.
TV innovation is accelerating fast, as viewing moves from a passive to thoroughly engaged activity. The big focus was UHD, or 4K television, the latest in hi-definition screen resolution. Sizes are up and costs are down versus 2013. We saw incredibly thin, bend-able OLED TVs with near incredible 4K resolution, along with Sony's projection TV resembling an ultra-minimalist ottoman. I envision rapid product development here – good news for manufacturers, retailers and brands; the better the TV viewing experience, the more opportunity for brands to develop high-quality content, while enhanced data will result in more targeted, relevant advertising for viewers. Another theme was Social TV – intriguing for any brand hoping to reach people in real-time, aligned with their favourite content.
Much of the household robot tech on display felt in its nascent stages, capable of handling basic household chores but as yet, little more. As for drones, we were hoping to see new entrants this year, but were disappointed. The largest on show was capable of carrying a 6lb payload and had an 18 mile range – hardly the dynamo I hoped might deliver nappy replenishments to my doorstep. But given Amazon's recent announcements about experimentation with drone delivery, this is definitely an area to watch.
More inspiring for now was the updated vision of the connected home. We've already seen promising glimpses in this area, but this was the year connected products hit the mainstream. Samsung devoted a considerable amount of floor space to its impressive demo; imagine controlling your home's temperature, lighting, washing machine, even television tuning via a smartphone-like device on your wrist. As consumers embrace individual appliances with connectivity built-in, demand for overall control of home technology will grow. For CPG brands, the opportunities are considerable; think devices that recommend particular brands when stocks run low.
Despite a whole new crop of wearable tech on show, for me the jury's out. Smartphones posing as wristwatches (or vice versa) were a dominant theme, with Samsung leading the way. Offering little beyond existing smartphone functionality packed into clunky wrist-mounted devices, does this tech offer scalable appeal? More exciting were the health-related wearables – the concept of collecting data about one's activity is bound to appeal.
Elsewhere, camera tech was prevalent, with Sony, Nikon and Canon among those showcasing amazing advances in optics, display and imaging technologies to impress photography buffs. But we can't escape the fact that, for most people, their highly-evolved point and shoot smartphone camera does the trick.
Without doubt the main talking point of this year's show was auto technology. We saw advances in eco-friendliness (solar and hydrogen fuel cells were main attractions), drivability, safety and on-board tech. My favourite of these – on-board tech – is primed for rapid evolution, with connectivity the game-changing theme.
For now most car manufacturers are pushing their own proprietary on-board tech ecosystems; there's a noticeable lack of standards and open architecture. Enter the likes of Google and Apple, and we'll have at least a couple of big players competing to provide the OS (and associated apps) to on-board entertainment and hardware systems. The ultimate beneficiary will be the consumer, but expect to see lots of investment in proprietary approaches until then.
While this year was more evolution than revolution, CES is less about what is in front of you, and more about what it will become in the next few years. The potential for smart, connected tech to move consumers down the marketing funnel is huge; roll on CES 2015.
Jason Harrison is global chief information officer at Maxus.
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