While no one knows exactly what new technology will as jaw-dropping this year as the iPhone did last year, one place to get a good idea was at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.
Sponsored by the Consumer Electronics Association, the 41st annual CES was held at the Las Vegas Convention Center and the Sands Convention and Expo Center. The show has become something of a giant in the electronics industry: it is the largest technology trade show in the United States, with more than 2,700 exhibitors and an attendance of around 140,000 people. Many companies (big and small) use CES to preview new products, make announcements, and build excitement. In the past 40 years, the show has seen the debut of VCR (1970), CD player (1981), HDTV (1998), Xbox (2001), and Blu-Ray (2003).
Along with more electronic inventions, gadgets, and gizmos than would fit in ten Best Buys (exhibit space is 1.8 million net square feet), the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show also featured appearances by celebrities including Michael Douglas, David Ortiz and XENA: Warrior Princess. Tech guru Bill Gates kicked off the electronic extravaganza, delivering his last keynote speech as Microsoft chairman and poking fun at his pending retirement in a video featuring guest spots from Al Gore, Jay-Z and Bono. . In his speech by him, he painted a picture of the dawning “second digital decade” as a time when high-definition displays will surround us, touch screens and speech recognition will replace traditional keyboard / mouse interfaces and every device we own will be connected to the Internet.
Judging by many of the new products and technologies on display at CES, Gates’ predictions seem pretty accurate. Indeed, HDTVs were more prevalent than ever. Panasonic wowed viewers with its 150-inch Lifescreen plasma TV, the world’s largest, while LG introduced super-slim TVs just 1.7 inches thick. Meanwhile, Logitech worked to close the media gap with its diNovo MiniTM, a palm-sized wireless keyboard that connects your TV to your PC, and Eye-Fi won Yahoo’s “Last Gadget Standing” contest. by its memory card that sends images wirelessly from a digital device. camera to a computer. Beyond Gates’ digital prophecy, other trends at CES 2008 point to a future filled with global positioning system (GPS) technology and, of course, more automated products for everyday life.
Ideal for hunters and hikers, SPOT Satellite Messenger takes GPS to the next level by allowing people to request help from anywhere in the world (even places where cell phones don’t work, ie deserts, mountains, the arctic circle). Progress tracking with Google Maps and basic messaging are also available at the push of a button. For the wandering pet, there’s the Zoombak Advanced GPS Dog Tracker. The lightweight device attaches to a pet’s collar and pinpoints the animal’s location on a full-size web map. Zoombak also has a voice-based service that provides directions to the location of the GPS receiver. In addition to these devices, Nav N Go has invented new 3D navigation software, which brings GPS maps to life in three dimensions.
While GPS systems help people find their way, self-driving cars may get them there. GM announced at CES that the company plans to test driverless car technology by 2015 and have cars on the road by around 2018. Of course, the company still faces the difficult hurdle of convincing drivers to ditch the wheel. Some other automated devices at CES designed to make everyday life easier included iRobot’s LoojTM, a gutter-cleaning robot that can scrub a 60-foot section of gutter in just 10 minutes, and Interactive Toy Concepts’ RC Cooler, a robot with radio controlled wheels cooler that has a 30 foot range and can hold a six pack in ice.
Also noteworthy at this year’s CES is the greater presence of “green” products. Cell phone chargers, televisions, and laptops designed to reduce power consumption illustrate the industry’s current focus on making electronics more resource-efficient. Even CES itself invested this year in new initiatives to offset the carbon footprint of the big event.
Next year’s Consumer Electronics Show is scheduled for January 8-11, 2009.