CONSUMER ELECTRONICS 2011

By the time you read this article, I will be in Las Vegas, Nevada attending the International Consumer Electronic Show (CES). This is the world’s largest show where the latest and emerging technologies are launched, exhibited, demonstrated, explored, examined, and reviewed. It “represents the crossroad where technology is the thread that binds many disparate interests.” As stated in its web site the goal of CES is “to gather the “passionistas” from different high tech lifestyles to exchange ideas.”

I intend to take advantage of this large gathering which I am sure would affect the lives of all living beings on earth not only presently but most especially the immediate and mediate future. I hope to collect, absorb, filter, store and organize for easy retrieval data, information, intelligence and knowledge as I have done for years when in attendance.

The world’s biggest IT and electronic companies are expected to be represented except Apple, Inc. which may be absent physically but overwhelmingly present virtually. Indeed, many new products were developed and now being launched as reactions to Apple  products such as the IPAD, IPHONE, IPOD TOUCH and their corresponding applications. I hope to be able draw an intelligent comparison between and among these new products. I understand that  Microsoft Windows 7-based gadgets and those of Google’s Android / Droid will have a strong presence and  some special surprises will be unveiled. A battle of tablets and smart phones are in the offing!

“There is nothing in the intellect that is not first in the senses,” says a scholastic dictum. I expect to gain substantial knowledge which is in the intellect. That’s why I see the need to go and see, touch, smell, taste and/or hear all about these products.  After the conference I expect to have gained knowledge which would be available at my finger tips. I am bringing with me my portable and mobile devices whose applications would easily allow me to retrieve knowledge I already have, acquire knowledge I still do not have, store and organize what I expect to procure and absorb. My hand-held business card scanner would immediately store the contact information collected. My portable hand-held scanner would immediately digitize accumulated bulky documents gathered. My MacBook Pro which also has Windows 7 and Windows XP will give me access not only to my offline data but also to the Internet through Wi Fi and broadband connection.  My sling media connection will also allow me to access all my favorite tv shows at home even though I am away. Being in Las Vegas, the entertainment capital of the world, and the fact that the Pornographers’ Convention is also held at the same time  also at the Strip where I am staying, would probably redirect the attention of many of the attendees. I will exert extra effort to avoid unnecessary distractions. J

Aside from exploring the  many exhibits, I will also attend most, if not all, of the summits. This is a consumer show. It targets consumers from all walks of life: the kids, the moms, and the baby boomers. Many of the technologies are health, fitness and higher education related. Attendees in the summits are encouraged to participate and exchange views. New market trends or demands would most likely be created and the new products and / or technologies would hopefully create their own demand.

The Mobile Applications Showdown and the Last Gadget Standing summits would showcase some of the best among the best of both software and hardware. These are two showdowns which attendees like me would like to witness, be exposed to, and experience.

Among the finalists in the Mobile Apps Showdown are: 1. DriveSafe.ly 2.0, an app that aims to protect drivers from their own text-hungry fingers; 2. IDEAL Item ID, a free, open source, talking barcode reader and barcode maker that allows the visually impaired to identify things; 3. Line2, which adds a second number to your iPhone or Android phone; 4. ooVoo Multiparty Mobile Video Chat, a video chat service with both video and voice calling that can accommodate up to six people; 5. Pageonce Personal Finance, which allows you to stay atop many of your personal finance accounts and all from a single place; 6. Quickoffice Connect Mobile Suite, a full-featured productivity suite to view and edit; 7. Twonky Mobile, streams personal and online media from your Android phone to any Web-connected gadget or device;  8. SwiftKey, one of the smartest and swiftest predictive keyboards we’ve seen for a mobile device; 9. WebMD Mobile, which brings to the Smartphone the medical resource site’s top tools, including its Symptom Checker, a comprehensive drug, supplement and vitamin treatment database, and essential first aid information. Another one will be announced during the summit.

In the Last Gadget Standing showdown, the finalists include: Acer’s Iconia two-screen notebook; Barnes &Noble’s Nookcolor e-reader; Fujifilm’s Finepix Real 3D W3 camera;  Google and Samsung’s Nexus S smartphone; Loocie’s wearable camcorder;  Sifteo Cubes digital blocks; Sonomax’s Soundcage headphones; Fujitsu’s Skinniest ScanSnap Scanner;  Intel’s Potent New Platform. A still undisclosed special surprise gadget will be announced at the summit. 

In the Digital Health Summit, I hope to see advances in diagnosing and battling of disease as well as a new generation of high-tech healthcare products and services.  They are  advertised as “being the catalyst for better managed healthcare, patient/doctor communication, shorter hospital stays and faster recovery time, lowered costs for health insurance, early prevention and detection, digital patient information records, medical attention over distances, and so much more.”

In this field, we are expected to see the following: Telehealth Systems; Therapeutic & Diagnostic Medical Devices; Remote Monitoring Devices; Mobile Health Applications; Secured Wireless Communication Medical Devices; Medication Monitoring Equipment; Mobile Health Devices; Robotic Prosthetics; Personal Health Record; Communications Networks; and Telemedicine Systems.

I belong to the generation of baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1964). There are now 450 million of us worldwide (78 million are in the US) described as “hitting their peak earning and spending”. Like the kids and the moms who make most of the shopping decisions, we boomers are targeted consumers. That is the reason why there is a separate summit showcasing the products and services that keep boomers engaged, entertained and connected .

I am an educator so the HigherED Tech Summit also greatly interests me.

The Wall Street Journal columnist Walt Mossberg will give his unvarnished insights into where digital technology is heading at the summit. He co-edits the All Things Digital web site.

“No more pencils, no more books…” I expect to “peek inside a high tech backpack and see what today’s students take to college and what they will crave in the future.”

The role of technology in our economic and socio-political lives has become more significant than ever. Its effects are exponential and its impact are at times sudden. So we have to keep up  and  pay serious attention to every new development.

CES, this digital Boy Scout is all prepared for you. Here I come!