EGC was lucky enough to attend the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. It’s always an amazing experience, and this year absolutely beat 2009 in innovation. We’ve recapped the best trends and what they mean to you.
Connect – This is not just the EGC mantra, but was the theme of the entire CES experience. Virtually every company had ways that their products enabled you to be connected, in new ways, all the time. The TV guys introduced TVs that have expanded Internet capability and the ability to support programs like Skype. The auto guys introduced new mobile apps for an enhanced driving experience. Ford Sync introduced apps that support applications like Twitter. Fiat introduced a program that mimics Nike Plus, allowing you to have a better driving experience by giving tips on fuel efficiency, handling advice, etc. All of this caused a bit of a controversy—how much, really, should one do while driving? (Ironically, there was a neighboring booth for TextBlocker, which parents can buy to disable texting/email functions on their teens’ phones once in a moving vehicle.) Sony introduced a Bloggie camera that allows you to edit photos and content in new ways. We saw a demo on this, and it will truly replace the Flip or any other digital camera for bloggers and content creators. In our opinion it was one of the most notable products at CES. This light video camera includes image stabilization technology, a 360-degree lens and software that will allow you to quickly and easily upload content to social networking apps. What does this mean to you, the advertiser? It means embracing the next levels of social media and consumer-generated conversations about your brand, because the tools are out there to make them even more available to the consumer, and to make the process of content development and sharing easier for you.
3D – The box office success of 3D movies like Avatar has fueled interest in the CES release of home 3D TVs. This was where the major TV players invested the most money and booth real estate, and was certainly the biggest deal at CES. Panasonic had made the largest investment in 3D and did the best job of visually presenting it at the show. Samsung won, in our opinion, for best trade show experience, promoting the thinness of their screens and in displaying multiple-screen use in gaming, trading, and sports viewing. Despite the splash at CES, 3D technology will most likely not be in most consumers’ homes for several years. Setting aside the cost of the equipment and the need to wear 3D glasses to experience it, there aren’t many home 3D formats available. Two 3D cable companies so far have committed to 3D content. One is ESPN, who agreed to film 80 3D sporting events in 2010.
Tablets and eReaders – All dominated CES. While eReaders as a whole have had somewhat of a slow start, many predict the use of them to increase in 2010, and Kindle currently has the bulk of the market share. Plastic Logic Que, Spring Design’s Alex, and the Skiff all debuted eReaders at CES with new functionalities that included writing capabilities, the ability to work with Microsoft Office, multi-screens and more. While the world awaits Apple’s release of their tablet, Microsoft CEO Steve Balmer announced their tablet, built by HP, at the keynote address. “The emerging category of PCs should take advantage of the touch and portability capabilities.” If these tablets are truly adopted by consumers, it will affect the way we design and build interactive experiences.
Differentiation – All of the major brands are competing for fewer dollars from fewer and smarter customers. Many did a good job of introducing new key differences to existing products. They also found different ways to market. Polaroid hired Lady Gaga as Creative Director and brought her out to the booth Friday (her brief appearance drew the largest media attention at the show). Samsung introduced an ultra-cool transparent screen (similar to those seen in Avatar), which is still in R&D, which was added to their existing laptop. As marketers, we all need to continue to differentiate our brand, product and service to attract the ever-changing consumer.
Green – All of the major brands realize that it’s not about just marketing, but it’s about true commitment to sustainability in product development. Panasonic released LED Light Bulbs with a 19-year life span. Home energy monitoring screens were introduced where you can control of your home’s energy use and efficiency. Sony introduced a new VAIO laptop, where 23% percent of it is made from recycled CDs. CES in general also went paperless, with little notebooks handed out in the pressroom, and most information exchanged digitally. Green marketing can’t just be lip service anymore—it must show tangible environmental benefits.
Women and Tech – Women represent $20 trillion in purchasing power, and CES dedicated a larger portion than previous years of events and products to women and multi-tasking Moms. From Bluetooth headsets that allow Moms to sync automatically to both their landlines/cell phones, to thermometers that scan a baby’s temperature just through a beam of light, these products solve many modern day problems. Our client, Brother International, participated in Mommy Tech, which was an entire CES section dedicated to Moms and the products that make their lives easier. They received lots of attention from media outlets like CBS and NBC, showing how sewing has gone high-tech with touch screens and built-in cameras.
All and all it was a great show. Check back soon when we’ll have photos from the show, clips from press coverage we received, and more.
How the Trends of CES Will Change the Online World
by Tony Valado
Given the importance of CES to the digital world, I wanted to expand on the CES recap and give you an idea of what this all means for all of us.
Every year, CES gives us a glimpse into the future of technology. This year was no exception, and the new technology will impact online as much as anything we have seen. Three things that will change the way things are done online are tablets, 3D and Internet-connected appliances (TV, DVD, etc.). Let’s go through these developments and see how they will impact the online world in the future.
Tablets
If you keep up with the technology industry, you know these are already out to some degree. The most important and relevant thing here is the rumor that has been swirling on the pending release of the Apple tablet. As the CES recap pointed out, Microsoft launched their tablet Slate at CES, likely to pre-empt the impending release of Apple’s. The questions remain though: what will the Apple tablet be, how will it work, what will be the full range of capabilities? Why is this such a big deal? Well, for a myriad of reasons…
- Apple has a knack for making their non-computer related products #1 in the market (i.e. iPod and iPhone). While the tablet will be a computer, it is a new market in which Apple can potentially capture or at least increase awareness. This is required, in order for tablets to change online interaction.
- Web Design – As the CES recap alluded to, tablets will likely alter web design. This assumes that there will be mass adoption. The question is how will this change web design? It will likely be in navigation. As you can imagine, you are using your hand much more so it will require more prominent navigation features (similar to how an iPhone-built website works). In addition, scrolling may be altered to be more of a slide-navigation, similar to how you navigate the iPhone’s home screens.
- More importantly, depending ultimately on the size, this could become the singular device. Now granted, iPhone users are pretty aware that all they need is their iPhone, but a little more real estate to do a little more power computing would be ideal. This could be your book reader, phone, email, grocery list, etc. However, only time will tell.
3D
3D was all the rage for televisions at CES. While it is still a ways out, you can expect to start seeing it creep into online applications. In fact you can now purchase 3D cameras for your computer. At EGC, we’re already working on how we can apply it to our campaigns, both online and offline. It will help bring brands to life, literally in another dimension. It is a matter of time until the cost of equipment and adoption happen. You will probably see the same life cycle as plasma and LCDs. The only hindrance will be the necessity to wear glasses, but I am confident that entrepreneurial people will develop glasses that you can barely feel you are wearing.
Internet-Connected Appliances
I know, this already exists, but the level of integration is what I am talking about. Right now, my Blu-ray downloads Netflix and plays Pandora, and my TV downloads Blockbuster and has Yahoo. What is happening is that the lines of computer and TV and other appliances are starting to blur. Eventually homes will be equipped with a central nervous system and servers and your television, radio, movies, etc. will all feed through it. There will be no difference between a computer monitor and television. Your TV will even likely dictate the commercials you see based on an infinite amount of data, similar to how we buy online advertising now. We will be able to micro-target our advertising and I expect companies like Google and Microsoft to lead the charge. Is it a coincidence that both are in the TV space?
The future of digital is only beginning. Some day we will step into a world where everything we see is geared to our own personal likes and tastes. It will be dominated by personal devices that allow us to do everything we need and everything will be seamlessly connected through cloud computing. Tablets, 3D and connected appliances are only pieces of what will be a large shift into a completely digital world.
Click here for more photos from the show.
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