Clearbridge Recaps CES 2014 Highlights & Trends
The Consumer Electronics Show sets the precedent of what is to be expected every year in the world of technology. As always, this year’s CES show was no disappointment. The team at Clearbridge is excited about the year ahead, and is looking forward to the next generation of technology and communications. Here are some of the trends we’re most excited about!
Wearable Technology
Coming into CES 2014, wearable technologies has been a major theme. Product announcements from LG, Fitbit, and Sony ensured that 2014 is going to be the year of wearable technologies.
LG’s announcement of its Life Band Touch smart watch and Heart Rate Earphones was a sign that major tech manufacturers are coming into the wearable market. The Life Band watch works with both Android and iOS devices, and functions as a smart watch (incoming calls, messages, reminders and alerts) as well as a fitness tracker (steps taken, calories burned, distance travelled). The Heart Rate Earphones use optical sensors to measure blood flow to the listener’s ears to determine the heart rate. Both are expected to launch in the spring of 2014.
Fitbit announced that it is partnering with high-end fashion brand Tony Burch to release necklaces and wristbands designed to hold the Fitbit Flex. With this partnership, Fitbit hopes to tackle the negative “only for geeks” connotations often associated with wearable technologies (You can thank Google Glass for that).
Keeping up with its competition, Sony also released its first wearable fitness gadget- the Sony Core. Sony plans to incorporate the small chip into other devices in the near future. On the smart watch, the Core tracks fitness activities as well as what Sony dubs “life experiences” – meaning photos you take, and places you visit. It can last five days on a single charge.
Ultra 4K Televisions – You’ve got to see it to believe it
Another hot topic on the thumbs of tweeters was ultra high definition 4K televisions. Announcements from Samsung, Sony and LG introduced 4K televisions at phenomenal sizes (up to 120 inches) with HDMI 2.0 support for 4K content. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, an advocate for 4K content, promised the availability of 4K content streaming from Netflix for early adaptors. As 4K content continues to become available, and hardware prices continue to drop, we expect a high adoption rate for 4K TVs from consumers in 2014.
The Internet of Things
Wearable technologies and 4K televisions are huge trends in 2014. But what we’re also excited about is the vision for the near future: the Internet of things (IOT). What this means is that everything from your refrigerator- to your coffee machine- to your toothbrush is connected to the Internet via low powered wireless sensors and transmitters. Ultimately, this allows you to view data and control your connected home right from your smartphone or PC.
Cisco CEO John Chambers believes that the Internet of Things will be a $19 trillion dollar industry by 2020. In his keynote, he said the Internet of everything will be “bigger than anything that’s ever been done in high tech.” Cisco isn’t the only company pushing IOT forward. Intel also showcased Edison, a low energy system-on-a-chip that is the size of a SD card, and features Wi-Fi and Bluetooth LE connectivity. Intel is on a mandate to make everything “smart,” and have a vision to lead the IOT revolution with Edison.
Android Meets Television
A less covered trend, which is especially exciting for us, is the introduction of the Android OS built right into smart TVs. TP Vision is the parent company of Philips and one of the founding members of the Smart TV alliance, a group that wants to standardize smart TV platforms. Philips has announced that Smart TVs will begin shipping with Android. What this means for consumers is that they can now access Google Play on their TVs, and still have access to all their apps. For developers, this is an exciting new platform that can be leveraged to truly provide a cross platform, connected, andimmersive experience for users. TP Vision CEO Maarten de Vries expects the majority of Philips Smart TVs to be Android powered by 2015.
CES 2014 brought with it the hottest trends of 2014 along with the vision of connected devices and even smarter TVs. The Clearbridge team is excited to use these technologies to help our clients create immersive experiences for their customers. To see how Clearbridge can help your company with the technologies mentioned in this blog, contact us.