More than 140,000 people came to CES this year. More than 30,000 attendees came from outside the US. It will take me days to compile the information I think may be of value to the people I work with here at Global Research and at the business units.
Pictured: Typical crowd entering the Main Hall on Friday.
Saturday, I logged 8.2 miles, according to a borrowed pedometer, and Saturday was not as intense as the two prior days. CES will test one’s stamina. Since it is impossible to see everything, advance planning is critical. The CES iPhone app, and other tools were very useful in making a prioritized list of key vendors / suppliers, and mapping efficient routes. Even with exhibitor listings, it was easy to miss interesting and potentially useful items. Random luck, along with networking at the show, played a role in finding new and interesting tools that show potential for use in my field of optical metrology.
It was 4 days of hard work, and I relaxed afterword by taking a road trip into the hill country to let all that technology wash out of my head. I moved from an environment where Wi-Fi signals were about as thick as peanut butter, and text messages took minutes to make it across the show floor, to ghost towns in Nevada, where NO SIGNAL is the norm. And if you were very quiet, you still could hear evidence of another human – it was refreshing and relaxing.
In looking for tools and gizmos at CES I could use here at Global Research, it was impossible to miss the explosion in tablet computers, looking to capture the buzz created by the iPad. Even though Apple was not at the show, a lot of exhibitors were showcasing their hardware to make the iPad more useful. Several were showing a carrying case that had in integral keyboard, basically turning the iPad into a notebook computer.
Other stuff, I could not help but notice as well as some tips/best practices I acquired this year at CES 2011 I wanted to share publically. This is a bit of an open train of thought but I thought you might find value in some of what I observed this year. I apologize for not getting this out soon but blogging from the show floor slows me down, there is simply too much to see. While my focus is on technology that may be useful to my GE customer base, it’s easy to get distracted, going from one to another. Then again, I get distracted when looking something up in an encyclopedia.
- E-Books are still very popular at the show. I can see a time when shop manuals are provided on e-books. Long battery life, and the ability to push updates appeal to me.
- Televisions are getting bigger, brighter and flatter. A good 3D TV makes a really great 2D TV, and televisions come with internet connectivity that enable advanced features, such as on-demand Netflix.
- Wireless charging for small devices has seen considerable growth in the last two years. It looks like everything from phones to cars will be able to charge wirelessly in the not too distant future (which is good news for Dorrel Smith II).
- Cell phones with Dual Core processors (do I really want a phone that is smarter than I am?).
- 3D TV’s are getting ever more hype, and not all sets require those nerdy glasses.
- Head Up Displays for cars are starting to look viable.
- RPV (remotely piloted vehicles) are being used for remote inspection of hard to reach areas… Intended for gaming is the Parrot AR Drone, I got a chance to fly one, using an iPhone as a controller, it was very stable and easy to control. The unit includes a QVGA camera. Toy or not, the heart of this RPV is sophisticated electronic module that is available as OEM package with an SDK for custom applications. Fun AND full of potential. Check this site out for a look at the gaming version of the aircraft. Even in toy form, this could have some value for quick looks into hazardous areas, and for $300, it makes a great gift for that budding engineer or pilot!
- Fuel cells for consumer applications are almost in reach. Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies has shown a line of hydrogen charged energy cells. It’s an interesting product, but how soon will it replace conventional battery technology?
- A picture is worth a thousand words, and takes up 10,000 times more memory, it’s worth it. Ortery makes “The World’s First Office Photography Machine” for capturing studio quality of photographs of components. This is the kind of tool that can be set up next to the copier/printer/water cooler and be used as a walk up self-service tool for making great documentation pictures for sharing with customers, and embedding in power point presentations. The systems will take stills, or automatically generate interactive multi-position views. You can see examples here.And one final best practice for food tip at CES: Located in the Premium Outlet Mall in Las Vegas, on grand central parkway, is Makino, a gourmet sushi and seafood buffet, and for 25 bucks you get a wide array of excellent Japanese style food.
OH, yah, I did stop by the Dream Cheeky booth across from the main GE Ecomagination booth. In the below video, Gil Abramovich demonstrates the latest cube mate annoying technology – a camera guided, USB controlled, Soft Tipped Missile launcher, with rotation and elevation control.
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