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Granted I say this with the massive bias of just emerging from the worldâs largest display of technology, but something quite profound is occurring in all enterprises. Itâs been coming for years, and manifesting faster now. Essentially, if you have a business youâre in the technology business. At CES 2016 companies like Under Armour, BMW, NBC Universal, and United Healthcare proudly displayed how technology is at the core of their business. Technology is no longer a department within the worldâs most admired businessesâââit is the business.
2. Looking to recharge in 2016
Over the past few years weâve seen marginal improvements in battery performance among our devices, and a massive amount of the CES show floor remains dedicated to delivering superior battery charging, emergency backup, and eventual replacement. Stock tip: the first innovator to make a big leap in the battery space would be a good bet to place on the market. If CES 2016 was any indication, solving this dilemma will be heroic for nearly every consumer product category.
3. Step changes toward the future
Hundreds of 3D printers again, thousands of Bluetooth speakers again, drones in new shapes and sizes, again. It can all feel a bit redundant, but in 2016 a few categories took some major steps toward the future. One example is the virtual reality spaceâââwhere HTC revealed their Vive virtual reality headset with an ingenious feature that detects objects in the real world and can overlay them into the virtual world. No more walking into IRL walls by accident. As an industry weâve come to expect iPhone-level announcements each year, but in most 12-month cycles you have to appreciate the small victories.
4. The spectre of Apple looms large
Each year Apple stays at an armâs length of CES, but increasingly over the past decade CES has represented Appleâs technology dominance with a host of accessories and services based off of its breadth of products, particularly in the mobile space. There were numerous companies at CES 2016 promoting their integration with Appleâs HomeKit platform (e.g. Netatmo). The Apple ecosystem was alive and well in Las Vegas.
5. Securing the show floor
The Internet of Things, holds the promise of a smarter, more convenient, and intuitively connected world. It also holds the risk to our personal security and privacy. At CES 2016 there was a small section off the main floor dedicated to technology security solutionsâââfor the home, devices, and data. I predict this section of the show will grow exponentially in the coming years. As connectedness becomes a part of all the products we buyâââfrom sports equipment to baby monitorsâââeverything will become inherently traceable (e.g. VTech breach). Consumers will demand security and better control of these connected experiences.
6. Heading into the Great Unknown (Brands)
CES 2016 continued the trend toward exposing the massive scale of Asian manufacturers and brands most western consumers have never encountered. The average U.S. consumer might be able to recall 4â5 major TV manufacturers and maybe 2â3 tablet computer makers. Thatâs just the tip of the electronics iceberg, and CES displays the rest of it. Walking the showroom floor itâs easy to feel overwhelmed by the redundancy of productsâââeach trying to find their niche through price, feature or booth giveaways. The competition is packed and brands like LeTV and Skyworth look quite formidable.
7. The comeback kids
Storied brands are using their equity in new ways in 2016. Kodak, had a modest but brilliant booth showing the return of their consumer products. Smartly Kodak has licensed their brand out to external manufacturers for items like LED lighting and a 360-degree camera âThe brand is immediately back into consumerâs hands. Theyâve also brought back their iconic Super 8 film camera with a new digital viewfinder. Consumers shoot film, ship it to Kodak, who processes it, scans it in 4K, and uploads it to the customer. In another example of nostalgia revamped, Panasonic revived the Technics brand and revealed the new SL-1200 turntable, which is coveted among DJs and audiophiles.
Kodak reentering the consumer market at CES 20168. Mash-ups of analog and digital
In addition to the Kodakâs Super 8, there were other numerous examples of decidedly non-tech products getting a digital overhaul (e.g. Sleep Numberâs âitâ bed), but the one that stuck with me on the plane ride home was from Legoâs Education division. Lego released a comprehensive robotics kit called WeDo that allows students to use an existing favorite toy to further explore their STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) skills. Their booth showed multiple Lego vehicles and robots being controlled by phones and tablets.
9. Convenience is key
Walking through the vast rows of products at CES itâs common to periodically stop and think, âwait, why did they even make that thing?â You often realize that you are surrounded by hundreds of products that will fail, quickly. Among the sea of novelties, ideas that seemed to have the most sticking power were those that delivered greater consumer convenience. For the most part consumers arenât seeking out entirely new behaviorsâââthey want routine things made better. One product that I initially balked at, but then, as a dad of small children, quickly realized I wanted was the TempTraq thermometer. Not having to wake up a sick kid in the middle of the night as the doctored ordered to take their temperature is truly insightful convenience. On the other hand, some products probably wonât command a consumer market (e.g. the Oombrella).
10. Moths still fly toward light
The brightest lights simply get noticed at CES and for most consumers, especially U.S. consumers, those lights still represent the latest and greatest TVs. Each year manufacturers try to find a unique feature or technology that they can promote and display ahead of the competition. Outside of LGâs fully flexible OLED display in its prototype phase, 2016 presented minor improvements on the previous year. Slightly curved TVs, 8K TVs, smart TVsâââwe saw them all last year. But whatâs different from 2015 is that 2016 will deliver a growing library of 4K content, not from the broadcast networks or cable providers, but from on-demand IPTV.
@grantowens, CSO @CriticalMass
Trends and Trajectories from CES 2016 was originally published in Hacker Noon on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
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