2010 CES Preview

New content for mobile devices, interactive Web-connected TV, new screen sizes for portables, and apps galore are likely to be main attractions at the 2010 CES.

Nick: With the 2010 international consumer electronic show fast approaching, show official say that despite a smaller show impacted by the recession, innovation is as high as ever. New content for mobile devices, interactive web connected TV, new screen sizes for portables and apps galore are likely to be main attractions. Steve: We’re looking ahead to the 2010 CES, we really had highlighted four major mega trends, if you will, and the first is really taking TV beyond high definition. And what we mean by that is interactive TV that is internet connected TVs that are delivering IP based content in to the living room and secondly 3D. Both of these are gonna be in full effect on the show floor and really front and center in central hall. The second trend really deals with cornucopia of content that we have out there and the delivery mechanisms that are bringing that into the home onto portal devices and even in to the car. So this is an area where I think we’re gonna see a number of different market place and business models emerge and alliances and partnerships, as companies try to partner up to deliver contents into the home in meaningful and rich way, really taking it to the next level, if you will. And this kind of place, along with the internet connected story that I just mentioned, but content distribution models continuing to evolve. We’ve got mobile TV that’s gonna augment TV consumption on the go, there’s cloud computing, cloud base content, just no shortage of content out there and consumers really need ways to manage that and coral it, if you will. Third is a trend that deals with what we kind of identified as a gap in the screen spectrum and the two products that are really coming in here and filling this gap are netbooks and ebooks. Up until now, consumers have become very familiar with wireless phones and smaller screens, that third screen, if you will and of course the first screen, with TV’s the big screen TVs in the living room. But this gap, I think is gonna be filled by netbooks and ebooks, these are two technologies that are gonna be front and center at CES. A lot of activity in this spaces, and some have called netbooks a recessionary play, but we believe that it’s really here to stay and has a natural fit in the personal computing, mobile personal computing experience for consumers. There are researchers shown they want a smaller lighter device to carry around with them instead of lugging around their notebook. The last trend really has to do with the customization and personalization of CE, this is a trend that we’ve talked about for years. It’s been developing, but really two main categories provide the bookends, if you will, for this trend and that is apps and accessories. Apps is extensively the most frequently spoken word at the 2010 CES, apps are being developed across a number of hardware platforms, not just mobile phones like the iPhone. The statistics really speak for themselves, the iPhone ecosystem has over a hundred thousand apps, over 2 billion downloads, they’re develop, the industry is developing apps for virtually everything. And it reminds me of the gold rush, if you will, to get on line about ten years ago, everyone had to have an online experience and an ecommerce solution. Well now, everyone has to have an apps solution. So that’ll be on the show floor in our iLounge pavilion. Accessories really help augment and personalized the device side of the story, and this is I think, part and partial to the shear number of mature product categories that we have, video games, wireless handsets, personal computing, mp3, digital camera, the list goes on and accessories are a great way to customize and personalize that CE experience. And we’re not just talking about cases and cables, we’re talking much, much more in terms of market opportunity, accessories in CE today is over a ten billion dollar industry. So a very sizeable market segment indeed for accessories. Nick: The 2009 CES drew just over a hundred and thirteen thousand attendees and 2700 exhibiters, but that’s down more than 20 percent from 2008. According to CEA president, Gary Shapiro, those figures are likely to drop further at the 2010 show, though first time exhibiters will make up for some vendors who are dropping out. The 2010 CES will be held in Las Vegas from January 7th to the 10th. We’ll be there, so check back for coverage. With reporting by Mark Faranti at New York, I’m Nick Barber, IDG News Service.