The Consumer Technology Association has been organizing the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the massive annual trade show for 50 years, since 1967. The show was first held in New York City as a spinoff of the Chicago Music Show. Since that time it has been the main event in the United States for exhibiting consumer electronics. Since 1998, it has been scheduled in January at Las Vegas, Nevada.
Notable Events
Events surrounding CES 2017 begin today with Media Day 1 and tomorrow with Media Day 2. The Conference itself runs January 5-8, 2017.
- The GO-NV of the Nevada Center for Advanced Mobility will feature a series of presentations from industry executives. This invitation only event will highlight recent advances in the transportation industry.
- Events for registered CES media and industry analysts featuring back-to-back exhibitor news conferences including Fiat Chrysler, Qualcomm Products, and Honor. Steve Koenig will explore trends shaping the electronics industry in 2017 with special focus on the Asia-Pacific region.
- Media 2 (January 4) will feature AI technologies for vehicles. Special invitation only attendees will get sneak peaks from LG electronics, Bosch, Luraco iRobotics, and Monster. Featured will be sessions on intelligent transportation, internet-Hollywood connections, advertising metrics, and the evolution of mobile phones.
All of Las Vegas is energized by the annual CES event. There will be celebrations and special events at venues throughout the city. The program covers 136 pages of listings, from educational robots to cooking products. In 2016, the record-breaking attendance of 177,393 people came from all over the world. The exhibit covers 2.47 million square feet of floor space, comparable to all the floor space in the Empire State Building.
Keynote Addresses Will Showcase Global Industry Leaders
- On January 4th from 6:30 to 7:30 pm, jen-Hsun, founder of NVIDIA will speak about the evolution of 3D graphics and virtual world simulation.
- On January 5, keynote addresses will be given by Gary Shapiro, President of the Consumer Technology Corporation owner and producer of the CES, Arnold W. Donald, President of Carnival Corporation, Richard Yu of the Huawei Consumer Group discussing wireless solutions, and Carlos Ghosn CEO of Nissan Motor Corporation. CSpace Keynote Fireside Chats will be offered by Barry Diller of Expedia and Michael E. Kassan of Media Link.
The Show Itself Is Huge
This is a big exhibit. Rarely does an attendee get to see more than a small fraction of what is available to see.
- 3D printing will be a featured product area. A total of 52 exhibitors of 3D printing products will have exhibits this year. There will be products from all over the world.
- Augmented and virtual reality products are represented by 24 exhibitors including a booth from NASA. Simulators for training are among the applications featured by Sigma Integrale. Simulators for entertainment include the latest in motion sensing technologies, gesture and facial recognition.
- Drones have been a growing consumer obsession, both for recreation and business as government restrictions begin to east. The market for drone technology is represented by 40 exhibitors from all over the world. New technologies like multiple cameras for 3D modelling, obstacle detection make the modern drone a fascinating technology.
- Robotics is represented by 27 exhibitors. All kinds of robotic devices will be shown, from gaming and educational artificial intelligence devices like the Ozobot to full motion robots. Interfaces, new sensors, and other enhancements like the high-resolution position sensor from Arms, will also be on display.
- Self-driving technologies will be featured by 10 exhibitors including Delphi and Honda.
- Smart home, smart energy, solar technologies will be richly represented by some 18 exhibits.
- Exhibits will focus on a full range of consumer concerns from health and wellness to cyber security.
CES 2017 is the world's largest show for connectivity products. The entire global technology community will gather to evaluate and showcase the revolutionary 5G mobile network, the next generation in mobile network technology. Connectivity is at the heart of a lot of emerging innovation from the IoT, to virtual and enhanced reality, self-driving cars, and entertainment, as well communication.
The CES exerts an enormous impact on the industrial and technical communities. The average American household spends nearly $1,400 per year on consumer electronics. Most innovation in consumer electronics was introduced, tried out, consumer tested, at the CES. This includes all the innovations in HDTVs, cell phones, video game systems, computers, portable music devices, video players and Blu-ray. At $165 billion per year, consumer electronics is one industry that continues to thrive in spite of all economic downturns.
The CES Is An Historical Timeline
The CES is a historical timeline. It provides the material data that allows observers to track the history of consumer electronics, not only in the United States, but globally. Many ask, “how is technology changing our behavior?” When they attend the CES, they may note that the changes are not as dramatic as expected. The CES story is more about evolution than revolution. The exhibition last year was full of smartphones. Television–in its more advanced iterations–still reigned. New devices don't erase the old ones.
Gradually, the CES begins to show increased development of product-service hybrids, displaying services offered through devices. This evolutionary change brought about by growing IoT technology, brings many non-traditional exhibitors to the CES floor. Exhibitors like Lowes features home improvement management tools. The United Healthcare Network exhibit showcases fitness games that feed into cloud-based systems for feedback and instruction. Apps for controlling prescriptions and the timing of medications are also featured. Online pregnancy tests, baby bottle warmers, and other outlying product lines are always fun to evaluate.
One piece of evolution, connected with consumer electronics that people are watching is the potential impact of the CES on the adoption of digital currencies like Bitcoin. The CES shows the increasing impact of on-line payments on the cashless society. One-tap ordering is an interesting alternative that may begin to signal greater adoption of the Bitcoin concept.
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