CES 2023 Report: Connection, Collaboration and Cooperation

What a difference a year makes. CES 2023 attracted more than 115,000 attendees from 140 countries to Las Vegas where 3,000 companies filled 2 million square feet of exhibit space. Among the major themes relevant to M&E this year were artificial intelligence, the multiverse, AR and immersive experiences, displays, mobility, IoT, and numerous policy and regulation topics. ETC@USC attended the convention with onsite and remote teams, once again blending its in-person tradition with a virtual presence. Our post-show report features extensive coverage and perspectives related to these key creative, business, and technology areas. Continue reading CES 2023 Report: Connection, Collaboration and Cooperation

CES: Show Floor Reveals the Ups and Downs of Tech Trends

Connection, collaboration, and cooperation are three words that underscore almost everything we saw during four days at CES 2023. We anticipated this would not be a show of breakthrough innovations. Instead, we expected innovative ways to use recent advances. In broad categories, AR, haptics, and AI were much in evidence. Interesting light field displays and curved screens caught our eye. There were fewer cars but way more commercial vehicles and components driving “software-defined mobility.” TVs were secondary to connected ecosystems in Samsung and LG’s displays, while creators took center stage for Sony, Canon, and Nikon. Clear across the show, innovation may come from startups but to scale it takes giants. Continue reading CES: Show Floor Reveals the Ups and Downs of Tech Trends

CES: Government Plans to Address the Digital Divide in 2023

Consumer Technology Association (CTA) vice president of regulatory affairs J. David Grossman introduced U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce Alan Davidson, NTIA administrator, who addressed the CES audience on federal plans to expand broadband access in 2023. “As you all know, the Internet today is the essential tool in our modern world,” he said. “Yet, in 2023, millions of people in this country don’t have the access or skills they need to take advantage of the Internet.” After 20 years of talk, he added, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will now provide over $65 billion to invest in that mission. Continue reading CES: Government Plans to Address the Digital Divide in 2023

CES: Addressing Challenges to Creating Global AI Standards

Both the European Parliament (the EU’s law-making body) and the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) were represented on a CES panel on “AI Rules and Tools,” moderated by CTA vice president of emerging technology policy Doug Johnson. Also on the panel were executives from Facebook parent Meta Platforms and insurance provider Elevance Health, for a robust discussion on how to arrive at standards and regulations for the powerful — but often industry-based — AI technologies that will also be accepted by countries around the world and industries with competing interests. Continue reading CES: Addressing Challenges to Creating Global AI Standards

CES: Steve Koenig Reveals This Year’s Tech Trends to Watch

There are people here in Las Vegas and it’s beginning to look a lot like CES again. A little sticker that says “I was at CES 2022” reminds us that only a hearty few made last year’s trip. As anticipation builds for the Thursday, January 5 opening of the CES exhibits, CTA’s vice president of research Steve Koenig kicked off the pre-show media briefings with his take on “Tech Trends to Watch.” Artificial intelligence, Web 3.0, digital health and augmented reality predictively top his list with a distinctive side note: Watch how enterprise — business at scale — innovates on top of recent tech innovations. Continue reading CES: Steve Koenig Reveals This Year’s Tech Trends to Watch

CES: LG Innotek Intros Optical Zoom Camera Tech for Mobile

LG exited the smartphone market in 2021, but its LG Innotek division continues to supply components, and is touting a major breakthrough with its Optical Telephoto Zoom Camera Module to be unveiled this week at CES 2023. As part of the rear-mounted smartphone camera systems, the new optical zoom allows still images and video to be magnified by four to nine times “without image quality degradation even when zooming from long distance,” the company says. The results are achieved by integrating the telescopic camera functions that are mostly applied to professional DSLR and mirrorless cameras. Continue reading CES: LG Innotek Intros Optical Zoom Camera Tech for Mobile

CES 2023: What to Expect When the Show Opens in January

For four days in Las Vegas, CES 2023 becomes the nucleus of global innovation. The Consumer Technology Association (CTA), owner of CES, predicts a show significantly larger than CES 2022, emerging from two pandemic restricted years on January 5. The annual confab will open more than two million square feet of exhibit space with more than 2,400 exhibitors and the expectation of as many as 100,000 attendees, more than double the last show. ETC@USC will have its team in place, on the ground and online, to explore the show floor and over 175 sessions and keynotes. We’ll be reporting on the latest in AI, Web3, multiverses, image displays and other emerging CE tech impacting M&E. Continue reading CES 2023: What to Expect When the Show Opens in January

CTA: Streaming Services Will Be Focus for Holiday Shoppers

Tech items are making the list this holiday season, with the Consumer Technology Association’s annual shoppers survey forecasting a record-breaking 78 percent of U.S. adults — nearly 199 million people — will purchase devices and related services this season. Streaming services, headphones and earbuds, mobile cases, smartphones and game consoles top the trade organization’s survey, the 2022 Hot Tech Holiday Preview. The seasonal projection marks a 4 percent increase over last year. The 78 percent of American shoppers who intend to purchase tech gifts in the coming months will spend an estimated $145 billion. Continue reading CTA: Streaming Services Will Be Focus for Holiday Shoppers

Scripps Launches a Marketing Campaign to Promote Free TV

Cincinnati-based station group E.W. Scripps is launching a $20 million marketing campaign to educate consumers about all the free programming they can access via broadcast television by simply using an over-the-air TV antenna. Scripps has launched a website that lets users input a ZIP code to return a list of free channels available in their area. For instance, in Los Angeles, there are more than 160 free broadcast channels available to antenna users. At a time when inflation is driving households to look for ways to cut costs, Scripps feels the campaign is timely. Continue reading Scripps Launches a Marketing Campaign to Promote Free TV

ETC Releases Its CES 2022 Report: AI, AR, Multiverse, NFTs

Moving back toward an onsite experience, the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) hybrid format for CES 2022 opened to an anticipated reduced audience compared to previous years but continued its showcase of insightful and exciting product revelations and keynote addresses. With its own hybrid makeup, the ETC@USC team’s boots on the ground in Las Vegas and remote reporting in Los Angeles identified and covered four specific areas of activities — the multiverse, augmented reality, NFTs and artificial intelligence – as well as other CES tech trends, products, keynotes and highlights. ETC’s CES 2022 Report is now available online. Continue reading ETC Releases Its CES 2022 Report: AI, AR, Multiverse, NFTs

Google TV Aims to Build Its Own Identity Among TV Platforms

Alphabet’s Google continues on a path of global dominance, announcing during CES 2022 earlier this month that the total number of monthly active Android TV devices has grown to 110 million in the world. Since May alone, 30 million devices were added, a growing number of them featuring the company’s new Google TV platform, with TCL reporting that it is moving about 10 million television sets a year with the Google TV interface. Seven of the world’s top 10 smart TV OEMs are currently using a Google UI on their TVs, according to Google TV director of product management Rob Caruso. Continue reading Google TV Aims to Build Its Own Identity Among TV Platforms

CES: Updated Drone Tech Offers Possibilities for Production

While drone announcements failed to generate the same buzz during CES 2022 as in previous years, several new products should be of interest to consumers and professionals, especially those in photography, video and movie production. In addition to demonstrations of hydrogen fuel cell tech promising increased flying time and new underwater micro-ROVs touting a range of enterprise applications, CES included affordable feature-rich drones such as Autel Robotics’ Dragonfish with built-in 4K video and 50X optical zoom; Skydio’s self-flying drone, geared toward cinematographers; and Sony’s Airpeak S1, the smallest drone to support a full-size mirrorless Alpha camera. Continue reading CES: Updated Drone Tech Offers Possibilities for Production

CES: New Ultra Portable Projectors Stand Out at Trade Show

Several ultra portable projectors were on display at CES 2022. Among the more interesting short throw models were products from Anker, Hisense, Samsung and XGIMI, although the show also featured a range of projector types from the likes of BenQ, JVC, Panasonic, Vankyo and ViewSonic. Generating the most buzz in the short throw category was Samsung’s $899 projector, The Freestyle, that can project from 30 to 100 inches and comes equipped with a 1080p HDR-capable view and 360-degree audio. Also drawing media attention was Anker’s upcoming Nebula Cosmos Laser, which comes in 4K ($2,199) and 1080p ($1,599) versions, and is expected to ship by late March. Continue reading CES: New Ultra Portable Projectors Stand Out at Trade Show

CES: TCL 8K QLED X925 Pro Comes in a Very Thin Package

TCL, the No. 2 TV-maker in the world after Samsung, raised the curtain on a new flagship model at CES 2022. The X925 Pro is a super-thin, 85-inch, 8K Google TV powered by the company’s own flavor of Mini-LED, featuring OD-Zero technology. Measuring just 10mm thick — half that of some competing models — the 8K display has local dimming, QLED color, a built-in webcam for video chats, 120Hz refresh rate and, to make gamers happy, variable refresh rate (VRR). The Google TV OS enables hands-free “Hey, Google” voice commands. The X925 Pro touts numerous high-end touches and has a $10,000 price to match. Continue reading CES: TCL 8K QLED X925 Pro Comes in a Very Thin Package