Shawn DuBravac, chief economist for the Consumer Electronics Association, delivered his pre-CES press briefing, “2014 CES Trends to Watch.” DuBravac said he “wouldn’t be surprised to see 75 UHDTV announcements” this week, which could climb to about 150, when including hardware rollouts, distribution deals and related news. According to DuBravac, the big picture emerging trends this year will center on mass customization, multidimensional screen expansion, the age of autonomy, and curation and context. Continue reading Trends to Watch: CEA Chief Economist Points to Ultra HDTV

At its CES press event today, Sharp unveiled its new AQUOS Quattron+ (Q+) series of LED televisions and a new SmartCentral smart TV platform. In 2014 Sharp will offer 19 different AQUOS LED TVs 60-inches and larger. The company claims its Q+ series offers the highest resolution Full HD TV. The SmartCentral platform helps viewers search, discover and share content, while the SmartCentral mobile app connects smartphones and tablets to Sharp TVs. Continue reading Sharp Introduces Quattron+ Series and SmartCentral Platform

Steve Koenig, director of industry analysis for the Consumer Electronics Association, presented the organization’s annual “State of the Global CE Industry” press event at CES. Koenig explained that worldwide sales of consumer electronics grew 3 percent last year to a new record of $1.068 trillion, but growth is expected to remain flat or decline by 1 percent in 2014. Sales of smartphones and tablets have tapered off in major markets and Ultra HDTVs are not expected to gain significant traction until at least 2017. Continue reading CEA’s Steve Koenig on the State of the Global CE Industry

Although wearables are a relatively new category in the digital marketplace, manufacturers are already looking to expand beyond the wrist to the smart home. “The [home security] market largely didn’t move from the 1970s,” explains Michael Wolff, founder of NextMarket Insights. “It was always high-end proprietary systems, but it’s being reinvented in the last couple of years.” Wearables are a great source of data, such as biometrics, goes the argument, and therefore can interface nicely with smart home applications. Continue reading Wearable Tech Innovators Have an Eye on the Smart Home

The fitness wearables market is booming. “We see this becoming a $1 billion industry in 2014,” said CEA Senior Research Analyst Kevin Tillmann during a CE Research Summit session. 2013 numbers were up 32 percent over 2012’s market, which was valued at $648 million. The 2012 market showed significant growth of 170 percent from 2011. The wrist is the ideal place for a fitness wearable, according to the vast majority of consumers polled by the Consumer Electronics Association. Continue reading CEA: Fitness Wearables to Become $1 Billion Industry in 2014

CES Unveiled, an event open to the press on Sunday, was a veritable fashion show of wearable devices, from high-tech headphones to digital solutions for fitness, health and even orthodontia. Part of the fashion show experience of high-tech wearables involved the attendees: quite a number of early adopters sported Google Glass eyewear and FitBits as they roamed the floor. Among the categories of wearables, the fitness market was particularly in evidence, no doubt because the popular FitBit has proven a market exists. Continue reading Wide Range of Wearable Devices on Display at CES Unveiled

Seiki has come up with a unique and effective way to offer consumers a high quality 4K viewing experience at a mass market price. The company pairs good, low-end 4K displays made in China with an HDMI 1.4 cable that contains a high-end up-res converter chip. The booth rep freely said that the 55-inch 4K set (MSRP $899) has a mediocre built-in up-res chip. They licensed Marseille’s high-quality up-res tech and built it into the Seiki-branded HDMI 3.0 cable (MSRP $49) to provide a superior experience at a low price point. Continue reading Seiki Pairs Low-End 4K Displays with Up-Res Converter Chip

Underscoring Detroit’s determination to be a player in the connected consumer space, General Motors announced that OnStar 4G LTE will be factory-enabled in the majority of its 2015 Chevrolet models including the Corvette and Impala, hitting the market this summer. The move sees GM expanding its relationship with OnStar connectivity partner AT&T and simultaneously mounting a developer outreach program to fuel the Chevrolet AppShop. Continue reading Connected Cars: Chevrolet Drives OnStar 4G LTE with AT&T

DreamWorks has partnered with Fuhu, maker of the Nabi line of children’s tablets, on an Android tablet called the DreamTab designed specifically for kids. The tablets will be available this year with a number of DreamWorks-branded accessories, such as headphones and carrying cases. They will feature original animation, educational videos, and have the ability to communicate wirelessly with DreamWorks-made toys. The studio will be able to program the device similar to programming a cable channel. Continue reading DreamWorks and Fuhu Partner to Offer New Children’s Tablet

Via closed door demos and YouTube videos, Israel-based PointGrab has recently been promoting two new versions of its gesture-recognition software as a lead-up to this week’s CES. For the next generation smart home, AirTouch and PointSwitch will help consumers control devices by using gestures from a distance. The software products, which now work with standard 2D cameras on consumer devices, have already been integrated into TVs and PCs from Acer, Lenovo, Samsung and others.

Continue reading PointGrab to Showcase New Gesture Control Software at CES

Ultra high-definition TV prices are plummeting as more models enter the market, and many of those models will be revealed at CES in Las Vegas this week. When Ultra HDTVs first entered the market, prices ranged from $9,000 to $25,000, yielding little interest from most consumers. Now, many of them have seen prices slashed to just a couple thousand dollars, and those price reductions — combined with more options in the market — are drawing the attention of potential buyers. Continue reading Ultra HDTV Sees Jump in Model Options and Drop in Prices

The possibility of 360-degree sports coverage using Google Glass is expected to be a hot topic this week at the annual Consumer Electronics Show. As sales of wearable technology have skyrocketed in just the past couple of years — almost 300 percent in 2012 alone — such technology’s potential is being tapped by developers and sports fans alike. The latest idea is to be able to broadcast dozens of perspectives of Google Glass wearers during the same event. Continue reading Google Glass Views Could Join Sports Broadcasting Efforts

At the Consumer Electronics Show next week, we expect to see a host of companies, large and small, offering backend cloud integration services. These range from the startup Active Video, with its signature HTML5-powered Cloud TV app, to the publicly-traded prime mover Akamai, offering its Terra enterprise solution. In recent months, we have reported significant cloud-related news from major players such as Amazon, Google, Oracle and Verizon. We anticipate this wave to continue in Las Vegas. Continue reading CES 2014: Public and Private Cloud Solutions to be Featured

New Windows personal computers will be introduced at CES next week. One called “PC Plus” will run both Windows 8.1 and Android mobile apps according to Creative Strategies’ Tim Bajarin, who says the initiative would be backed by Intel. PC Plus will be revealed by multiple original equipment manufacturers in a move many say should “scare” Microsoft. The PC market has seen a decline in the past two years, inspiring risks like this by OEMs. Continue reading PC Plus Running Windows and Android To Be Revealed at CES

A recent tech demonstration at Dolby’s offices in Burbank, California revealed the company’s new high dynamic range TV imaging technology that is said to beat UHD TV in terms of quality. The demo showed off 1080p HD with rich, clear color and “better pixels,” rather than just more pixels. Dolby will reveal the name for the technology at CES in Las Vegas next week, and execs are saying it is not only better than 4K, but less expensive to produce as well. Continue reading Dolby Expected to Demo High Dynamic Range Tech in Las Vegas