The Consumer Electronics Association raised the curtain on the 2015 International CES Sunday afternoon with media-only presentations on Trends to Watch this year and a comprehensive briefing on the State of the Consumer Tech Industry. Shawn Dubravac, CEA’s chief economist, shared business trends, market forces and consumer dynamics behind the technology on display at the 2015 CES. Steve Koenig, CEA’s director of industry analysis, said consumer tech spending for 2014 is estimated at $1.024 trillion. Continue reading CES Kick-Off: The Magnificent Seven and a Trillion Dollar Year

Research from Futuresource Consulting points to a 3 percent increase for the worldwide television market in 2014 over the previous year. However, 2014 is also expected to experience a decline in average retail prices from $652 to $608. The report suggests that 4K TVs will reach 100+ million units in 2018, with 11.6 million units shipping this year (a 700 percent jump). China accounts for more than 70 percent of demand for 4K, while Western Europe and North America represent 10 percent and 8 percent, respectively. Continue reading 4K TV Shipments Up 700 Percent, to Top 100 Million in 2018

Video game-centric website Twitch, recently acquired by Amazon for close to $1 billion, now has a global audience of 60 million users. The audience is passionate, consuming 16 billion minutes of video per month. The site seems to be an ideal way for advertisers to reach the young male demographic, between ages 18 and 30. However, televised sports content remains a viable method for reaching this audience, and advertisers have not yet shifted in preference from TV to online gaming. Continue reading Advertisers Still Favor Televised Sports Over Online Gaming

VocalIQ, a UK-based company that works on software to enable voice control of devices, is collaborating with General Motors to take vehicle voice control to the next level. The intuitive system would learn the driver’s vocabulary and intentions to create more precise responses, without the need for specific wording. The dialogue management system would be integrated into the car’s dashboard navigation. GM’s Israel-based Advanced Technical Center is overseeing the development. Continue reading VocalIQ and GM to Make Vehicle Voice Control More Intuitive

Adtile, a startup that promotes interactive mobile advertising, has raised $4.5 million in Series A funding, with plans to introduce an app-style store for mobile ads. Adtile’s Motion Ads format encourages users to play with ads by shaking and turning their phones. The result could be spilling a virtual coffee cup, for example, that then displays a list of nearby stores. Building these ads can be an extensive process, so the store plans to sell pre-designed and pre-coded Motion Ads. Continue reading Adtile Plans New App-Style Store for Interactive Mobile Ads

An estimated 160 million phones sold this year will feature 4K video-capable cameras, while only two percent of TVs shipped to North America will have 4K screens. These cameras will be available on high-end models, including the Samsung Galaxy S5, the Sony Xperia Z2 and the LG G Pro 2. Meanwhile, cable, satellite and telecommunications companies are unlikely to move to Ultra HD for a few years as they wait for more TVs to show up in American homes. Continue reading Increasing Number of Smartphones Are Capable of 4K Video

New data from analyst IDC finds that shipments of 4K televisions have reached over one million per month and are projected to reach upward of 15.2 million for 2014. Consumer adoption is on the rise as the average selling price has dropped 85 percent worldwide in the last two years, from $7,851 in 2012 to $1,120 in 2014. A new report from BI Intelligence predicts a faster adoption curve than HDTV, with 4K TVs to be found in more than half of North American homes within 10 years. Continue reading Ultra HD: Consumer Adoption on the Rise with Lower Prices

According to a new report from Strategy Analytics, Ultra High-Definition is poised for rapid adoption in the U.S., with a projected 33 percent of households expected to have UHD TV sets by 2020. The report, “Ultra High-Definition TV Displays: Global Market Forecast: 2012-2020,” predicts that North America will become the leading region in UHD penetration by 2020, and entry level prices for UHD TVs will drop below $2,000 this year from one or more of the major brands. Continue reading Report: UHD TV to Reach One-Third of U.S. Households by 2020

Last week, Yahoo announced the launch of its News Digest app for Android devices. The company has also made the iOS version available for all users worldwide by adding Canadian and International editions (it was originally only available to iOS device users based in the United States or United Kingdom). Using algorithmic and human curation, Yahoo News Digest provides news round-ups twice a day, each story presented with a collection of articles, maps, Wikipedia entries, videos and photos. Continue reading Yahoo News Digest Now Available Globally on iOS and Android

The Digital Cinema Distribution Coalition — a consortium formed by AMC, Cinemark, Regal, Warner Bros. and Universal Pictures — signed a letter of intent to acquire the Deluxe/Echostar satellite network in a significant step toward updating the digital delivery of content to theaters and eventually eliminating the need to ship hard drives. Over the next 12-14 months, the consortium will pay to convert 699 Deluxe/Echostar screens to DCDC and add another 300 that were not yet deployed. Continue reading Digital Cinema Consortium Plans to Acquire Satellite Network

In January, PC maker Lenovo announced it would expand its mobile efforts with the proposed acquisition of Google’s Motorola Mobility for $2.9 billion. Now the Chinese company plans to spend $100 million on patents related to 3G and 4G tech from U.S.-based Unwired Planet. Already one of the biggest smartphone vendors in China, Lenovo plans to use the 21 patent families from Unwired Planet to grow its smartphone and mobile business in new markets. Continue reading Lenovo Expands its Mobile Patent Assets with New Purchases

Samsung has become the largest smartphone maker worldwide without having many of its own retail stores. Since its growth has slowed while faced with a variety of cheaper models from rivals, Samsung is looking to expand its retail presence in North America and Europe. In the next few months Samsung is planning to open around 60 stores in Europe, and 90 kiosks in Canada. The company has no independent retail stores in the U.S., but teamed up with Best Buy last year to create 1,400 “store-in-store” kiosks. Continue reading Samsung Expands Retail Presence in Europe and North America

Sony’s goal was to sell over 5 million PlayStation 4 game consoles by March, but sales had already reached 5.3 million units by February 8. PS4 was first released in November in North America, then Europe, Latin America, parts of Asia, and lastly Japan. PS4 sales have dramatically exceeded analysts’ predictions. Sony is also preparing to release PlayStation Now, an online service that will allow PS3 games to be played on PS4 and the Vita handheld this summer. Continue reading Sony Sells More Than 5 Million PS4 Game Consoles Worldwide

Yesterday we reported that Gartner projects the Android operating system will reach 1.1 billion users in 2014. Meanwhile, Actix reports that in terms of data usage, the three most used phones in Europe and North America in 2013 were the iPhone 4S, the iPhone 5 and the iPhone 4. In additional milestone news, Apple reports that its App Store customers spent more than $10 billion in 2013. During December alone, the App Store earned more than $1 billion in sales and experienced nearly 3 billion total app downloads. Continue reading Apple Announces its App Store Sales Top $10 Billion in 2013

Sony sold more than one million units of the new PlayStation 4 on the first day of the highly anticipated video game console’s availability. Fans lined up outside retailers such as GameStop Friday evening, while Best Buy and Amazon reported on their websites that initial inventory had sold out. Some stores had only enough supplies to fill pre-orders, which left a number of consumers empty-handed. Sony projects it will sell five million units by March. Continue reading Sony Sells One Million PlayStation 4 Consoles on First Day