CES Unveiled NY is the East Coast’s pre-show to the big event in Las Vegas—International CES. Last year, Ultra HD stole the spotlight. The concept taking center stage this year is evolution—from analog to digital, to reformed immigration when it comes to education, to changing the way we work out, consumer electronics will shape just about every aspect of our future.
1. It’s the 1980s again, with health and fitness making a major comeback.
We all know wearables and fitness/health trackers are big, but the latter is becoming so huge that Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), producer of the CES, gave the market its own division of the showroom floor. According to Mark Chisholm, publications manager at CEA, in “Digital Health and the Quantified Self” (part of CEA’s “Technology Trends to Watch: 2015”): “This ability to track and measure health and fitness information on our own has become known as the quantified self,” with these abilities becoming more and more capable of providing new and greater information. Blood-pressure monitors and glucometers currently dominate the connected personal health category, while digital pedometers and digital weight scales continue to lead the connected wellness category.
2. CES itself will be bigger and better than ever.
For those attending the show, get ready for what promises to be the most massive CES to date. The show will be grouped into three venues: Tech East (for the traditional stuff), Tech West (for all of the crazy new stuff), and the C Space at Aria (for the marketing, advertising, and creative communities). All of that extra walking just means you can put those new fitness wearables to use, right? Also, the full slate of U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) chairpersons are scheduled to speak at an innovation policy roundtable about critical regulatory and law enforcement issues.
3. The CEA is fighting to keep STEM graduates in the U.S.
The CEA spends a good deal of its time lobbying for government reform. The fight isn’t over a total overhaul of immigration reform, but rather to allow international students who receive American STEM degrees to stay in the country upon receiving their diplomas. This way, graduates can continue to ply their trades here and not have to go back abroad and work for competitors. The CEA was hopeful progress would be made with the recent electoral changes.
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4. Official 4K Ultra HD Logos can now be licensed.
Ultra HD still hasn’t slowed down, with more devices than ever available, and at better price points. The CEA now offers licensing agreements for logos that manufacturers can place on designated Ultra HD monitors and projectors. The logos can also be applied for promotional and education use by retailers, buying groups, organizations, and companies that are a part of the Ultra HD ecosystem. Official use of the two logos—4K Ultra HD and 4K Ultra HD Connected—starts January 2015.
5. We’ve gone from digitization to connection to “sensor-ization.”
While discussing the latest trends in consumer electronics, Shawn DuBravac, Chief Economist and Senior Director of Research at CEA, outlined the current timeline of devices going from analog to digital, to connected to the Internet and each other, to filled with sensors to provide more data than ever. DuBravac referred to this as “digitizing our personal space,” making a digital, future counterpart for almost everything that was once analog. With sensors showing up in the most uncommon of places and the Internet of Things (IoT) making it possible to customize and personalize experiences, the possibilities are seemingly endless. The only real question is “What will we digitize next?”
The 2015 International CES will be held in Las Vegas from January 6-9. Information about the show can be found here.