What to Expect at the 2013 CES

From Shahid Khan, Co-Founder & Chairman, Mediamorph

The 2013 International CES, the world’s largest innovation event, is scheduled from January 8-January 11, 2013 in Las Vegas.  This year, CES will feature a record amount of exhibit space, with the show floor totaling more than 1.87 million net square feet. With 3,000 exhibitors spanning the largest show floor in the event’s 45-year history.

Device players, Content Players, Marketers, Techies and enthusiasts will descend upon the gambling capital of the world for four days of basking in the glow of the latest computers, televisions, cameras, phones and more. 

Based on popular demand, here’s our “Top 10” list of key trends at CES 2013 to watch:

1.      Inkling of the most significant development in TV since HDTV: The HDTV revolution almost a decade ago had the most significant impact on the TV industry in recent history – it fundamentally enhanced our TV experience.  Since then, evolutions around Smart TV and 3DTV have dwindled.  We believe that 4D or the UltraHDTV, which was introduced last year, may have the same potential as HDTV.  However, the prices need to come down significantly and the programming that takes advantage of this resolution needs to be made available.  At CES, we’ll see several UltraHDTVs: 84-inch, 65-inch and 55-inch models from LG and staggering 110-inch and 152-inch from Samsung and Panasonic's respectively.  We have few years before these become mainstream though.

2.      The year of Hybrid PCs:  As 2012 was the year of the Ultrabook, 2013 will be the year of Hybrid PCs – part laptop and part tablet – all thanks to Windows 8.  In typical Vegas style, every computer manufacturer is placing its bets – reversible screens, detachable screens, touch screens – we’ll see them all – from HP, Asus, Lenovo and many more.

3.      Smart-phones get bigger, more powerful, and with more tricks:  As Apple’s iPhone 5 screens crossed 4 inches and Samsung created the “phablet” category with its Galaxy Note, all smart-phone players have been trying to compete for size, in addition to speed, power and other features.  We’ll see 5+ and 6+ inch devices from all players, with 1080p HD screens and AMOLED screens and powerful quad-core engines.  Not just from the Samsung, LG, Sony, etc. but also from the Chinese manufacturers Huawei and ZTE, who will be present at CESin a big way – and with some of the most powerful devices.

4.      Tablets get crisper and faster, yet affordable: In addition to crisper displays and stronger processors, thanks to Android, tablets will also get more affordable.  Following Amazon Kindle Fire, Nook HD and Nexus 7, several manufacturers will launch their ~$200 and even cheaper tablets.  Asus, Google and many more will be in this league.  In addition, we’ll see faster processors, more memory, crisp HD screens and multiple sizes – from 7-inches to 13-inches.

5.      Comeback of the MVPDs -- OTT Players and Set-top-Boxes Beware:  As pure-play Over-the-Top (OTT) players have experienced their ups and downs, they have provided good lessons for the MVPDs (Cable MSOs, the Telcos and DBS Providers).  With this wisdom, the MVPDs will launch/re-launch a series or new and enhanced services, where most of their channel line-ups and programming will be made available to their subscribers across an array of devices via Connected TVs, Game Consoles and Mobile Apps.  This will continue to pose challenge to the OTT Players such as Hulu and Netflix, as well as the pure-play Set-top Box players, such as Roku and Boxee.  At CES, key MVPDs will show off new ways for consumers to get and watch TV on all their devices.

6.      Mobile TV 2.0: The first attempt of Broadcast TV on Mobile Devices in the US (MediaFLO) was a dismal failure.  However, Dyle, a service by a joint venture of several independent Broadcasters, as well as Fox and NBC, seems to have hope.   RCA is introducing a Mobile TV Tablet featuring Dyle’s mobile TV service, which provides access to 130 TV stations across the U.S.  Note that this is OTA (Over-the-Air), not OTT (Over-the-Top).

7.      New Connections for Connected Homes:  At CES, we’ll see many home appliances with Wi-Fi connectivity.  In addition, we’ll see additional ways to connect devices inside the home, including Near Field Communication (NFC) and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE).  Most home appliances will have Apps, which we will be able to download on our smart-phones and control them.  

8.      Cars that can chauffer you around: The big trend in automotive this year will be autonomy.  At CES, players like Toyota and Audi will show off self-driving cars.  Eventually, these driverless cars will be capable of driving to specific locations based on visual indicators, artificial intelligence software, GPS and a range of sensors.  In addition, we’ll also see other enhancements around safety, communication and entertainment integrated with our smart devices. 

9.      Fitness Devices that can do your work-outs for you: I’m partially kidding.  However, there will be a lot of devices, like Nike’s FuelBand, the FitBit series, Jawbone’s redesigned Up, etc., that can provide real-time monitoring of our daily activities and work-outs and provide planning and management services around them.     In addition, we’ll see a lot of tele-health devices, which can measure vital stats and transmit them to the doctors, enabling them to monitor their patients.

10.     Devices that can read your mind: Microsoft’s Kinnect started the entire movement around “Gesture-based” controls and user-interface.  Last year, Samsung, LG and others integrated this into their TV screens.  This year, not only will we see more enhancements around hand-based gesture controls, we will also see interfaces based on eye movements, facial movements, etc.  If they could only read my mind!  At CES, we’ll see players like Tobii Technology, a Swedish company, will demonstrate "the world's first gaze interaction computer peripheral".   PointGrab, an Israeli startup, will be showing off software that lets a regular laptop webcam interpret hand movements in the air in front of it. 

Top 10 Players to Watch at CES

In addition, here are our Top 10 players to keep an eye out for – some of them will be at CES in “flesh” and the others will be at CES in “spirit”

1.      Samsung: Samsung, the clear “King” at CES is looking to rebrand itself.  In addition to its powerful Smart-phones, Tablets and UltraHDTVs, Samsung is rumored to make a major announcement at CES.  Promising an unprecedented TV shape and "timeless gallery design," it could be a translucent screen, or a bezel-less, edge-to-edge display, or something beyond our wildest imaginations.

2.      LG:  After Samsung, LG is the most significant player.  In addition to their Smart-phones, tablets and UltraHD and OLED TVs, LG may unveil a Smart TV platform underpinned by HP's webOS (the open source system developed by HP), as well as a Connected TV with  NFC technology to exchange digital content..

3.      Sony:  Sony will display its new GoogleTV, as well as its new line of powerful smart-phones.

4.      The Chinese Invasion:  ZTE is readying itself to unveil a high-end smart-phone.  In addition, Huawei has not one but two phones —one of them, the D2 is the most powerful smart-phone ever made with 1080p HD display, a quad-core 1.5GHz processor and a 13-megapixel camera.

5.      Google:  While Google is not explicitly exhibiting at CES, it will once again be everywhere. The vast majority of new tablets and phones will appear with a version of the Android OS.  Google TV devices from new partners like Asus, Hisense and TCL will be revealed.  Android will also show up in new territories, such as cameras by Nikon and Polaroid, as well as kid-centric tablets.

6.      Microsoft:  CES 2013 will be the first year where Microsoft won't be giving one of its signature keynote presentations.  Nor will it have its huge booth.  However, even without an official presence at the show, Microsoft could be the talk of CES 2013 because of Windows 8   tablets, PCs and hybrids. 

7.      Amazon:  Amazon is another company that doesn’t appear at CES.  However, this can be a big year of announcements for Amazon.  Possibilities include an Amazon smart-phone (which is rumored to be underway), as well as new business models, such as free Kindle Fire tablets (think Gillette model).

8.      Intel:  Intel is working hard to get back “inside”.  At CES, it will showcase it’s set-top box, it’s Medfield tablet platform, it’s Bay Trail-T quad-core processor for mobile devices, etc.  In addition, Intel is rumored to be launching its own OTT service with its own set-top box, with interesting features such as personalization, targeting, catch-up TV, etc.

9.      Corning:  We'll see the third generation of its Gorilla Glass system at CES. Promising three times more scratch resistance than previous versions.

10.     Apple:  Apple decided years ago to go its own way, and focus on its own events rather than CES.  However, Apple will clearly be present in spirit because of its impact on the entire industry, its value chain and the economics. 

What does that mean?

With all these developments, whether you are Content Creator, Content Programmer, Content Distributor or Marketer, you’ll need to think Cross-Channel, Cross-Device and Personal (one-to-one).  You’ll need to build your programming, windowing and economic strategies, your supply chains, your operations and your measurement/analytics platforms to cater to multiple platforms.  And yes, “The best is yet to come”!