CES 2016: shape of things to come

They are awesome and absurd - but these gadgets from the world’s biggest technology showcase offer a glimpse of things to come.

Latest Consumer Technology Products On Display At CES 2016

In the days after the turn of the year, as the world recovers from gleeful celebrations and gruelling hangovers, a vast global trade fair in Las Vegas previews the future.

It’s where mega-sized tech firms such as Samsung, LG and Sony unwrap gadgets they’ve researched for years. It could be a 4K television, a 3-D TV, or a TV that wraps around your wrist. It could be a robot that switches on the lights, or a 360-degree camera, or it could be a fridge that reorders the groceries. Anything.

To call this fair massive would be an understatement. Known as CES (Consumer Electronics Show), it began in 1967 as with a modest 100 exhibitors and was held twice yearly before becoming annual in 1998.

CES 2016: top gadgets

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Its size reflects the 21st-century obsession with consumer technology. By 2014, CES attracted more than 150,000 technology professionals from more than 170 countries. Online, Twitter users created an astonishing 2.88 billion impressions of #CES2014 — the hashtag included in posts referencing the event. And people at the event posted more than 17,000 photographs on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

These days the trade fair takes up 18.5ha, the equivalent of about 35 US football fields. It occupies not only the entire Las Vegas Convention Centre but the large convention spaces of several leading hotels across the city.

There’s no way any mortal can see all the exhibits, so you must plan carefully.

CES also has room for numerous small technology firms on the hunt for opportunities. These firms, sometimes consisting of just a handful of staff, are on the lookout for publicity and funding to turn their dreams into technology.

It is also the province of start-ups competing against one another in pitching competitions.

The reason for this extensive technology show-and-tell is the presence of the world’s media, which laps it all up. Our reports lay the groundwork for consumer interest and can help to create the next big thing.

The importance of CES over the decades is reflected in the calibre of devices that made their debut here: the VCR, camcorder, compact disc, plasma TV, Blu-ray, HDTV, Xbox, Parrot drone and the personal video recorder.

THE GLOBAL GIANTS

The world’s two best-known technology brands, Apple and Microsoft, no longer regard CES as central to their market strategies, hence they are not major players here any more. Apple’s global network of retail stores and strong online presence offer it alternative ways of marketing new devices.

In 2011, Steve Ballmer, then chief executive of Microsoft, announced the company would no longer give keynote presentations at CES.

Samsung, too, prefers other trade shows for launching some of its devices. It is expected to use next month’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona to launch its Galaxy S7 smartphone.

Other companies prefer to unveil their latest gadgets at events they host exclusively for that purpose, where there is no publicity from competitors.

In recent years, TV manufacturers have been a dominant force at CES, some of them even sponsoring the visits of foreign journalists (including this journalist). Their domination is in part accounted for by the rapid development of new TV technologies: 3-D TVs, sets with incredibly high resolution UHD (ultra high definition) displays, curved TVs, sets with OLED (or organic LED) displays, and TVs with a vastly larger variety of displayable colours — called high dynamic range.

This year, however, there’s no quantum leap in TV technology on show, just refinements.

The manufacturers have settled instead for improving the menu systems on their smart TVs, and with beefing up their remote controls so they can be used to connect to the internet, activate gaming consoles or turn on the lights. But that’s more for the geeks among us rather than the public at large.

CES is also an opportunity for some of the biggest firms to make a splash. They do this by presenting keynote speeches that are eagerly lapped up by the tech community at large.

This year Intel chief executive Brian Krzanich spoke about the firm’s super-small Curie processor, tiny enough to fit into wristband, allowing users to remotely play a virtual instrument.

“Finally, every teenager’s dream: an air guitar that actually works,” Krzanich said about the sensor bands, which could help to create “the future of live music”.

Then Lady Gaga appeared on a giant screen, announcing a performance powered by Curie that she said would “showcase technology through creativity at the highest level”.

The Lady Gaga collaboration will be featured during next month’s Grammy Awards. “You will all literally be blown away,” Krzanich promised

Netflix chief executive Reed Hastings announced a global TV streaming network launching in 130 countries; that sent Netflix shares soaring 9 per cent.

Others who appeared on the CES stage included Volkswagen’s Herbert Diess, IBM’s Ginni Rometty, Samsung’s WP Hong and YouTube’s Robert Kyncl.

THE TECH FRONTIER

In some ways this year is all about the car. Advanced technology is being packed into vehicles, leading towards us taking our hands off the steering wheel.

We’ve all experienced the beginnings of self-drive cars with cruise control, parking assist and adaptive cruise control that places a car a set distance behind the car in front, and even automatic lane changing technology is available on the Tesla. Exhibitors at CES are further developing those concepts in a rapidly evolving area of technology.

There are plenty of other evolving tech narratives, too. Consumer drones that snap photos from a height are popular already. Real estate agents use them in marketing campaigns; wedding photographers can deliver overhead footage of a bride and groom leaving the church.

CES has drones whose flight paths are programmable, and that follow you around and take overhead footage as you surf, ski, ride a motorbike or trailbike, or run along a beach.

GoPro is showcasing its Karma drone, which does all this, and it’s coming to market this month.

Other companies making a similar play include AirDog, Lily and Hexo+.

In the case of GoPro, sporting enthusiasts will be able to make their own action film by mounting a camera on their helmet and another on their skis; with the Karma in the air, they will be able to shoot three streams of video simultaneously that can later be blended. Reproducing your extreme sports moments as video is already a popular hobby.

Away from recreation, professional drones are multiplying. Farmers can deploy DJI’s $US15,000 ($21,240) drone to spray crops.

Virtual reality, where you don a headset and experience being inside another world — it could be a fantasy gaming world or reality-based footage — is evolving fast after years of promise. This year the virtual reality and gaming section of CES is reported to be 77 per cent bigger than last year.

Three major players in this area are at CES: Sony with its PlayStation VR headset; the Facebook-owned Oculus VR with its Oculus Rift headset; and HTC Vive, a collaboration between phonemaker HTC and games maker Steam. All are yet to come to market.

Samsung recently released a VR headset, while Avegant Glyph has a novel headphone set that doubles as a 3-D viewer for watching films during flights.

Related VR technology includes 360-degree cameras that make it possible for novices to take footage that’s viewable with VR headsets: Nikon, Panono, Allie, 360fly and Fuze are among the brands offering such cameras.

Home automation of climate control, lights, door locks, home appliances, overhead fans, smart thermostats and security cameras has a strong presence.

But there seems reticence among many consumers to buy into the connected home, according to a survey by Accenture reported by The Wall Street Journal, found that 47 per cent of respondents were worried about security and privacy issues.

Another problem is the time and tech savviness required to implement and maintain a home automation system.

Wireless security cameras can have a tendency to disconnect from the internet. You have to fix this. Companies such as Samsung and LG, which are heavily into home automation, will need to make its implementation simple and convince consumers about tangible benefits from using such technology before the idea catches on.

And it’s not just Lady Gaga spruiking wearable tech. At CES there is everything from elegant smartwatches and wristband fitness monitors through to biometric bras that measure heart rate, and smart belts that keep an eye on your girth.

There’s also a serving of the latest smartphones, along with notebooks and laptops.

THE WILD AND WACKY

Start-up companies have a habit of producing frivolous tech that is unashamedly fun. Sensorwake is an alarm clock that wakes you by pumping out the smell of brewing espresso, a croissant, the sea, jungle, chocolate or peppermint. Buy 30-day capsules of your chosen smell.

The FFZERO1 Faraday Future electric car looks absolutely beautiful but also looks years away from coming to market.

Apira Science has a light therapy face mask to treat skin conditions. A Bluetooth-enabled spoon called Yum & Done encourages children to eat health foods.

The HairMax LaserBand 82 headset supposedly assists with hair regrowth by increasing blood flow to the scalp; smartphone controlled Digisole shoes warm your toes; Samsung’s family hub fridge orders your groceries; the Luminion light displays general energy consumption.

And for real wackiness, Sony is promoting a vinyl record player — wacky because it’s 2016, not 1966.

All these products are vying for the free international publicity that only CES can bring.

CES ends tomorrow. And although it’s the biggest and the best, it’s only the first of many technology trade shows that will take place this year on a global stage as a sociable industry regularly gets together to share innovation, passion, success and failure — while shaping all of our futures.

Chris Griffith travelled to CES, Las Vegas, courtesy of Sony and Acer.