Robert Klug Contributing Editor
Michael Sinclair Contributing Editor
The content explosion is well
underway and shows no signs of slowing down.
IDC predicts that digital content will grow 40X between now and 2020.
This is being fueled not only by the digitization of film, print and video,
but also by the general population who are now video producers too, using
today’s camera enabled mobile devices. This convergence of broadcast, film,
production, Internet, telecom and the consumer electronics industries
presents enormous opportunities for Media and Entertainment organizations.
They can apply innovative thinking to traditional business models in a way
that creates new
revenue streams. From content acquisition and archiving, to production, to
packaging and distribution, this is requires a fully automated process
orchestration.
Challenges and Opportunities
Whether organizations are producing a full-length feature film,
reporting breaking news, broadcasting live sports, or hosting and
distributing content through the cloud Organizations that understand these
challenges and future-proof their business for tomorrow’s growing
requirements will gain a competitive edge in this converged landscape
Criminals targeting CES attendees:
Beware of scam emails inviting me to fake conferences.
Los Angeles Industry Analyst Paul Mueller warns those attending the show
that if anybody is asking for
money, it is definitely a scam. The most popular scam of the year is the
“iPad 2 Preview.
Roku expands beyond Internet video-streaming boxes
Roku is thinking outside its set-top box in an attempt to bring more
Internet video to flat-panel televisions. The new approach will rely on a
finger-sized device that won't require extra cords or separate remote
controls to stream video over high-speed Internet connections. The product,
called the Roku Streaming Stick, will plug directly into a high-definition
port available on a growing number of new-breed TVs, just as a flash drive
fits into a computer's USB outlet. The streaming stick won't be available
until the second half of this year, but Roku announced it Wednesday to get a
jump on the onslaught of consumer gadgets that will be unveiled next week at
an annual electronics show in Las Vegas. Roku's streaming stick will only
work on televisions that have mobile high-definition links.
The technology, known as MHL, is being backed by a group that includes
Samsung Electronics Co., Sony Corp. and Toshiba Corp. Although it's still a
small company, Roku Inc. has emerged as a significant player in the steadily
growing market for Internet video since it introduced its first set-top box
nearly four years ago. Originally designed to deliver Netflix's Internet
streaming service to big-screen TVs, Roku's boxes now include more than 400
different online entertainment options.
Analysts: Gadget sales to top $1 trillion in 2012
Developing countries like China and India will drive global sales of
consumer electronics above $1 trillion this year for the first time, even as
cash-strapped shoppers in the U.S. and Western Europe ease off spending for
high-tech gear, industry analysts said Sunday.
Developing countries will account for 46 percent of global gadget sales in
2012, up from 37 percent four years ago, according to GfK Boutique Research
and the Consumer Electronics Association.
Their estimate of 2012 global electronics sales, at $1.038 trillion,
represents growth of 5 percent from last year. That compares to growth of 8
percent from 2010 to 2011. Consumers in China and other developing Asian
countries, Latin America and Central and Eastern Europe are snapping up
high-tech goods as they climb toward a middle-class lifestyle. Meanwhile,
gadget sales in the U.S., Japan and Western Europe are stagnant, unable to
command a higher share of consumer spending.
Separately, NPD Group said Sunday that U.S. sales of consumer electronics
fell 5.9 percent this past holiday season, as smartphones cannibalize sales
of standalone gadgets like cameras, camcorders and GPS navigation devices.
The firm, which tracks retail sales, said electronics sales excluding phones
totaled $9.5 billion in the five weeks ending Dec. 24. Camcorder sales
plunged 43 percent, and sales of digital picture frames fell 38 percent. GPS
units slumped 33 percent. PC and TV sales slipped just 4 percent, bolstered
by sales of TVs bigger than 50 inches.
Best Buy Co., the largest U.S. electronics retailer, said Friday that
December sales lagged because of weak traffic. Sales at stores open a year
fell 1.2 percent for the month. However, sales were strong for smartphones,
tablet computers and e-readers. The CEA and GfK expect smartphones and
tablets to be the hot products globally as well, to the exclusion of other
devices.
"We'll see most product categories slowing down or going into contraction,"
said Steve Bambridge, research director at U.K.-based GfK. Smartphones and
tablets are "sucking up consumer spending" he said.
LG: TVs you can talk to, without sounding crazy
Talking to the TV is usually sign of extreme agitation, mental
instability or loneliness. LG Electronics is set to make it a more rational
behavior this year, with a range of TVs that respond to speech.
LG will sell a remote with its high-end flat-panel TVs that contains a
microphone. You'll be able to speak into the microphone to enter text on the
TV for Twitter updates and Web searches. You won't be able to change the
channel or control the volume by yelling at the TV.
LG Electronics USA showed the new TVs Monday, a day ahead of the opening of
the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The 'CES
curse?' Gadget show has poor record The largest trade show in the
Americas must be a great place to show off new products, right? Wrong. The
International Consumer Electronics Show is quickly becoming a launch pad for
products that fall flat.
When the annual conclave kicks off next week, organizers expect more than
140,000 people - roughly the population of Syracuse, N.Y. - to descend on
Las Vegas. They will mill around 1.8 million square feet of booths and
exhibits, equivalent to 31 football fields. The 2,800 or so exhibitors are
hoping to set the tone for the year by showing off tons of tablet computers,
throngs of 3-D TVs and untold numbers of slim, light laptops called
ultrabooks.
But a look back at the products heavily promoted at CES in recent years
reveals few successes. - In 2009, "netbooks" - tiny, cheap laptops - were a
hot category at the show. They did have a good year, but interest was
already waning when Apple Inc. obliterated the category with the launch of
the iPad in 2010.
Another big, eagerly awaited launch at the 2009 CES was Palm Inc.'s webOS
software, running on a new generation of smartphones. Those devices debuted
later that year to good reviews and dismal sales. A year later, Palm was
sold to Hewlett-Packard Co., which killed the product line in 2011.
- In 2010, TV makers made a big push with 3-D sets, hoping to ride the
popularity of 3-D movies such as "Avatar." Sales turned out to be
disappointing as buyers balked at wearing glasses and found little to watch
in 3-D. The technology isn't going away, but 3-D looks to be just another
feature among many of today's high-end TVs.
Other manufacturers at that show hoped to ride the success of Amazon.com
Inc.'s Kindle with their own e-readers. They failed, though Barnes & Noble
Inc. made some inroads later in the year with its Nook. That rivalry played
out away from CES. - In 2011, there were more than 100 brands of tablet
computers on display, all trying to ride the coattails of the iPad. Many of
them didn't even make it to the market; those that did couldn't make a dent
in Apple's market share.
Amazon's Kindle Fire tablet did start to crack Apple's hegemony late in the
year, but it wasn't shown at CES. Verizon Wireless got attention at the 2011
show with the first consumer devices to use its ultra-fast "4G LTE" data
network. Although those did well over the year, the company upstaged itself
by announcing, a week after the show, that it would start selling the iPhone.
A big part of the "curse" of the show is that the company that has been
driving trends in the industry, Apple, doesn't show products there. It
doesn't have a booth, and its executives don't give speeches. It hasn't had
an official presence at all since the 90s, though some of its employees go.
It's not that Apple dislikes CES in particular. It just doesn't do trade
shows. When it has something new to sell, it puts on its own press
conference. That way, it can control everything. Microsoft Corp. seems to be
adopting the same strategy. It revealed last month that the 2012 show will
be the last one that its CEO will kick off with a keynote speech. That ends
a run of 15 straight years. It's also the last time Microsoft has a booth at
the show.
The problem with the show's timing will be acute for Microsoft this year. A
new version of Windows won't be ready until the fall. In his keynote speech
Monday evening, CEO Steve Ballmer can, at best, show very raw prototypes of
the products that will run Windows 8. What's left in the show booths are
companies that don't quite have the clout or money to draw people to their
own events, plus ones that put out new products at a reliable annual pace,
such as TV and car makers.
The Consumer Electronics Association, an industry trade group, has organized
the show since 1967. Its president, Gary Shapiro, disputes the idea that
it's losing relevance. "Nearly every consumer electronics innovation in the
history of our industry was unveiled at CES," he said. Among recent product
successes revealed at CES, he mentions Samsung's Flex-Duo smart oven, Eye-Fi's
memory cards that upload photos wirelessly, GM's OnStar service, Parrot's AR
remote-control flying drone, Microsoft's Kinect Avatar, Samsung's LED TVs,
Sonos' wireless music system and Corning's Gorilla Glass for smartphones.
"With some 20,000 products introduced at each show, many can and should be
failures. That is the American way," Shapiro said.
And besides, attendance is up. The show is set for its third year of growth
from the recession-stripped nadir of 2009 and could touch the record numbers
hit in 2006.
That matters because the attendees are all industry people. Consumers aren't
allowed in. Having everyone who matters in Vegas for a couple of days in the
year makes it easy to set up face-to-face meetings that would take weeks to
organize otherwise. In that context, it matters less that the show hasn't
been a great staging ground for new products.
"I'm pretty comfortable that we're the most important event for technology
in the world," Shapiro said. "It's difficult to come out with someone really
important who's not there."
Apple CEO Tim Cook's absence may make him the exception. His predecessor,
Steve Jobs, was certainly never caught loitering on the show floor. But the
company contingent will probably be strong. Last year, the Apple's retail
store division alone sent 159 people, according to the CEA.
