What future has CES brought us?
Editor’s note: This article is from WeChat public account “ iFeng Technology ” (ID: ifeng_tech ), author: Phoenix network technology channel.
Another CES (Consumer Electronics Show) . CES 2020 will open on January 7 in Las Vegas. At this exhibition, people can not only get a first look at the new products and technologies that technology companies expect to release this year, but also feel consumer feedback on these products.
CES focuses on “the future.” So what companies’ new products and technologies have made headlines and industry trends at CES over the past decade? Tech blog TechCrunch summarizes the CES events of the past ten years:
CES 2010: Palm, a veteran mobile phone manufacturer, transforms, Microsoft predicts “natural user interface”
This is a year of transformation for Palm, an established mobile phone maker. In 2009, Palm released the first smartphones Pre and Pixi, attracting a group of hardcore fans who are obsessed with its appearance. All features can make it stand out from Android and iOS phones. 2010 was a year for Palm to gain momentum, and the company’s CEO, Jon Rubenstein, announced at CES that he had never used an iPhone. This “brave” remarks helped to establish Palm’s independent image. Palm announced a lucrative agreement with operator Verizon to sell smartphones through Verizon, boosting the company’s stock price by 10%.
Palm Pre phone
At the same time, the battle between Android and iOS is intensifying. In 2010, it was iPhone’s exclusive sales operator AT & T began selling the first Android smartphones. This year, Motorola released a “back flip” phone, and Dell released a tablet and “smartbook.”
This year, Microsoft foresaw the arrival of a “natural user interface.” After CES 2010, Steve Ballmer, then CEO of Microsoft, published a prescient article that introduced new ways people will interact with devices in the future, including touch, gestures , Voice, and high reliance on the cloud. He also mentioned the “Natal Project”, which was demonstrated at CES and eventually developed into Microsoft’s Kinect experience technology. Other themes at CES 2010 include the future of smart cars portrayed by companies such as 3D TV, Ford and Nvidia.
CES 2011: 4G outbreak
2011 was the year when 4G broke out, and many operators announced LTE and 4G networks. US operator T-Mobile announced the sale of 900,000 4G mobile phones, and HTC released the first batch of 4G equipment. Many well-known mobile phone brands at the time failed to stand the test of time and went into decline. Addiction Technology had selected the best tablets and smartphones at CES 2011, including brands such as Motorola and BlackBerry, but these brands have now declined. 2011 was also the year when Android tablets used the “honeycomb” system to lay the foundation for the future, but the end result proved that this was another useless effort.
HTC Inspire 4G
Cars are on the CES stage. Today, cars are an important part of CES. After all, they are essentially large mobile hardware, but this was not the case in 2011, especially when the Detroit Auto Show and CES were close. In 2011, Ford Motor Co., Ltd. announced its entry into the field of electric vehicles for the first time at CES, marking the beginning of the next decade for mainstream car companies to announce new technological progress at CES.
CES 2012: Nokia releases the first Windows smartphones to decline
Remember when Nokia was the world ’s largest mobile phone maker? It was in 2012 that Nokia made a major strategic shift on its path to decline. At CES 2012, Nokia released the first batch for the US marketWindows Phone system smartphone, sold exclusively by AT & T. It turns out that this is just a step in Microsoft’s final full acquisition of Nokia’s mobile phone business. The failed deal eventually deepened the two companies in the quagmire of the mobile phone market. However, in 2012, the launch of Nokia’s Windows Phone phone still made the outside world have high hopes for the two companies.
Nokia Lumia 900
This year, more progress has been made in the field of smart TVs. Smart TV integration with TV sticks such as Fire TV is nothing new now, but in 2012, Samsung TVs that can integrate satellite TV operator DirectTV content can make headlines.
2012 is also the last time Ballmer gave a keynote at CES, because Microsoft subsequently decided not to give a keynote at CES. He announced that Kinect will support the Windows platform on February 1 of that year.
CES 2013: NVIDIA launches Project Shield virtual reality Oculus, a game console
Nvidia has made a significant leap this year. Nvidia was already a well-known manufacturer of high-performance computing devices, graphics processors and other processors used in Internet cars. At CES 2013, Nvidia unveiled its own hardware: the gaming device Project Shield, which uses Nvidia’s latest processors. Over the years, Shield sales have been growing.
Nvidia Project Shield
Oculus, a virtual reality (VR) company, is making its mark. A year later, Oculus was acquired by Facebook for $ 2 billion. The Oculus Rift device was not released at CES, but Oculus set up the show for the first time in 2013The station demonstrated the VR headset to all visitors, and it has built a great popularity for Oculus Rift. Earlier, Oculus also raised funds for Oculus Rift on the crowdfunding website Kickstarter. In addition, at this year’s CES, another closely watched crowdfunding project Pebble smart watch was also exhibited for the first time.
CES 2014: Wearable technology explodes
At this year’s CES, wearable technology can be seen everywhere, and it has become a topic of increasing concern. Google launched Google Glass to consumers in a wide range of months. Apple is slower in this regard, and did not launch its first smartwatch until April 2015.
Oculus VR headset
Streaming services did not really become popular until a year later, but Netflix’s content released at CES this year heralded that OTT Internet services will soon become a hot video topic in CES and elsewhere. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings announced that the 4K version of the popular American series “House of Cards” will be exclusively available on LG TVs that support 4K.
The VR boom is spreading. This year, Oculus released a new version of wearables. Sony, innovative company Meta and others also showed their VR equipment. However, efforts by companies such as Meta have now failed, and others are struggling. Many companies are looking for a long-term mainstream market for VR and AR devices. Apple may also release AR devices.
CES 2015: Smart Home debuts, Mercedes launches autonomous driving concept car
Smart homes are getting smarter. When CES 2015 was held, Google had not completed the acquisition of Nest, a smart home device maker. However, Nest ’s momentum is a good illustration of why it was acquired and continues to be an important part of Google ’s smart home strategy. Nest announced a number of new partners at the CES through the “Work with Nest” program.
Mercedes-Benz Autonomous Concept Benz F 015
At the same time, although Apple has not officially participated in CES for a long time, it is still the focus of CES discussions, especially in the field of connected homes. Many new partners have announced cooperation with Apple, making Apple’s HomeKit smart home ecosystem further develop and grow at CES.
Robots and drones take turns. Improvements in AI technologies such as computer vision and speech recognition have spawned a number of devices designed to help people see the world and issue voice commands. This megatrend has also spread to artificial robots, camera-equipped drones, and security equipment.
Benz released the Benz F 015, an autonomous driving concept car. This is a car, a prototype that may never be taken off the production line. However, it is a sign of the times. In 2015, more car manufacturers entered the autonomous driving market and demonstrated their autonomous driving technology. For a variety of reasons, large-scale commercialization of self-driving cars is still a long time away, but investment in this area has continued to grow. It is expected that autonomous driving technology, consumer enthusiasm and regulatory measures will one day mature together. Other big news in the automotive industry include the launch of a new automotive platform by Nvidia.
CES 2016: Netflix’s hot autopilot is still the protagonist
The rise of Netflix has made streaming video the focus of the entertainment world. This year, Netflix used CES as a platform to announce its major expansion progress: The company has expanded its services to 130 countries, which is a huge international expansion achievement. The international market has also laid the foundation for Netflix’s further growth in the future, which may be achieved through integration.
Netflix
Autonomous driving technology continues to be a hot topic at CES, but this year has changed. Another automotive giant, General Motors, not only announced a new electric car at CES, but also announced a $ 500 million investment in Lyft, a U.S. ride-hailing giant. GM’s move is also reasonable. On the one hand, it will open up the future self-driving car market, and on the other hand, it will invest in an important startup company that may change the way of travel in the future.
CES 2017: Amazon voice assistant Alexa is everywhere
Ford Sync system integration Alexa
This year’s CES has become the home of Amazon voice assistant Alexa. Although the Amazon smart speaker Echo was released as early as 2015, integrated Alexa devices and Echo-based hardware only appeared the previous year. In 2017, this trend really became ubiquitous, not only smart speakers from third-party manufacturers, but also refrigerators and other equipment. Given that smart homes have become a recurring theme at CES, Amazon has actually become an important player at CES. But the question is, how many of these integrations were successful? There may be many connected devices in people’s homes today, but how many are actually used?
CES 2018: Google Assistant rules the show
Google Assistant
In the face of Amazon or Apple, Google is not to be outdone. In 2018, Google ruled CES with its own “voice”, more specifically Google Assistant. In addition to demonstrating the Google Assistant ’s little train, billboards, Google slogans, slides, and candy machines, Google ’s name and Google Assistant ’s integration efforts are linked to the release of most of the important CES hardware and software. This doesn’t necessarily guarantee that people will use Google Assistant, but its ubiquity will be convenient for those who want to use it.
CES 2019: Chinese manufacturers attract attention
Huawei
For some time, the development of Chinese companies and their operations in the United States and other Western markets has been a hot topic in the technology world. The huge number of Chinese visitors and exhibitors benefited CES and made them the focus of attention. At CES 2019, Huawei participated in a low-key exhibition, and ZTE did not participate. CES organizer Gary Shapiro, president of the Consumer Electronics Association of America, has criticized US President Trump’s strategy.
Other topics at CES last year included more advanced streaming technology, and the voice assistant market has achieved a certain level of truce: a single device can now support multiple voice assistants.
Reference:
https://techcrunch.com/2020/01/05/a-look-back-at-10-years-of-ces/