One of the things that I enjoy most about any trade show is finding the smaller, under the radar trends. Sure, everyone is all hyped up about 3D, 1080p and tablet computers. But a few other things popped up that are worth taking a look at.
But since I mentioned tablets, let's go there for a second. I understand that there was a section of the show floor that was dedicated to tablets but I never found it. One of the things I did see was assorted tablets, mostly by unknown Chinese manufacturers. They weren't as abundant as the press might have you believe, but they were around. But as a pundit said (don't remember who), it doesn't matter how cool one of these devices is if there's no software ecosystem around it. Most of them make a pretty nice paper weight right now.
A trend that was pretty interesting was in the power department. There were a lot of after-market battery makers around, each touting a higher capacity than the next. That being said, one of the cooler things available was the abundance of wireless power devices. Just put your phone, iPod, whatever on the matt and it charges it up.
As mentioned in a previous post, USB3.0 (Superspeed USB) made its debut at CES and did so with a splash. If you've not heard yet, USB3 sports a speed in excess of 10 times faster than Firewire, with the ability to fully power peripherals like external drives and such. I wasn't overwhelmed by the number of devices that featured the new interface, but you could tell that it was going to be everywhere next year at this time.
As stated in my first CES post, green was an underlying theme at the show. That being said, there were a lot of companies (again mostly Chinese) that featured solar cells and solar powered devices. It was hard to walk 10 feet without bumping into something having to do with solar on some level.
Yeah, it's not a trend but it caught my eye. Don't like your mouse? How about a model car instead? You can feel like a kid again and still get some work done.
And finally, after walking around the show your body gets pretty stiff and tired, but the good people at Dr. Fuji had the ultimate message chair. I mean this thing worked so well that I felt totally rejuvenated after about 10 minutes. The one American on the booth kept on reminding everyone about the fact that it was Japanese made, not Chinese. And of course, they really do know how to build it better. Pushiest sales people at the show though. I was asked for my order at least 5 times ("Show special. Only $3500. Why you not buy now? I take your order."), but I have to say, I was tempted. Here's my friend Don D in a state of bliss.
That's it until next year. Coming soon, the Winter NAMM report.
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