CES 2016: A Preview and a Prediction for the Future

Estimated reading time: 8 minutes

2015 prediction for drones:

2016 reality: Again, I was right on but the story is far from over. The hardware has advanced and the capabilities have improved, but the scary part is just starting to be realized. My contacts in this industry segment tell me that the real story is the legislation that is sure to come­—and come soon—possibly requiring a license to fly all but the smallest drones and only then at very low altitudes. I will be conducting a number of interviews on this topic during the show, so stay tuned.

2015 prediction for streaming media: my prediction is that cable and satellite TV companies are, and should be concerned. My feeling is that many of us will be cutting the cord over the next five years and that we will see advanced reasons why we can this year, starting at CES.

2016 reality; Again, spot on. There is no longer any reason to maintain a cable or satellite service as long as you have good Internet connection. The Amazon Fire stick, the latest ROKU and others, as well as the services they link you to, have made great strides. This is an evolving story and I feel that the cable/satellite providers who make you buy a bundle that includes so many channels that you have to pay for, but have no interest in, still do not get it. They will however, they will.

2015 prediction for virtual reality: This is something that I truly believe will become mainstream. Yes, Oculus Rift will be soon showing a new headset, but I expect the true acknowledged leader in this field 10 years from now is a company that none of us have heard of yet.

2016 reality: Once again, spot on. Oculus Rift will be showing new devices, but so will a number of other companies. As for the future of VR and augmented reality (AR), it is a done deal; virtual and augmented reality are so much further along than almost anyone realizes. And it’s not only virtual—there are some technologies that will let you actually feel the object being projected. Star Trek Holodeck anyone? A number of new devices and systems will be shown at CES for watching, playing games, etc., and a major display technology driver, one that helped push the popularity of home movies, TV, VCRs and DVDs is apparently starting to persue VR and AR. If you want to know who, you will have to ask me privately. This is a topic that we will be following at this show.

There are so many other things that we hope to show you, many of which we do not even know about yet. We will be covering events such as the Eureka Park exhibits, the Shark Tank-like event Launchit, Showstoppers, and a number of private press events such as the highly anticipated NVidia event that will again this year focus on smart automotive technology. We will be looking at a number of new PC (personal computers, NOT political correctness) components, the aforementioned new display technology using OLED and 4K or even 5K resolution, USB3 C, snap and go devices, and so much more.

In the meantime, if there is any specific technology or product you would like us to cover, please contact me and we will do our best.

Stay tuned as I will be providing many pictures and comments on what I see day-by-day at CES 2015.

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