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2011 Trends from CES (2/2011)
by Douglas Dixon
CES 2011
 The 2011 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) has wrapped up, with a strong upswing in attendance to an estimated 140,00 people, up from 126,000 last year and 113,000 in 2009.
- Attendance: 140,000+ attend, 30,000+ international, 80 international delegations
- 2700+ exhibitors, 20,000 new products introduced, launch 80+ tablets
- Conference: 250 sessions, 900 speakers
- Last year - 3D TV - Avatar
- This year - Internet connectivity
- TVs and Blu-ray players for living room, to automobiles and major appliances
See also:
CES 2011: Attendees in the Samsung booth in the Central Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center (CEA)
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Tablets
The hot topic at CES was tablets, with 80-plus different products launched at the show. This is not about finding the mythical "iPad killer;" It's a fascinating proliferation of options for consumers, with different designs and target uses, including colors / textures, screen size, HD video with HDMI output, and removable batteries. This should be familiar from PCs and notebooks (vs. Macs), and smartphones and cell phones (vs. the iPhone).
80 New Tablet Models
- Options for screen size, cameras, ruggedness, design customizations, removable batteries
- See iPad Cases for 2011
 Toshiba Tablet
- 10.1" cinematic 16:10 display, 1280x800 HD resolution
- Two cameras (2 MP front for video chat and 5 MP rear),
- Media sharing via USB 2.0, mini USB and SD Card
- HDMI output to HD displays up to 1080p
- Under 1.7 pounds with replaceable battery
- Dual-core NVIDIA Tegra 2 mobile processor
- 1080p video playback for HD movies, streaming Flash video, videoconferencing
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"Superphones" and 4G
This CES also begins the next phase in mobile phones - from the smartphone to the "superphone" -- with 1 GHz, dual-core processors from NVIDIA, and 4G LTE mobile broadband service from Verizon Wireless, so you can engage in multi-player games on your phone, with real-time 3D graphics linked with players around the world.
New for desktop-class processor performance and graphics
 NVIDIA Tegra 2
- Gigahertz dual-core ARM CPU
- NVIDIA GeForce GPU graphics acceleration for mobile 3D gaming
- 1080p Video Playback processor
Higher-speed cellular wireless networks
 Verizon Wireless 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution) network
- Mobile Broadband
- up to 10 times faster than Verizon's 3G network
- Real-world download speeds 5 to 12 Mbps / upload 2 to 5 Mbps
- (from today's 500 Kbps - 1.5 download / 500 Kbps upload
- See Verizon on 4G LTE blog post
 Verizon 4G LTE smartphones
- 4.3" HD display, front and 8 megapixel back cameras
- Dual-core 1GHz processors
- Android with Adobe Flash and HTML5
- Wireless DLNA sharing over home network
- HDMI out to HD displays
- Mobile hotspot to 8 Wi-Fi- devices
- LG Optimus 2x
T-Mobile announced plans double speed of 4G network
- Peak download speeds 21 Mbps first half 2011
- Up to 42 Mbps second half
More capable operating systems
 Google Android 3.0, aka Honeycomb
- Designed specifically for tablets with larger screen sizes, "holographic" 3D user interface
- Enhances Google Maps with 3D interactions and offline access
- Google Talk for video and voice chat with devices including PCs and tablets.
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Integrated Processors
Intel - 2nd Generation Core Processers (Sandy Bridge)
- Further integrating graphics with CPUs
- Deeper graphics acceleration (sharing on-chip cache)
- Intel Insider hardware-based content protection to enable major studio support for purchasing and renting premium HD content
NVIDIA - ARM
- Further extending from graphics to processors
- Developing high-performance ARM-based CPU cores with integrated NVIDIA GPU
- Targeted to personal computers and servers to workstations and supercomputers
- Microsoft announced support for ARM-based System on a Chip (SoC) architectures in next version of Windows
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3D TV and Glasses
After last year's heavy promotion of 3D, work continues on much more convenient 3D -- without glasses -- as several companies showed prototype HD displays of research in progress (albeit with very limited viewing positions). There will be some products to start trying out this year.
 
3D in the living room, Courtesy Sony
 Sony BRAVIA LCD HDTVs
Panasonic VIERA Full HD 3D HDTVs
- 12 plasma models 42 to 65 inches, 2 LCD/LED at 32 and 37 inches
- Play 2D and 3D photos and AVCHD 2D and 3D video recorded on SD card
Glasses are clumsy
- New lighter designs
- Active shutter glasses used for most 3D TV systems, batteries, $100 - $150
- Also NVIDIA 3D Vision for PCs
- Emitter to sync with display, alternate transparent and opaque
- Lower brightness, flickering
- Passive polarized glasses typically used in movie theaters
- Display both left and right images simultaneously, lose half the resolution
- LG and Toshiba had some 3D TV models using polarized glasses
RealD polarized 3D glasses for theaters
Content still primarily from 3D Blu-ray
- 3D Blu-ray, some cable channels - Not broadcast
Panasonic DMP-BDT210 Full HD 3D Blu-ray Disc Player
- 3D Enhancer and Depth Controller options for movie theater-style 3D effects
- 2D-to-3D up-conversion to convert 2D images from DVDs and Blu-ray discs into 3D
- iTunes app to play DLNA content using an iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch
- Skype video/voice calls from TV, record Video mail messages onto SD card
 Panasonic Full HD 3D System
Glasses-Free 3D
"Glasses-free" prototypes
- Big-screen TVs, OLED displays, computer monitors
- Generally 3 to 5 years away, Toshiba shipping products in Asia, U.S. this year.
Lenticular technology, like 3D postcards
- Pattern of vertical strips show different views from angles of your two eyes
- Required carefully controlled viewing positions, marked on the floor
Toshiba prototype for 3D displays on computers
- Uses camera and head-tracking to adjust the 3D to viewer's eye position
- Default to 2D for multiple viewers, 3D in a window
3D Cameras and Camcorders
- Conversion lens to split image into left and right halfs, or dual lenses and sensors
 Panasonic camcorders - optional separate 3D Conversion Lens
- Split captured frame into left and right images
- HDC-900 line of Full-HD 3MOS camcorders - 2.53 megapixels x 3
- All capture to SD memory cards, one adds 32 GB internal memory, one 220 GB hard disk drive
JVC GS-TD1 Full HD 3D camcorder - dual lenses ($1999)
- Two camera lenses, optical 5x zoom, each with CMOS sensor in full 1920 x 1080i HD
- Captures AVCHD video in 3D side-by-side format, conventional 2D
Sony Bloggie 3D HD pocket video camcorders ($250)
- Captures 3D video and photos
- View without glasses on 2.4-inch screen, view on 3D TV via HDMI connection.
 Sony Cyber-shot digital still cameras
- 3D Still Image mode and 3D Sweep Panorama mode, from one lens
Fujifilm Real 3D W3 digital camera
- Two separate 10-megapixel CCD sensors and dual FUJINON 3x optical zoom lenses
- Video up up to 720p (1280x720, 16:9 widescreen, at 24 fps)
- Widescreen 3.5” LCD, Mini HDMI port for viewing directly in HD displays
- Glasses-free back display, lenticular
- See Fujifilm Real 3D W3 blog post
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Internet Connectivity
In the living room, CES moved beyond last year's tight focus on 3D TV to a broader emphasis on connected TV, with Internet-based services on your TV, Blu-ray Disc player, set-top boxes, and even in your car.
Internet content to the living room
- TVs, Blu-ray Disc players, Google TV
- Plus DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance)
- Browse and play media from home computers, other compatible devices
- Most support Wi-Fi
-
- Confusing profusion of content options
- Brand-name premium subscription content - Netflix, Hulu Plus, Pandora
- Popular free Internet services - YouTube
- General Web browsing
- Branded services - Sony Music Unlimited / Qriocity ["curiosity"] digital music service
- App stores
 LG Smart TV
Samsung TV Apps
- 300 apps - video (Netfix, Hulu Plus), games, sports (ESPN, exercises), lifestyle (Picasa, art), information (news, weather, maps)
Yahoo! Connected TV
- LG, Samsung, Sony, Toshiba, Vizio
- 50,000 movies and TV shows on demand
- 100+ TV apps - social networking, music, games, news, weather, finance, shopping
- Interactivity - reality-TV voting, more information on TV show or a sports, buy online while watching show or commercial
- Three-screen connected devices - tablets, mobile phones, TVs
- Android phone as smart remote control for Yahoo! Connected TV, tablet used in sync with on-air program, "flick" videos from the tablet or phone to a big-screen TV for shared viewing
Panasonic VIERA Connect
- Video and music subscription services - Netflix, Amazon VOD, CinemaNow, Hulu Plus, Napster, Pandora
- YouTube, social networking apps - Facebook, Twitter
- Sports sites - MLB.TV, MLS Matchday Live, NBA Game Time, NHL Game Center
- VIERA Connect Marketplace adding online multiplayer 3D graphic games
LG Smart TV
- Premium TV and Internet connectivity
- Media Link provides simultaneous information on what users are watching - synopses, actor profiles and viewer ratings
- LG Smart TV Upgrader - Smart TV upgrade in a set-top box
Google TV- Sony Internet TV and Logitech Revue
 Full Web with TV programming, search across TV and online programming- Web browsing, TV apps - content and social networking sites
- Logitech Revue with Google TV - set-top box and keyboard controller
- Harmony Link technology works with existing HDTV, cable or satellite set-top box,
- Logitech Vid HD for video conferencing
- See Logitech Revue blog post
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Crossing the Screens
 Apps and stores and Internet clutter the big screen
- Use a tablet device to augmenting viewing without interrupting program
Panasonic VIERA Tablet
- For VIERA TVs, not general-purpose tablet, screens 4 to 10 inches
- Visual TV remote control, sub-screen to view sports events from different angles, communicate via social network services
Technicolor MediaNavi multi-screen content platform
- "TV first" - Detail on MediaNavi device, main programming big screen TV
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Electronic Delivery
In the new electronic world, we have lost the idea of purchasing a permanent copy of content on a universal format like DVD that can play on a wide range of devices, independent of store where it was purchased, equipment used to play it, service or format used to deliver it.
Competing and confusing media services
- Each device offers multiple choices of services and stores
- Multiple devices offer different mixes of services
- TV, Blu-ray player, other boxes want to own the display, remote control, consumer's wallet
Electronic purchases can be ephemeral
- Limitations on how and where and when each piece of content can be accessed
- Subscription services offer monthly access, streaming services offer several days, downloaded purchases need to be managed in compatible formats
Sonic Solutions RoxioNow service
- "Powered by RoxioNow" store - Rent and purchase - new movies, next-day TV programs
- Access content at any time, on any RoxioNow-powered device
- Built in to HDTVs and Blu-ray Disc players, customized by manufacturer and/or the store, Best Buy
- Available on PC and portable devices - Dell Inspiron duo convertible tablet, Dell Streak 5 Android 5-inch tablet
- DivX TV - Curated Internet TV, 10,000+ videos from 200+ shows
UltraViolet - Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE)
- Industry standard - carry idea of permanent physical media into digital age
- From red laser DVD to blue rays to ultraviole
- Purchase UltraViolet content, physical or electronic form (DVD Blu-ray, Internet download)
- Enduring right to access your material on any compatible UltraViolet-branded device registered in your account
- Independent of any specific format of bits, storage limitations, or damage or loss of physical media. You also can stream UltraViolet content to devices at home or on the go.
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- Permanent digital locker to manage access to your purchased media,
- Household Account for up to six family members
- Products and services to be launched in mid-2011, media player apps later in 2011for PCs, game consoles, and smart mobile devices, CE devices early 2012
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Storage
 Ever-growing demand for storage, personal mobile device to enterprises
- 1 TB in your pocket, 1 PB in the home, 1 EB in data centers, 1 ZB in the solar system
- Storage Visions trends - Storage virtualization for the home, a
A
voiding dependence on managing files on physical discs or cloud storage, d
D
ual / hybrid storage systems combining the speed of solid state storage and the capacity of hard drives
SD UHS-II (Ultra High Speed)
- Triples SD speeds to 312 Megabytes/sec (vs UHS-I at 104 MBps)
- In combination with SDHC High Capacity (4 GB to 32 GB), SDXC Extended Capacity (to 2 TB)
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