Tablets, Smart Phones and the Connected Car at CES - Universal Mind
Posted by Universal Mind was on hand for all the action at CES this year—here are a few of our observations from the show on trends for 2011.
Reign of the Tablet
Apple’s iPad is barely a year old, but has so quickly obtained its position of dominance that much of last week’s CES spent debating whether anyone was ever going to be able to catch up. It wouldn’t be for lack of trying, as dozens of aspiring iPad rivals were on display. The consensus: Apple looks like it will be keeping its lead, but Motorola and BlackBerry appear to have strong products that also seem poised to do well.
The Xoom from Motorola got a lot of attention for its sleek design, as well as for the fact that in addition to the usual accelerators and gyroscopes, it contains a tiny barometer. One day soon your tablet will tell you whether you need an umbrella. BlackBerry’s PlayBook also stood out, perhaps on account of its smaller size. It has a seven-inch screen, unlike the nine-inch iPad display. The PlayBook proved easy to read, even with its reduced form factor. This raises the question of whether tablets, like notebooks, might soon start appearing in two or more sizes.
The PlayBook has an out-of-the-gate advantage in the tablet wars on account of BlackBerry’s huge audience of enterprise customers, many of whom remain fans to the company’s line of mobile phones. Interestingly, it uses an operating system from QNX, a company RIM bought last year that we’ll be hearing more from in 2011. By contrast, the Xoom is another in the growing family of Android-base tablets. The iPad, of course, uses Apple’s in-house iOS.
While Apple’s tight control of the iPad application environment has had its share of critics, it’s resulted in a unified experience for iPad owners and developers and a thriving store boasting hundreds of thousands of applications. The tablet to emerge as the strong No. 2 challenger to the iPad will be the one that can develop an ecosystem of applications and digital content that will come the closest to what is available on iTunes.
There were, of course, scores of other new tablets at CES besides Xoom and the PlayBook, and many of them will surely be forgotten by the time next year’s show rolls around. If nothing else, the collection served as a good predictor of the features we are likely to see in whatever new version of the iPad Apple announces later in the year, as the rumor mill says it will. A safe bet is a front-facing camera, so users can take part in the popular FaceTime program of the iPhone. Another possibility is greater connectivity to the outside world; it was common to see tablets with USB and even HDMI connections, to better communicate with nearby gadgets, including big-screen TVs.
Appliances, Cars Get Smarter
As the costs of LCD and LED displays drop, designers are putting them into more and more places, including touch-sensitive control panels on such everyday appliances as refrigerators, dishwashers, washing machines and dryers. At CES, we saw how these touch-screen interfaces are beginning the slow process of replacing knobs and dials. Several manufacturers took the logical next step, and brought wi-fi connectivity their appliances. A Samsung refrigerator, for example, provided access to Twitter and Gmail. That seemed a smart way of using new social media tools for to make the refrigerator of the 21st century what it has been for decades: a central bulletin board where family members can report their comings and goings.
Social communications are coming to the car as well. At CES, Ford showed off its SYNC technology, which gives drivers voice control over the car’s entertainment system, like music. Since SYNC also recognizes Bluetooth equipment, driver can use a headset to safely make phone calls while on the road. Other car companies are moving in the same direction; CES showed a number of ways a car could “read” text messages or emails to you over your speakers as they arrive. That’s just the beginning of what is expected to be a trend toward greater office-car integration. Soon, it will be possible to listen to your email, and dictate replies, while driving to and from work.
Smart Phone as Universal Remote
Smartphones are now central to most consumers’ everyday experiences. This was evident at CES in the many ways that phones are emerging as a kind universal remote control, responsible not just for TVs, but alsoDVRs, music players and even household appliances and alarm systems.
It’s another reason why anyone who wants to reach today’s consumer needs to make the mobile phone the first thing they think about.
(Tablets image courtesy of Guardian UK and Ford Sync AppLink video courtesy of HighT3chDad)
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