News & Analysis
10 unmistakable trends at CES 2012
Junko Yoshida
1/13/2012 6:43 PM EST
We roamed the show floor; and here are 10 unmistakable trends we think will be appearing near you in the consumer electronics world in 2012.
Windows Mobile
There might be room for another mobile operating system on the smartphone market. Put this Samsung Focus Flash on your palm. It’s light, it’s fast, and it’s elegant. The phone comes pre-loaded with the latest Windows Phone 7.5 Mango OS.
Next: Google Mapping
Windows Mobile
There might be room for another mobile operating system on the smartphone market. Put this Samsung Focus Flash on your palm. It’s light, it’s fast, and it’s elegant. The phone comes pre-loaded with the latest Windows Phone 7.5 Mango OS.
Next: Google Mapping
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rick.merritt
1/13/2012 7:25 PM EST
I love the Google TV error message. Clearly, they have caught up with Microsoft Windows now!
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junko.yoshida
1/13/2012 7:37 PM EST
Yeah, exactly!
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t.alex
1/13/2012 10:57 PM EST
We may sometimes see the Force close error on Android phones as well :)
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luting
1/18/2012 11:36 AM EST
Just like my IP Phone, it always freaks me out when it reboots in the middle of my call. Often I don't like or use those fancy features, I will much appreciate a reliable system that always there when I need it.
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rick.merritt
1/13/2012 7:28 PM EST
...and I'm hoping there is an interview TK with that Ingenic CEO with the CPU behind the $100 tablet
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luting
1/18/2012 11:45 AM EST
Typical Dual-Core A9 ARM core itself include royalty will not cost end user more than $4. It is likely under $100 tablet too if you replace that MIPS-Based SoC with low cost ARM-Based SoC from company such as Freescale . But no sure you will be able to live with lousy graphic, slow response, and crappy touchscreen.
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junko.yoshida
1/13/2012 7:37 PM EST
Of course, more stories are coming! My reporters' notebook is so full!
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luting
1/18/2012 11:53 AM EST
Looking forward to it.
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sandhu233
1/13/2012 8:20 PM EST
Great slideshow!! I would love to have the Sony’s ultimate contrast LED TV (Yeah I still like Sony over Samsung ... may just be my brand loyalty).
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junko.yoshida
1/14/2012 1:28 PM EST
Yes, the ultimate contrast LED TV was truly breathtaking.
You know, Google TV, Connected TV and Smart TV are all interesting...but then, in the end, what will make consumers go out and buy their next TV?
I wasn't convinced before, but it may be LED TV!
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Frank Eory
1/14/2012 4:44 PM EST
How about the concept TV Sony was showing called "Crystal LED" TV? Each pixel had its own red, green and blue LED -- over 6 million LEDs in the display. No backlight -- none needed.
If this ever goes to market, I see naming confusion already. Most vendors use "LED TV" to mean LCD display with white LED backlighting. But a true LED TV? Wow, that was stunning.
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K1200LT Rider
1/17/2012 3:58 PM EST
The first time I saw "LED TV" I thought that it meant each pixel. It was disappointing to learn it wasn't. Maybe they'll call the true LED screens TruLED or LED Matrix.
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Sanjib.Acharya
1/14/2012 1:24 AM EST
How come anybody from the Sony's booth did not power the TV off before you could take a picture of the error message? :)
I think integrating health monitoring with mobile technology will be one in focus in the coming years.
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junko.yoshida
1/14/2012 1:30 PM EST
Sanjib, I agree. Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) was everywhere at the show, paving the way to Internet of things. And the medical field is definitely one of the application fields that will take advantage of it.
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hm
1/14/2012 8:03 PM EST
@Frank: 6 million LEDs, for each pixel. What kind of driver and control circuit will they use? I would like to know maximum lumen output that can be achieved with this.
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hm
1/14/2012 8:06 PM EST
We should reserve one or two trends to watch for Apple products. They indeed define many trends.
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eembedded_janitor
1/17/2012 8:51 PM EST
Apple don't go to CES so it is pretty hard to reivew their products in an article on CES.
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luting
1/18/2012 11:57 AM EST
It seems more large consumer electronics vendors will be leaving CES. At end, CES will be place for 2nd Tier vendors to show their product.
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Kiran_NSN
1/15/2012 12:00 PM EST
i definitely liked the samsung tablet for a pen use. this looks excatly like an iphone but a little big. BLE and Ingenic semiconductor are also things of future. Also Windows mobile OS will make it big in 2012.
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sharps_eng
1/15/2012 5:39 PM EST
Can we have some reporting from the show that doesn't assume the reader was there also?
I realise you need to be brief, but just making notes that not much more than you know that cool XYZ thing we saw, yeah, you saw it too?'
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ibm221
1/15/2012 7:47 PM EST
good job, this is quite some fruitful observations.
I am wondering if the mips tablet is mature enough, i am reading many bad comments on locked machine etc. otherwise it's a good option for budget conscious customers.
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kinnar
1/16/2012 9:12 AM EST
I am still wondering why none of the companies are showing Direct-LED displays, everywhere it is back-lit LEDs ( Actually it is LCD TV which uses LED as a back-lit instead of Fluorescent Lamp behind), Samsung can surely design Direct LED plates for to be used as Displays.
One application that Haier has displayed of Multiplexing the displays to create a giant display is really a required feature in the LCD TVs.
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luting
1/18/2012 11:52 AM EST
Is that OLED showing in CES? I have seen companies from Sony, LG, and Samsung showing that past 5 years. But it is hard for them to bring cost down at reasonable level. Samsung just announced Multi-Billion investment into OLED next year. It seems technology finally mature. So it is coming. Just be patient. It will come to your early if you have deep pocket. In long term, I think it will replace LCD . I have been waiting for those for 19 years since Japanese first made blue LED in lab to make all color completed for LED.
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RICARDO.MOTTA
1/16/2012 9:22 AM EST
Related to MIPS, there's options in US like Velocity Micro... well, not yet sub-$100..
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ibm221
1/16/2012 7:18 PM EST
In china's 360buy.com it cost RMB499 ~ $70.
It's normal, in china a pair of Levi jeans will cost $100 +.
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ibm221
1/16/2012 7:22 PM EST
you can consider next time you travel to china bring a pair of levi jeans which will cost you $30, sell it in china and buy a MIPS pad.
You will end up with $30 left in your pocket and a pad for free...
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Sivakumar.Govindarajan
1/17/2012 2:35 AM EST
I read lots of LCD TVs with different sizes and contrast ratios. Is there any improved LCD technology shown in CES? Example: Low response time LCD, jitter free frames especially sports, improved DSP alogrithm to show realism in picture quality etc.
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Sivakumar.Govindarajan
1/17/2012 2:37 AM EST
We badly need LCDs with better refresh rates. I am still not convinced with LCDs over plasma.
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luting
1/18/2012 11:40 AM EST
Just curious. How many Hz of refresh rate you want? 480Hz? I could not tell any difference after refresh rate beyond 60Hz. Your eyes must be really good.
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MarkFromNJ
1/18/2012 4:17 PM EST
The BOM of a Kindle Fire, a similar device to the Ingenic tablet, has a parts cost of about $140. Ingenic is retailing theirs for $89 using pretty much the same parts other than the CPU, which is not a huge contributor to the BOM.
So a Chinese company is retailing a product for less than the cost of parts, under the guise of "cheap labor". Then, when every other vendor is good and dead, they will triple the price as they did with Rare Earth metals earlier this year.
How is this an "unmistakable trend at CES 2012"?
Seems more like business as usual.
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ibm221
1/18/2012 8:01 PM EST
calm down, the novo7 i bet will use cheaper parts as well, the display is cheaper, case, ...
and it's brand is free ie. no advertisement.
Ingenic's cpu cost is lower than ARM since they don't have to pay for the core.
US vendor will perish because they are as stupid as you are...
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Work to Ride, RIde to Work
1/20/2012 4:11 PM EST
Was last year's trend 3D TV?
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selinz
1/20/2012 6:26 PM EST
Well, I went from saying tablets are stupid and unnecessary to buying one for my wife at christmas. I suspect that if and when our TV breaks, I will get a 3d one.
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jameszhou2000
1/20/2012 6:46 PM EST
That crystal LED itself deserves a more detailed report … not sure if this will really compete with OLED, but from engineering point of view, this is quite an achievement …
Sounds like the display doesn’t even need a “panel” in front of the backlight because the 6 million LEDs not only act like light source, but also automatically produce the image … this is way beyond today’s backlight technology … how fast can they control each LEDs … what about the LED driver controllers? just so many questions.
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