Back to CES, 2010 Style!

Another crazy year has gone by and it only seems fitting that I get yThunk back up and running just in time to cover all the buzz surrounding CES 2010. I have finished my degree in Industrial Engineering including a grueling Senior Design Project and I am ready to shift my focus back on the tech world. Not that I have been in a cave for the last year, I have had to install a water cooling system for my RSS reader due to the heavy lifting it has been doing and my iPhone has been laden with tech podcasts streaming almost 24hrs/day, so there is nary a press release I overlooked in 2009. But now for 2010, and the mother of all consumer tech forecasting events has come upon us in a hurry. I am currently in the process of making my way to Sin City and all this weather in the midwest has given me some extra time to get this post together.

So what is to come in 2010? Where is the Hype?
I will take a few minutes to briefly preview the technologies that are taking the spotlight this year, but expect a detailed follow up on all of these in the days to come.

Tablet/Slate Computing:


With rumors of Apples Unicorn "iSlate" having an announcement at the end of this month and an expected hands-on arrival of sometime in March, manufacturers have started to show their cards when it comes to their entries into this product segment for 2010.  Lenovo releasing the most innovative so far in the IdeaPad U1 with its traditional Core 2 CULV toting, Windows 7 Running, Netbook form factor breaking away into a removable Snapdragon Based MultiTouch Slate.  Speculation of HTC working with Google to create a ChromeOS Based option and a slew of other touch enabled small form factor PC's that aim to fill this product space.  I will detail all of these offerings further in a dedicated post once I get some hands on time with the offerings at CES.  The real challenge with this segment is proving that there is in fact a need for this type of device, what is the use case for such a form factor?

3-D TV:

The biggest trend that will affect consumers in the next couple years seems to be the push for 3-D broadcast content and TV's.  Each company is taking their own approach to the implementation of depth to consumer television and movies but all are pushing towards the ultimate goal of 2-D & 3-D simultaneous HD viewing. The current shortcoming of 3-D technology is the need for glasses to separate the picture between your eyes, gone are the days of Anaglyph (Red & Blue) glasses but they have been replaced by just as bulky polarized or blanking lenses to give the illusion of perspective.  If you are watching 3-D content you will need to wear these glasses to discern the images but in the casual setting of the living room, the content on the screen will be visual gibberish to anyone passing through the viewing space without glasses.  A few companies have claimed to solve this conundrum and I hope to get a hands on of this experience!


DSLR's with Full HD Video:

One of the trends I have been keeping a close eye on over the past couple years has been the introduction of HD video recording to DLSR cameras.  I have been the proud owner of a Canon 40D for almost two years now and have slowly invested in glass for my Canon body.  The images that are coming from these hybrid cameras are nothing short of stunning and it just goes to show how important the optics are to your final product.  Unfortunately no one has been able to continuously record HD footage on these cameras for more than a few minutes at a time, a real problem if you are trying to capture a concert or speech. Another problem these cameras face is the lack of auto-focus, which isn't a problem for the professional short movie producer, but for the average person it makes it almost impossible to use these as a run-and-gun option.  I am excited to see where this segment will go in the next year and hopefully I will have a little better understanding after this weekend.

Pico Projectors:

I got really excited about this segment last year at CES (with the prospect of getting a business presentation in my pocket) and managed to visit every booth that touted the technology, only to be disappointed by brightness claims and pointed to their product roadmap and encouraged to hold out for laser technology to evolve.  Over the past year a few new entrants have arrive to the scene but only offering modest improvements to resolution or brightness, a step in the right direction but not a homerun.  I will poke around these guys this year a see what I can turn up.


Consumer HD Cameras:

I have a soft spot for this segment as I have spend countless hours researching them over the past couple years. I am now on my third generation (Currently a Canon) and they just keep getting better and better. So far no break through announcements at CES but I will look into the normal evolution of these devices to see what the future holds for HD YouTube clips.

Other segments I will be keeping an eye out for:

• Home Control and Automation
• Smartphones
• IP Telephony
• Auto/Marine Entertainment
• Consumer Gaming (Read: Project Natal)
• And Anything Else I can Get my Hands ON!

I hope you are excited for what CES 2010 will bring and are getting ready for my follow up posts!

I will be live blogging anything that really catches my eye but other than those items you are probably best heading over to my favorite tech site Engadget for the play-by-play CES coverage.

Check back regularly and subscribe to my RSS feed to stay in the loop!!