What to expect at CES

No longer simply an “electronics” show, CES (Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas) is now a forum for handshakes and deals among the world’s top content producers, chip makers, device manufacturers, service providers, advertisers, marketers, analysts, OTT players and a variety of vendors.

This year will showcase more sophisticated versions of what was just becoming hot last year—things like 3-D TV, connected TVs/smart TVs and mobile convergence with the Internet for TV Everywhere applications.

Already there is hype about ESPN intending to show off its 24-hour 3-D television launch, and a lot of rumors circulating about new set-top-boxes with unparalleled functionality.

But probably most closely-watched will be the much-hyped tablets that will be designed to perhaps shake up iPad dominance in the market. It certainly looks like 2011 will be the year of the tablet, with Forrester Research predicting yesterday that tablet sales should boom this year, jumping more than 130% from the 10.3 million units sold in 2010 to 24 million in 2011.

It is expected that Motorola, Dell, Acer Inc. and maybe Microsoft will be some of the companies to showcase or at least talk in a visionary way about tablets at this year’s show.

That talk will capture more interest from content producers wanting to leverage these touch-screen devices—especially with projections (again by Forrester) that 82 million Americans would own tablets by 2015. Among the other media bigwigs cutting deals at the show, Rupert Murdoch, it is rumored, will meet with the likes of Verizon and Google to explore how to make the most of the tablet format.

As per its tradition, Apple—the company that started the whole tablet phenom—will not be in attendance, sticking to its guns in releasing innovations only at its own shows. That said, Apple sold another 6.1 million iPads in the holiday quarter alone, according Kaufman Bros. forecasts earlier this week.

Also hot will be e-readers like the Kindle, which Forrester predicted yesterday would surge 50% in 2011 to 15.5 million units.

And of course, smart phones. Last year’s notable was the Motorola Backflip. This will be the year of LTE/4G phones, as Verizon and others move to LTE phones, such as the HTC Droid Incredible (codenamed Mecha). Sprint is also expected to make announcements around WiMax and T-Mobile about HSPA.

This is the first year that Verizon Wireless will have an exhibit booth, from which it will show off the consumer and enterprise capabilities of its new 4G LTE network, as well as offer a sneak peek at the Android-based LTE consumer devices slated for tomorrow.
There also will be announcements of lower-cost smart phones, with even prepaid carriers expected to make news about lower-end phones for different demographics of users.

Also of interest will be new applications for the smart phone. For example, AT&T, which launched numerous Android devices at last year’s show, will announce Vitality Glowcaps for smart pill bottles. Hopefully it will showcase more, as it was just ranked last among mobile service providers by Consumer Reports.
And that is the point of the CES show, to build a reputation as a thought leader and to trigger anticipation for new services that ultimately all strive to build excitement, and ultimately, loyalty, among not only consumers, but advertisers, marketers and value chain partners seeking to partner with the most innovative companies.

We will see what this year’s CES show brings by week’s end and who will be providing the best surprises.

Check back for our coverage from Las Vegas starting later today.

Here’s some of the early news coming out of the show this morning:

AT&T Extends WorkBench Mobile Application Platform to Android

AT&T to Preview New Location Information Services Solution at Annual Developer Summit

OnStar Leverages the Verizon Wireless 4G LTE Network to Drive the Future of In-Vehicle Services

Verizon Wireless and LG Mobile Phones Come Together to Announce 4G LTE Business Solutions

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Processor and LTE Modem Power Connectivity Devices on Verizon Wireless’ New 4G LTE Network

Qualcomm and ooVoo Join Efforts to Launch the First High Definition Video Chat Offering on a Mobile Platform