Countdown to CES

Last year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas was an eye-opening experience, to say the least. Coming off the manageable, more approachable TelcoTV conference, I didn’t anticipate having to navigate enormous displays, 1.7 million square feet of booths and thousands of exhibitors to discover the highlights of a few niches at the giant show. This year, the economy, unfortunately, may be responsible for making this massive expo more manageable. With many big names rumored to be backing out or opting for off-site meeting rooms rather than booths, the show likely will trend the way of most shows in 2008: smaller, less grandiose and with less foot traffic. Still, CES promises to deliver a number of exciting news announcements, or at least notable trends, to kick off the year in telecom.

Despite the economy, the event still will attract 300 first-time exhibitors, including Blockbuster, Huawei and Verizon Wireless, bringing the total exhibitors to 2700. The host of the show, the Consumer Electronics Association, expects growth — albeit muted — across the gaming, digital imaging, and GPS and location-based services product lines. As such, these sectors likely will ramp up their presence as well.

In the past, CES has been a popular venue for operators to announce new services. In 2005, AT&T kick-started U-verse with a pep talk and high hopes. In 2007, Verizon launched V CAST, at the time the first mobile TV service on the market, and an updated version of its FiOS TV service. Last year, cable stole the show with Comcast announcing its tru2way service. This year, no big name operators will address the audience, so the spotlight falls on Microsoft to make a keynote splash.

Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft, will give the opening keynote address at the show, leading many to surmise he’ll upstage Bill Gate’s 2008 celebrity-ridden keynote with the unveiling of a Zune phone. This iPhone competitor could be a cross between the Zune portable music device and the Sidekick, pitting it against the star of 2008, Apple’s iPhone. As usual, Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, will be conspicuously absent from CES, instead hosting MacWorld that same week.

This year, telcos’ one-time competitors, consumer electronics-makers, will look towards partnering with wireless operators to reinvigorate their devices with Internet connectivity. Evidence of this already ha been seen, with AT&T forming an emerging devices division, T-Mobile launching the first truly connected digital frame and more WiMAX market launches on the horizon. I hope to see more innovative devices, with equally as innovative business models at the show this year, although TVs may be the most likely candidate for Internet connectivity in 2009.