CES is happening in Las Vegas this week. It’s a chance to see new stuff and catch up on the latest in areas of personal interest. I have never been one for giant crowded shows, and the online coverage is so thorough that I am more happy to observe online. Some links to follow the show are:
1) Mashable — links to Twitter and other social media feeds as well as key streamed keynotes and company conferences:
http://mashable.com/2013/01/06/how-to-follow-ces-2013-online/
2) PC World, which is publishing and live streaming from parent company IDG
http://www.pcworld.com/category/ces/
3) Engadget
http://www.engadget.com/tag/CES/
4) Jason Hirschhorn’s excellent curated newsfeed Media ReDEFined
5) The other links you can find here on Game Ball Media
Here are some things I’ll be watching and thinking about:
1) Smartphones and Tablets — There is loud buzz that Apple is losing it’s edge and that others are catching up, surpassing, and end-running past Apple. It is becoming commonplace among thought leaders to trash iPhone over issues like Apple’s weak apps (Map debacle and overall weakness), hardware issues like camera problems — the “purple haze” (http://huff.to/T9RZ4L), Android’s superior flexibility, and more. The winner emerging from the buzz is Google which, aside from owning Android, is also creating great apps for iOS devices (http://bit.ly/aaLwP2) along with it’s strength on other OS’s, and playing a brilliant “Long Game” with Google Plus — well articulated by Brad Feld: http://bit.ly/TRU8pf
Here are a couple of interesting additional articles on the topic:
– Guy Kawasaki is now a big Android fan: http://bit.ly/Vxarpo
– Liz Gannes of All Things Digital with the headline “2012, The Year I Basically Stopped Using Apple’s iOS Apps”, http://dthin.gs/Vpsqi7
2) Innovation in TV viewing – who is doing what in the living room – and everywhere I watch TV? What will the next generation of Smart TV’s bring us? Will Zeebox and other second screen apps catch on and/or become better integrated with video services?
3) Apps and Services – Google and others are making a strong case that the real value is in Apps and Services vs. hardware/OS — there will much to see in this space
4) Wildcards — you always hope for something unanticipated and exciting