Happy New Year 2017 and it’s CES 2017 this Week – Autonomous Cars, IoT, Gadget Apocalypse?
Happy New Year 2017! I hope everyone survived the holidays. I am back in the office and starting off an exciting new year. It’s CES 2017 later this week. I can’t wait to actually hear about the actual announcements (instead of the speculations) of new consumer technologies that will appear this year. At the same time, its exciting to hear that CES will showcase news about AI, Machine Learning, Smart Cars, Autonomous Vehicles, IoT, VR, Personal Robots, 8K displays, Voice Assistants, Home Automation, Drones, and more.
CES 2017 – What to Expect
The top tech news sites have multiple articles with pre-announcements and previews of what to expect this week in Las Vegas. Last year at CES 2016, Faraday Future gave a glimpse at their concept electric car. This year, they will live stream the unveiling of the actual car on Tuesday, January 3 at 6pm PST. They even have a countdown timer on their home page at https://www.ff.com/en/
Here are links to a few of the CES 2017 previews and news articles that I’ve been reading.
- Google and Chrysler use Android to revamp the in-car touchscreen – http://www.theverge.com/2017/1/2/14142996/google-android-fiat-chrysler-infotainment-car-touchscreen
- Ford Debuts Next-Generation Fusion Hybrid Autonomous Development Vehicle at CES 2017 – https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/fna/us/en/news/2016/12/28/ford-debuts-next-generation-fusion-hybrid-autonomous-development.html
- TheVerge – CES 2017 Previews, News, Trends, Predictions – http://www.theverge.com/2017/1/2/14115956/ces-2017-preview-news-trends-predictions
- ZDNet – CES 2017: Announcements to expect from this year’s show – http://www.zdnet.com/article/ces-2017-announcements-to-expect-from-this-years-show/
- Tech Times – CES 2017 Biggest Trends To Shake The Scene This Year: Mobile Chipsets, Auto News, PCs, VR, IoT and More – http://www.techtimes.com/articles/190995/20170102/ces-2017-biggest-trends-to-shake-the-scene-this-year-mobile-chipsets-auto-news-pcs-vr-iot-and-more.htm
- Tim Bajaran, PC Mag – The Top Trends I Expect From CES 2017 – http://www.pcmag.com/commentary/350602/the-top-trends-i-expect-from-ces-2017
- C|net – The 7 big trends that will dominate CES 2017 – https://www.cnet.com/news/the-7-big-trends-that-will-dominate-ces-2017/
- Engadget: What to expect at CES 2017 – https://www.engadget.com/2017/01/02/what-to-expect-at-ces-2017/
- VentureBeat: What venture capitalists are looking for at CES 2017 – http://venturebeat.com/2017/01/02/what-venture-capitalists-are-looking-for-at-ces-2017/
Home Automation in my Christmas Stocking
My Christmas stocking was filled with home automation IoT devices including an Amazon Echo Dot, Switchmate Smart Light Switch and a Wemo Switch. I’ve set up the Echo Dot to control my Nest Thermostat – “Alexa, set Family Room temperature to 72 degrees”. I am working to get the other devices installed and connected to the Echo Dot and also explore SDKs for building additional integrations. The good news for developers and developer programs, there are lots of Voice Control APIs available to connect different devices together in your home and office.
For connected devices and developer evangelism, Evans Data has its Internet of Things vertical research service and annual Tactical Developer Marketing research report series (Developer Marketing Patterns and Developer Relations Programs).
The Gadget Apocalypse?
Back in early December, Farhad Manjoo wrote an article in the New York Times Personal Tech section, “The Gadget Apocalypse is Upon Us“. In his article he mentions the problems at GoPro and Pebble being acquired by FitBit. He also talks about the fall of other companies, the start/stop of Kickstarter projects and that with SmartPhones and software there may not be a need for as many gadgets and wearables.
VentureBeat has a recent article that mentions Manjoo’s article and points to the CES 2017 show’s vendors announcing and demoing 20,000 consumer products. VentureBeat: CES 2017: 20,000 consumer electronics products will be launched despite “gadget apocalypse”. As always, there are some CES products that never see the light of day or take a few years to appear as products (note by mention of Faraday Future above). I did like how VentureBeat talked with Shawn Dubravac, chief economist of the Consumer Technology Association, to provide some perspective about the CES show and product announcements: “… Dubravac flat-out disagrees… But beyond that, even if software has become more critical, we still have seen major companies like Google and Amazon and Snap pushing into the hardware space. Content and software remain tightly linked to the success of any hardware. It may be true, as Manjoo argues, that it’s hard to be a company whose sole focus is hardware, but that’s always been true, Dubravac points out.”
If your company has CES 2017 announcements, let me know.
I will be watching for CES 2017 announcements, both as a tech fanatic and also as a developer. If you see any news or hear of new developer capabilities in CES 2017 announcements let me know.
David Intersimone “David I”
Vice President of Developer Communities
Evans Data Corporation
davidi@evansdata.com
Blog: https://www.devrelate.com/blog/
Skype: davidi99
Twitter: @davidi99
