Tag: andymaskin

I’ve only been to two CESs now, and both times I’ve really enjoyed an area called the “International Gateway.” Populated by companies from the far east, in particular China, Taiwan and Korea, this area showcases very small vendors in an atmosphere wholly unlike that of the rest of CES. The small booths are arranged in long narrow rows and the structures are more or less uniform. You don’t see a lot of press or tour groups, and you’ve never heard of any of the companies.

What you find as you walk the aisles of the International Gateway ranges from the banal to the interesting to the absurd. If there’s one thing I think you can say there is the most of, it is off-brand Android tablets. It seems like every third booth is showcasing numerous different sized and shaped Android tablets. One vendor told me that the 7” model in his booth sells for $45.

There’s also electronic signage, and a company that makes a Segway clone, LED lighting, and lots of Bluetooth speakers. Also, one company was showing off a USB-enabled BB gun.

I have no statistics handy to back up the following claim – only my casual observation of what seems to me to be obvious. I feel as though that the number of Smart TVs at this year’s CES as a share of overall models has increased dramatically over last year. Last year Smart TVs, those that took advantage of Internet Services (e.g. Netflix, Hulu, Vudu) without an over-the-top box, were certainly around; This year I feel as though they were more ubiquitous.

We saw the big brands continue to push their Smart TV models, but we also saw other smaller brands advertise their TVs as Roku-Ready, meaning they supported the full functionality of the Roku Streaming Stick.

We also saw many, many Android-based devices that can plug into an HDMI port on whatever kind of screen you have. These came largely from the smaller and more obscure vendors, but from the informal survey we took they are very inexpensive.

It’s hard to say when the adoption of Smart TV technology will really accelerate in the marketplace. And with companies like Dish Networks fighting back against cord-cutting with their own ecosystems, it will be interesting to see how this trend progresses.

A trend I really enjoyed exploring at this year’s CES was the embedding of connected functionality and sometimes little video screens into common household appliances.

LG showcased ovens and washing machines that you could pair with your mobile device via NFC or WiFi. You could then control these appliances remotely. So for instance, you would set the oven to cook pizza just right by pulling up a pizza recipe on your phone and then tapping the oven. Or you could start your washing machine with a tap and monitor it’s progress remotely.

Samsung had a fridge that sported a small touchscreen in the front, which was set up to run a nice array of apps. There was the ability to hook into twitter, for instance, and also Evernote, so you could manage your grocery lists. And obviously since it is a connected device, anything you write in Evernote on the fridge (e.g. “buy milk”) will sync to your mobile device.

If you take that line of thinking further, imagine a world where your smartphone, desktop, laptop, TV, fridge, washing machine and car all synchronize to the same cloud services. Something you do on one could carry over to all of them. That kind of powerful utility is something brands should consider thinking about now, in terms of how they can reach audiences seamlessly across all of these potential touchpoints.

One of my favorite startups showcased at the this year’s CES was Simply Amplified. They make 3D printed smartphone amplifiers. You can take a look at their assortment here.

You set your smartphone down into the cradle portion of the object, and the natural shape of the object (based on the golden ratio, I’m told) amplifies the sound from the device. It’s key to point out that this device is not powered in any way – no batteries, no power plug. It just has a little hole where your phone speaker is so it can naturally channel the sound. By default they are designed for iPhones, but they also can include an adapter for the more popular Android handsets if you need one.

They have a kickstarter  going to improve their production process. It seems like a great product and team, I’m rooting for them.

Remember Fotomat? Well for those too young to remember or don’t know what the space behind the photo kiosks at CVS is all about, the process went a little something like this:

• You took pictures with a film camera.
• You took the roll of film out of your camera and left it at a Fotomat store or photo-developing counter in a larger store
• You would come back a few days later and pick up your pictures

And you would go through all of this because

• Photo-printing equipment was too large, complicated and expensive to have in your house.

Which brings me to 3D Printing. On one hand you might be hearing enormous buzz about how 3D printing is the future of personal home creation. Like 2D printers but 1D better. With the same volume though, you can hear people saying that 3D printing is too expensive and complex to be a mass trend.

My hypothesis is that there’s a middle ground, and that middle ground is the Fotomat model. You start with a digital 3D file. Maybe you created it, maybe someone sent it to you via e-mail, or maybe you downloaded it from the web from a brand or product website. Maybe you modify it before printing, maybe you take it as is. In any case, you upload it to a company with physical retail locations (or bring it in on a USB stick). There, at one central place, for a fee, your object is printed for you. And you can then pick it up along with milk and soap.

Staples has just announced a foray into this model. You upload a file to them, they print it, and then you either pick it up or have them mail it to you. They’ve even branded the effort with the word “Easy” baked right into the name.

I’d argue that if this type of service is executed well, it could spread to a wide variety of large chain retailers. This doesn’t mean a dim view for personal 3D Printers though; it just means that there could be an interim, Fotomat-like step in between where we are today and wide adoption.

We were very excited last week to get ahold of a LittleBits starter kit here at the Lab. LittleBits is a very interesting and simple way for kids of all ages to learn about electronics. The individual modules are color-coded and the directions are very simple. As you can see below, the starter kits comes with a nice selection of modules that snap together with ease.

It took us all of 30 seconds to assemble the below contraption, from a 9V battery, the knob module and the light module. It is effectively just a light dimmer:

This is another example of a larger trend in DIY, from electronics to content creation and even self-designed and printed plastic toys.