BACE Blog

CES :: Day 3 – 3D-TV & Individuality

January 20, 2010 by Mel Lim | business, conferences | 0 Comments

Hottest Tech & 3D-TV:
Absolutely the most talked about new product rolled out for CES 2009 were the 3D-TV’s. And when I say talked about…I mean the manufacturers were talking about them.

At the High-Tech Households seminar, Liz Claman of Fox Business Network posed the question, “How many here in the audience are excited about new 3D-TV’s technology for the home?” Out of 40 people in the audience, 1 person raised their hand. Christy Matte editor at About.com and panelist, asked us to consider whether this tech is being pushed on consumers as the next big thing. Do we really need it and do we even want it?

I guess I am the type of consumer that does not embrace new technology IMMEDIATELY. I will make my own purchasing decision as I see the technology mature. I am not easily persuaded by trends, friends or peer pressure. Briefly going over TV tech, first it was the big CRT screen, then the huge project screen. They both had the lousiest definition and yet, many consumers embraced them for it’s size. Hmmmm…Finally there was HD. Even with HDTV, I waited until hardware technology converged with HDMI and Cable broadcasting technology

Let’s look at the improvement in TV definition. In the replacement of VHS with DVD, there was a small 20% increase in picture quality. When Blu-Ray replaced DVD, there was a huge, 200% increase in picture quality. TV sets simultaneously went from those heavy tubes and foggy projections to light-weight wide-screen thin-panel displays capable of 1080p. Finally Cable TV was broadcasting an HD signal and the big manufacturers were putting out HD Blu-Ray players and game consoles. Everything seemed to come together, so we finally bought our first true HDTV, a Sony XBR Bravia. That was 2 years ago….

I definitely have a biased view on the new 3D-TV technology. Firstly, I simply cannot imagine wearing silly 3D glasses in our living room. Secondly, should we even be entertaining this 3D-TV when we haven’t even perfected our current HD technology? I have some 300 Cable channels of which only 20 are on HD! And how about those “fake” HD channels, the ones that slap on the HD logo in the corner, but the picture is cutoff on the sides (SD format), or stretched out so you see super-WIDE people.

Like any brand new gadget, 3D-TV’s price point is still high for the average consumer. The 3D glasses are uncomfortable and pricey, most above the $100 mark. There is also the issue of viewing angle. Most of these pictures look best from a straight-on view so I guess we should pile on top of each other on the couch to enjoy our movie? And not to mention, the poor attempt to push the no-glasses-3D-TV’s that look bad enough for you to go check your eyes for a new prescription.

Nonetheless, there is an impressive development on HDTV at CES – Ultra thin LCD screens. LG showed their LED based LCD screen that was less than an inch thick. Samsung showed off their slim LED that was a surprising 7mm thick.

Information – Touch and Global
Other great technology was Intel Infoscape HD wall. This wall was an interactive real time news source of oceanic floating icons that you can walk up to and interact with. You can touch and instantly receive a pop-up news source of photos, video or text from anywhere in the world.
Engadget has a great write up on this >>

And of course there is Microsoft. It’s interactive Surface Tables were pretty cool. It’s very interesting to watch attendees walk up and touch the table surface map and bring up satellite images of their home just outside of Paris, another instantly zoom into his old boarding school in Mumbai thousands of miles away. Or better yet, watching attendees form friendships as they play interactive games simply by touching the surfaces. Pretty cool to witness how great technology can form and strengthen human relationships.

The Microsoft booth features an interactive audio wall to encourage visitors to play with the wall’s lighted tiles.

Individuality
Back in 2007, while in Tokyo, touring the Sony Building, we saw this huge Canvas @ Sony campaign. It’s a collaboration of Sony and young contemporary artists in Japan where artists expressed their own unique styles onto the Vaio laptop, Walkman®, headphones and cellphones.

Now in 2010, here in the US, we are noticing this trend…finally catching up to American manufacturers. I am not sure if it’s because there is this urge to push “individuality” onto gadgets and accessories. It looks everyone is attempting to do the Murakami Vuitton trend. Either way, I think it’s pretty cool. I particularly like iSkin. Much like iPhones, we see people wanted to get a personalized case for their laptop and other devices.

iSkin laptop bags featuring designs by artists.

And that wraps up our CES highlights.