Internet of things will be at the centre stage of the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2014 this year alongside smartphones, tablets and other gadgets.
Once known as an event where television companies would dole out their best future technologies, CES has transformed into a technology extravaganza which will see internet of things take precedence as dumb devices will get their brains to function autonomously as commanded by their owners.
With LG giving us a sneak peek of what to expect at CES 2014, we can say for sure that other companies in the consumer electronics vertical won’t be sitting idle. With the ability to send out messages to an intelligent systems sitting at your home that is able to understand commands in natural language, appliances with brains will sparkle at CES.
Analysts are already placing their bets on internet of things and smart consumer electronics devices. Forrester analyst Frank Gillett said, “You will see a lot about the Internet of things; all the gadgets that are not a tablet, smartphone or personal computer but are attached to the Internet.”
Hardware alone doesn’t go far and apps that take advantage of the brains inside the gadgets. Apps are important and to highlight that fact, CES organizers are also billing the event as the largest ‘app event’ in the world featuring hackathons a mobile applications ‘showdown.’
A total of 3,200 exhibitors from 15 different categories like health, robotics, wearable technology, and children will be showcasing their innovations.
However, one thing is clearly noticeable that CES is shifting from a hardware only event to a content and digital services fest. Consumers for things beyond just televisions, smartphones and tablets “So, you need the health, connected home and other zones to show end-to-end value being delivered through the hardware,” said Carolina Milanesi, consumer technologies research vice president at Gartner.
Desktops, smartphones and tablets will also grasp a fair share of the limelight at CES with Microsoft and Intel pushing for two-in-ones that will function as a tablet as well as a portable desktop with detachable keyboard.
