CES 2018

One unexpected record was broken at CES 2018. One and a third inches of rain fell on the first day (January 8), the most ever for that day in Las Vegas, and more than the total for the previous 6 months combined. The storm caused a 2-hour power outage in the Convention Center, transforming its huge show spaces into gigantic black caverns. I heard that one brave booth rep even played a violin in the dark to keep attendees in good spirits. Fortunately, both the power and more normal dry weather returned for the rest of the week.

CES is the largest consumer technology trade show in the world. Over 4,000 exhibitors occupied 2.75M square feet of real estate in 3 venues across the city, the largest amount of space taken up by CES in its 51-year history. A staggering 184,279 attendees (including 7,460 media and 1,175 presenters) generated 998,779 social media mentions of the #CES2018 hashtag and @CES. On the international front, 60,219 visitors flew in from 158 countries. More than 900 startups (300 more than in 2017) occupied booths in the aptly named Eureka Park, CES’s startup pavilion at the Sands Expo. With hopes and dreams in hand, they came from a dizzying array of countries, including Holland (with the most startups of any single country), France, UK, Northern Ireland, Israel, Italy, Germany, Austria, Luxembourg, Russia, China, Taiwan, Singapore, Australia, and even Colombia.

What was the predominant theme this year? One word: SMART. Everything and everyone was smart, and naturally, connected. There were smart appliances, cars, homes, sensors, socks, and even (I heard) a Bluetooth pet pooper scooper (what does that even mean?). The hype stream overflowed its banks as always. Nevertheless, there was a general consensus that machine learning and artificial intelligence were here to stay. Plenty of companies were certainly dabbling with it.

Of note, IBM showed a prototype of the first ever 50-qubit quantum computer, which brings a quantum leap in computing power that could reboot Moore's Law on processing speed and accelerate the field of AI. Just when we were becoming complacent...

Some technology categories were clearly on the rise. Wearables made a big showing, more so in the fitness than the medical sphere. They ranged from conventional wristbands and chest patches to sensor-embedded clothing, necklaces, eyeglasses, and clip-ons. Every product claimed to be connected to AI in the cloud.

All the automakers announced R&D programs on autonomous or driverless cars, some efforts more serious than others. Likewise, all had invested in electric vehicle or fuel cell research. It wasn't just automobiles; CES had electric scooters, skateboards, motorcycles, autonomous passenger drones, and of course, Elon Musk's hyperloop.

Ultimately, few things I saw left lasting impressions. First was The Wall, Samsung’s 146-inch 4K TV prototype screen using new modular microLED technology that produces a stunningly brilliant picture and unprecedented dynamic range. First thought: wow. It was like looking at a real garden outside through a real window. The company hopes to announce an (undoubtedly expensive) commercial version in Q2 2018.

Second, Google made tremendous inroads at CES 2018 with partnerships, talks, a concerted Hey Google/Google Assistant promotional campaign, and two giant Gumball Machines that kept thousands of attendees in line for hours to win prizes. Google’s hyperpresence at CES may have been partly due to being blindsided by Amazon at last year’s CES. Although Amazon had no official presence in 2017 (and still didn’t this year), Alexa Skills had sneaked into dozens of products, a consequence of Amazon Echo's market dominance. With Amazon, Google, Apple, Microsoft, and others slugging it out, I wouldn't be surprised if speech becomes the new norm in future user interfaces.

Third, while a lot of CES felt like déjà vu when compared to last year, one bright spot was the 50% hockey stick growth in Eureka Park, the startup expo. An enormous influx of U.S. and international startups produced no shortage of intriguing technologies, the sort of stuff you want to see and think about if you’re peering over the leading (bleeding) edge. That was what made the jostling crowds, endless walking, long lines, high prices, impossible traffic, and incessant overstimulation tolerable.

Bonus tip: if you go to Las Vegas, you can find good things to do off the Strip.

For photos and more, please check out this link.