We started off the 2014 International CES show Monday night by attending what was called the “Audi Keynote delivered by Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board, Audi AG.” The Keynote was so much more. Kunal Nayyar, one of the stars from the television series “The Big Bang Theory”, served as the Master of Ceremonies on stage at the beautiful Cosmopolitan Chelsea Theater, adding levity and great flow to the program. The Keynote included the unveiling of new Audi automobiles, concept cars and an inside look at Audi’s Innovation Lab, the group within Audi who designed and built the Audi Connect Piloted Driving technology, a technology we were able to see at work during the presentation. In addition, Mr. Stadler announced new exclusive partnerships with AT&T Mobility and Nvidia, and described their partnership with Google, as Audi continues to pursue its goal, to deliver the “largest connected mobile device.” The “Connected Car” would be a theme and top trend during the next few days of the CES Show.
Over the next two days, we spent much of our time taking in the 20,000+ products on display at the show, visiting with some of our consumer electronics clients and mixed in a couple of events as well.
As for the CES Show exhibitors, wearable technology and connected cars were clearly the dominant trends in terms of what was showcased. Always a trend at CES, bigger, better and smarter televisions were displayed as well. Other trends we noticed were fashion brands pushing their products into the technology mainstream, technology in the home (further connecting the home), mobile devices including phones and tablets, 3-D printers, and robotics and connected toys.
Some other highlights for us during the show included our time spent at the Scripps Networks Interactive pavilion for a panel discussion where we had the opportunity to meet Rob Van Winkle, aka Vanilla Ice, host of “Vanilla Ice Goes Amish on DIY Network.” We also had the opportunity to meet Martha Stewart prior to her judging the CES Hardware Battlefield and touring the South Hall searching for 3-D printers and the latest drones. Martha Stewart mentioned that she used drones to monitor her various homes in addition to her grandchildren, when they are swimming in the ocean.
As always, the show is an overwhelming and mind-opening experience. We decided this year to put a short video together that gives some more color to our experience.
You can also visit our Facebook Page to view our 2014 International CES Show Photo Album