CES2017, I came, I saw, I walked away concerned
CES 2017 has come and gone, and I dropped in for four days and saw as much as humanly possible going from when the show floors opened (10am,) to when the last industry event I was invited to ended (usually 11pm). Google Fit claimed I was walking about five hours a day although it should be noted it crashed every single day and I’m pretty sure I did more.
Anyway, what I saw was a lot of really interesting ideas with a recurring theme of “let’s throw this out there even though we know it’s flawed and hope we can get it patched later on”. From “truly wireless” earbuds to routers to little robots you’re buying on faith that they get some support, the era of the incomplete product is completely here.
Judging by my lack of astonishment at this I’m assuming it’s been here for some time. Everyone’s claiming the world’s first… not the world’s first working… I had several product pitches where the end of said pitch was them saying the designers were working to find a fix for that.
Speaking of, truly wireless bluetooth earbuds. I’m going to say even though I have had a good pair, wait. What’s coming out in about two months where the buds don’t use Bluetooth to talk to each other will deliver what people have been expecting.
A couple of old site friends are coming out with some amazing things. Nonda, the company that makes the ZUS car locator has a pretty solid car kit coming out to tell you when an individual tire is low, where your car is, and a few other things. They also gave me a replacement ZUS for the one that was stolen, so I’m pretty in love with their products at the moment. They also won Showstoppers Launch.IT for best pitch/product.
Aftermaster, the best home audio thing I think I’ve ever run across (it dynamically stabilizes audio so you’re not changing volume 38 times a movie to keep from waking the kids) is now shipping.
CASIO has the first Android watch that’s made me lust after it. It’ll be out in April.
Someone’s got a wearable that will track your caloric intake or burn with no need to log your food.
Lots of interesting stuff we’ll be writing about this coming year.
I’ve been playing catch up since I landed back in Nashville, have to deal with the robbery, fire, and catching up on work today, but have some interesting things coming hopefully.
