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Technology trends spotted at CES 2013 ; Trends at this year's Consumer Electronics Show suggest devices and appliances will soon be much faster and... [Business Today (India)](Business Today (India) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Technology trends spotted at CES 2013 ; Trends at this year's Consumer Electronics Show suggest devices and appliances will soon be much faster and smarter than before. If everything that was on show at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2013, held in Las Vegas in January came to our homes and offices tomorrow, it would feel more like 2031 than 2013. The technology displayed at the world's largest annual technology expo appeared to have made a great leap forward in time. Everything was faster and smarter than what people are currently used to. Exhibitors at the CES ranged from multinationals with extra- large show-floors to one-man start-ups in the smallest of kiosks. But they all seemed agreed on one thing - every device in the world should be connected. Indeed, the tech industry is agog at the formidable partnership forged early in January, by the Wi-Fi Alliance - of local area network providers - in the United States, and the relatively new Wireless Gigabit Alliance (WiGig), which promotes multi-gigabyte speed communications. This is expected to usher in a wireless ecosystem of interoperable, high performance devices that work together seamlessly at much higher speeds than at present. A connected world also means a world of intelligent devices. So a bunch of tech giants led by global electronics giant Panasonic have joined the Smart TV Alliance to "stimulate cross-platform Smart TV applications and services" as one of them put it. Panasonic is already trying to make its televisions smarter and showcased its new personalised desktop for SmartViera high definition televisions (HD TV) at the show. The desktop will organise screen content according to the taste of whoever uses it. High-end models also feature a camera capable of facial recognition so that users can log in and access their homescreens by simply looking at the TV. Like Samsung's smart TVs that became all the rage last year, these too will respond to voice commands. As for Samsung, it revealed at the CES how it was porting its smart TV concept, incorporating gesture and voice control, into its new range of Ultra HD or 4K TVs. It also seems to have decided that the TV screen need not only be flat. Playing with the flexibility of organic light- emitting diode (OLED) screens, both Samsung and rival LG turned the spotlight on their curved screen televisions at the show. The CES pointed to ways in which home appliances as well will get smarter. Samsung's new four-door refrigerator comes with a touch screen panel that can run apps. The company demonstrated how to use the Evernote app with it to share photos, videos and recipes with family and friends, all on the door of the fridge. It can also change the size of the various compartments within porting its smart TV concept, incorporating gesture and voice control, into its new range of Ultra HD or 4K TVs. It also seems to have decided that the TV screen need not only be flat. Playing with the flexibility of organic light-emitting diode (OLED) screens, both Samsung and rival LG turned the spotlight on their curved screen televisions at the show. The CES pointed to ways in which home appliances as well will get smarter. Samsung's new four-door refrigerator comes with a touch screen panel that can run apps. The company demonstrated how to use the Evernote app with it to share photos, videos and recipes with family and friends, all on the door of the fridge. It can also change the size of the various compartments within, and the temperatures in each. Though the CES is no longer a favoured forum of smartphone makers, Sony used the opportunity to flaunt its water-resistant smartphone, the Xperia Z. And if the cores on the chipset installed within are the measure of phone or tablets power, then the new NVIDIA Tegra 4 has too many to count. On the other hand, Qualcomm with its new Snapdragon 800 showed that personal computer-like speeds can be got on phones even with a quad-core processor. It may be because the show is hosted out of the world's largest casinos - everyone at the CES seemed to be a highroller. (The writer travelled to Las Vegas at the invitation of Panasonic) (c) 2013 ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved. |