CES 2021 happened this year completely online.
The Consumer Electronics Show for this year was especially focused on technology that could connect people across the globe without physical contact. There were the usual announcements of the Samsung Galaxy S21 and the massive TVs from LG and Sony. However, aside from that, there were quite a few things to look forward to.
This year, technology related to healthcare and safety gained more prominence. It was hardly a surprise since the global pandemic has forced tech companies into action.
Razer introduced Project Hazel, a new smart face mask that combines UV sterilization, voice projection, and LED lights with an N-95 mask. Smart thermometers, including one by Kinsa, were also trending at the show. The company already aggregates data from thousands of devices, and these thermometers could be used to predict viral outbreaks.
ICON.AI from South Korea, Philips, and Omron Healthcare all demoed variants of their remote health monitoring platforms. CarePlus.AI introduced their own system to monitor the health of elderly people.
Targus revealed their own antimicrobial backpack with antiviral/antibacterial materials built into the fiber mesh. This would protect those who ventured outside from bringing in the virus on any surface.
Of course, there was much of the usual at CES too such as the unveiling of huge TVs by LG and SONY. Asus also showed off its ROG Flow X13 Gaming Laptop which rivals desktop gaming PCs with 3 built-in graphics processors. Ampere announced the first water-powered Bluetooth speaker to be built into a showerhead.
Several companies unveiled new soundbars as well including Samsung with an offering that boasted a 11.1.4-channel speaker array. The Cowin soundbar was unveiled as a budget option which can be split into two smaller soundbars for a stereo-experience. Developex looks forward to developing apps for all of these audio devices.
Finally, several new wireless earbuds were also introduced at CES 2021. Anker pushed out its wireless Liberty Air 2 Pros as a budget option. Sennheiser came out swinging with their wired IE 300s for audiophiles.
Developex Experience at CES 2021
We engaged with our clients at CES to share our expertise in software and app development. We discussed the role of apps and software in today’s world as uber important especially with a pandemic going on. The need for contactless, digital solutions has become even more important with people forced to stay in their homes.
Companies and consumer electronics makers will need new technologies and solutions to reach out to their customers. That simply can’t happen without innovation in the space of modern devices and apps.
The Virtual Setting
While the virtual setting for CES 2021 had a mixed reception, it wasn’t something that was optional. The global pandemic demanded that the show be conducted remotely. The decision had been made in July of 2020, and it wasn’t a surprise to anyone following the Consumer Technology Association.
The remote show was supposed to be a “highly personalized experience”. Hence, attendees would get personalized content and connection recommendations during and before the show. For the most part, CES did implement a lot of the virtual event best practices like providing a tutorial of the venue beforehand. This step familiarized attendees with the features of the platform.
Closed captioning was on AI-powered translations. They were also included for those that weren’t covered. While viewership figures haven’t been released, these steps would’ve opened up the conference to more people even than the physical show did.
The actual experience was found to be lacking by the attendees. Even though CES took privacy seriously, related notifications were a cause for complaint among attendees. Also, a point of contention were pre-recorded sessions at the event. While these could’ve been helpful in certain cases, CES is primarily a live experience. It should’ve remained that way even if the show was forced to be remote.
Finally, the Consumer Technology Association has opened up all the content of CES 2021 on demand through the event platform. This will remain on the website until February 15th. Registered attendees can even engage with exhibitors and connect with each other until that deadline.
Improving the Virtual Experience
Exhibitions and shows rarely have a good track record of shifting to remote or virtual formats. The issues involved are numerous, not the least of which are compatibility issues with OS and devices. Establishing software that can work across platforms and be OS and platform blind is near impossible. It works well when there’s a Livestream of a keynote, but communication is a whole different ball game.
MediaLink and iHeartRadio had partnered with CES to organize their virtual gathering. Attendees were able to roam the virtual environment and appear as avatars to each other to network. Perhaps a better way to streamline this experience would’ve been the development of a web or mobile app.
Since most people attending would’ve either been streaming via their phones or laptops it makes sense to create web apps. However, creating Android and iOS equivalents would’ve translated into a much better experience.
CES should work on the remote experience for next year as it seems like the pandemic won’t be ending anytime soon. We hope that CES 2022 will be a much more pleasant user experience.
Developex Software Development Services
With so many more exhibitions and shows to go remote in the future, Developex understands the need for remote services. Any company providing a remote experience needs to deliver at the customer end as well. While there are so many different devices and OS’ to cater to, that’s what is required in today’s pandemic-ridden world.
Developex offers services for a full software development life cycle. We provide IT staffing/outstaffing with a team of 2–15 developers. This ensures custom software development to serve your needs and the needs of your customers.
At Developex, the one thing that matters is that the experience should be tailored for the customer. Whether you deal in B2B or B2C, our objective doesn’t change. We provide you with the best custom software developers to create a premium, OS blind software experience.
Hope you enjoyed reading this article. We will highly appreciate any comments regarding it. If you struggle to find a perfect match for your development team — don’t hesitate to contact us: contact@developex.com — If you have software development plans for 2021 — feel free to discuss them with us.
