International CES 2013

Yesterday, I received a reminder from the international headquarters of the International CES organizers that registration to the conference and exhibit show just started.

I wasted no time to register as a member of the Press again. Like in previous years, it will be held in Las Vegas, Nevada. The actual conference will be on January 8 – 12, 2013, but I will be going a little earlier to attend the Pre-Conference Media events. The latter starts January 6^th.

I am encouraging Asian Journal readers who are consumer technology professionals and/or enthusiasts to attend and register early. Registration now until August 31^st is free but it will cost $100 starting September 1^st and will increase to $200 on January 2, 2013.

This is the most important global technology event of the year. I have attended it every year for more than a decade now. It had grown in terms of attendance and exhibit participation annually since I started going.

During the International CES 2012, there were more than 140,000 of us attending. For International CES 2013, it is expected to attract more than 150,000 top executives, retail buyers, content providers, entertainment executives, venture capitalists, engineers, government officials and media from 150 countries.

Innovations, Inventions, and Initiatives in several aspects of life will be on display. New innovations in hardware, software and apps, cloud computing, lifestyle technologies, digital health and automotive technologies will be featured.

As I have described in my previous articles, attending the likes of the International CES is like witnessing “little miracles” created and performed by finite beings as if guided by some Infinite Being.

I always enjoyed watching the demos of new products either vying to be in the Top 10 Gadgets Standing or just exhibiting them in their respective booths.

It is always nice to see the best Mobile Apps demonstrated by developers, and analyze their relevance as tools to inform or be informed, to educate and be educated, to entertain and be entertained, and to be efficient and effective.

As a member of Press, I am lucky to be provided with samples of some of the new products and technologies for review. I also get to interview the CEOs of the companies that are launching and demonstrating their new gadgets.

The 2013 CES will feature 3,000 global technology companies unveiling the latest consumer technology products and services. Among the major categories of these products are electronic gaming, entertainment/content, digital imaging/photography, connected home technologies, automotive electronics, audio, video, TV, and many more.

The new President of PANASONIC, Kazuhiro Tsuga, will deliver the Opening Keynote Address. He is expected to address the “opportunities ahead for consumer electronics.”

Tsuga’s address will follow the State of the CE Industry keynote address by Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of CEA ,which organizes, runs, and owns the celebrated conference.

Samsung’s President Stephen Woo will also deliver a Keynote Address to open day two of the conference. He will present his “insight on the role of components in enabling consumer product innovations.”

I expect Samsung to launch and unveil during the conference some new products and technologies that would affect the lives of consumers in the years to come.

I will update you on the other speakers, as we get closer to the event.

Most importantly, let me remind you again – register now! Do not miss the opportunity of a lifetime!

Tech Tools Against Poverty

Education is the best antidote to poverty, which poisons anybody’s battle for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. As Philippine Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said, “Education is the great equalizer for the poor.”

Making education more accessible to the poor therefore, must be a priority for those warriors in the battle against poverty.

Learning the fundamentals such as reading, writing, and arithmetic is a good foundation to access more information and knowledge.

Knowledge is wealth. Possessing a load of knowledge means adding more to your wealth. So any tool or technology that makes information, knowledge and education accessible, available and affordable to the poor should eventually lead to reduction if not eradication of poverty.

Information and Communications Technology is known to reduce poverty by improving poor people’s access to education, health, government and financial services.

For the technologies to be effectively used, there should be an infrastructure built precisely for the purpose. It is called information superhighway. The private sector, which are usually the telecom companies, are preferred to build it but for economic and commercial reasons, there is really no incentive to have it in low income communities.

So, the government may have to get involved. Like the regular superhighways or railways, the government may have to build the information infrastructure either solely or in partnership with the private sector and make it more accessible, available and affordable.

At the end of the last century when we were involved in Y2K projects, we proposed what we called; PRIDE (Philippine Rural Interconnection Development Enterprise) which would have built that kind of information infrastructure. To go with it I also proposed what I named as: Rural Electronification Program.

This would have guaranteed Internet access up to the remotest areas and built E-Centers in every barangay or mobile computer labs going to all the schools and barangays for computer and internet access.

Internet access means access to knowledge and education worldwide.

The proposed National Broadband Network (NBN) that would have implemented the concept that we proposed at the turn of the century, did not continue because of revelations of corruption involving Philippine Government officials.

It should not stop the Philippine government from doing it in partnership with the private sector, however.

Despite a more limited infrastructure, the Philippines still managed to be the Facebook capital, Text capital, Twitter capital, and even the Call Center capital of the world.

I am proud to have introduced the e-Book technology to the Philippines more than ten years ago. My company had the license to manufacture and exclusively distribute the eBookMan, which is the predecessor of the Amazon Kindle.

In this age of open education and open access, we are now aggressively pursuing online education.

E-Centers, Mobile Computer Labs, eBooks, eLibraries, and E-Learning (Online Education) and hundreds of thousands of mobile and computer applications are indeed helpful as tech tools for poverty reduction.

Who knows, we might also end up being the capital of the Planet of the Apps!