CE Week 2014 in NYC

 The CE Week, the Consumer Electronics industry’s official mid-year meeting, conference and new technology showcase in New York City has started.  Being held from June 23-27, 2014, the site is not just in the Metropolitan Pavilion where the Exhibits are displayed and Altman Buildings on W 18^th St. where many of the conference sessions are hosted, but virtually the entire city acting as the “CE Week’s trade show floor with conferences, meetings and networking events taking place city-wide.”

Like last year, the event is again expected to draw more than 6,000 members of media (me included), retailers and thought leaders from across the country.

By the time you read this article, it would be the last day of the conference but let me give you a glance of why the CE Week has always been worth attending.

First, the CE Week always offers a very large concentration of executives, exhibits and conferences during the summer – very conducive for networking.

Second, you experience the “latest and coolest new technology products featured during the summer, back-to-back and holiday gift-giving previews.”

Third, you see and witness technology leaders from large corporations and innovative start-ups demonstrating their amazing, magical, and mind-boggling products and technologies, and correspondingly, holding conferences, and networking events.

Fourth, you also get to see the unveiling by CEA (Consumer Electronics Association) of its mid-year market research and analysis as well as data, insights and industry presentations that are exclusive in nature.

The CE Week 2014 features a record number of more than 170 participating companies, including tech startups as well as global brands including B & H, Bang & Olufsen, Delphi, Denon, DISH, Harman, LG, Monster, Pioneer Electronics, Sharp, Sony, Tiffen and WowWee.

It also hosts a record number of international technology companies including, but not limited to, PulseOn, Tablo (Nuvyyo), Xcrool Inc. Piper, ROCKI, ReSound, WHOOSHI, Matter and Form, Bio Sensor Labs and Lima.

With the global technology market continuously soaring, no wonder new innovations are keeping up, spurring economic growth and creating jobs. It is estimated that global spending on consumer technology will reach $1.1 trillion in 2014.

The Future of Computing is also explored – focusing developments in Robotics and Devices at the CE Week 2014.

The Future of TV Innovation is also featured as Next TV Conference; New Product and Exhibitor Press events showcase advances in the latest TV technology.

Partnering with CE Week is the host City of New York which showcases local tech startups and Entrepreneurs.  The event is considered New York City’s largest tech event which provides a Launchpad for up-and-coming innovators.

Taking center stage at the CE Week 2014 is Digital Health and Fitness Tech where the latest innovations are on display.  They include heart-rate monitors worn on the wrist, handheld devices measuring fate percentage and muscle quality, and many other new technologies in digital health, sports and fitness.

As reported by CEA, “more than 40 million personal health and wellness products were expected to sell in 2013, with that number expected to increase to more than 70 million by 2018.  In dollar amounts, it translates into sales of $3.3 billion in 2013 and more than $8 billion in 2018.

Dubbed as a Fashion Center of the world, New York City, partnering with CE Week 2014, also showcases High-Tech/High-Style Fashion & Accessories. The latest designs and innovations with a Live Runway Show, Panel Discussion and Exhibit are on the program.

As an APPLE stockholder and obviously, MAC, iPAD, iPhone, and iPod user, I am most interested in the presence of iLounge in the NYC CE Week event.  This is because iLounge will showcase the latest in Apple accessories.  

The CE Week 2014 in New York is for me an extension of the International CES held in Las Vegas, Nevada early January of 2014 as well as an intro for the International CES this coming January 2015 that features among others the launching and display of the latest technologies and innovations in the consumer technology field.

Registration for the International CES 2015 starts in a few weeks. I can’t wait!

Amazing Charging Technologies

Kurzweil Newsletter recently reported some amazing developments in the field of portable electronics charging.  I am sharing the news with you.

Charging portable electronics will be super-fast, widely accessible

Two innovations for on-the-go mobile-device users seeking a quick charge are in the works: Starbucks plans to install wireless charging devices in all of its stores; and a new battery design could enable rapid charging of lithium-ion batteries in ten minutes.

Starbucks stores will have “Powermat Spots” — designated areas on tables and counters where customers can place their compatible device and charge them wirelessly. The system uses inductive coupling, which can charge nearby devices.

Some Starbucks stores in Boston and San Jose offer Powermat today, with San Francisco next. Starbucks is planning some 100,000 devices in its 7,000-plus stores, says the Washington Post/Bloomberg. Track the rollout here.

Meanwhile, researchers at the University of California, Riverside Bourns College of Engineering have developed a new battery anode design for rechargeable lithium ion batteries that could allow charging in 10 minutes instead of hours.

It uses silicon, whose total charge capacity is 10 times higher than commercial graphite-based lithium ion battery anodes. That could result in a 63 percent increase of total cell capacity and a battery that is 40 percent lighter and smaller, the US Riverside researchers say. They’re developed a novel structure consisting of cone-shaped carbon nanotube clusters decorated with 3D silicon.

But batteries may eventually disappear when electricity is generated from an individual’s physical movements, using energy-harvesting textiles, The Conversation reports.

Here is the report coming from The Conversation:

Dead battery? Charge it with your clothes

By Philippa Nicole Barr and Glenn Platt

What if you could leave home, safe in the knowledge that your phone would not run out of battery before you return? The latest innovations in battery design could see dead batteries become a thing of the past — by producing and storing energy on ourselves.

Such new technologies could also help reduce Australia’s electronic waste. According to Step Initiative, in 2012 Australia generated around 25.23 kilos of electronic waste per person.

Here are five of the latest most portable developments; from wearable, stretchable batteries to energy-harvesting textiles which may one day actually replace batteries by generating energy as they go.

People power

People are an untapped source of energy that could go towards powering our devices.

To tap this energy source, researchers and innovators have had to develop materials that can are activated by environmental conditions — heat, chemicals, movement, and electricity.

Scientists at Berkeley Labs have developed textiles woven with piezoelectric wires. Piezoelectric power is generated when mechanical stress creates an electrical charge. This stress can arise through stretching or twisting the textile. A tiny stamp-sized generator in clothing relies on the piezoelectric property to produce electrical charge when pressed, and (for example) can be integrated into the soles of shoes to allow users to power mobile electronics as they walk.

Australia’s own CSIRO is also trialling smaller scale energy harvesting devices that could one day be accessible to everyday consumers. The Flexible Integrated Energy Device, allows electricity to be generated from an individual’s physical movements. Jogging or dancing, for example, could charge a mobile phone or iPod.

The CSIRO device is comprised of two components: a battery based on advanced, conductive fabric; and an energy harvesting system which responds to movement. As the wearer of the garment moves, the movement of their clothes can be captured and channelled into recharging the battery where it can be stored. The advanced fabric is woven from special conductive fibres made by coating conductive metal layers onto textiles, such as wool or cotton.

At the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology researchers have developed a wearable device that can convert heat into an electrical current to charge a battery. The device is made from glass fibres and is flexible, thin and lightweight as well as relatively efficient at generating power.

A similar project at the University of Southampton is finding ways to print conductive film onto fabric using rapid ink jet and screen printing processes. The film converts movement and heat made by our bodies into electricity which can be used to power personal devices.

You may have noticed a problem: batteries aren’t flexible. So scientists have had to come up with batteries that flex and move.

In the US, Northwestern University and the University of Illinois created a battery which can be stretched to three times its normal size to make them softer and more comfortable.

Powering innovation

These new batteries — new ways to power small, portable devices — have immediate applications in the military. They can help reduce the amount of batteries soldiers carry for computers, phones and other electronic devices. Indeed these military applications are a big driver for academic research into new solutions.

In a market which is coming to rely more and more heavily on electronic devices, there is a demand for more sustainable energy use and decreasing the amount of time spent plugging in and charging up.

At the moment though, these new technologies are too costly for everyday users. The next step in mainstreaming this technology will thus depend on finding ways to make wearable energy storage and harvesting more cost effective, straightforward and attractive products.

Researchers have a way to go before they find exactly the right material and product that can bend to and endure our everyday lives, wash it off, and look like something we would want to carry around, and it may be that commercial research partnerships facilitate this development. But given the number of groups, companies and individuals with an interest in solving the problem, it is probably only a matter of time.

5 Converging Technologies

Peter Diamandis is one of the most influential technology experts in the world. A couple of days ago, he sent me this email and gave me permission to share it with friends, family, and readers.

Dear Benjamin,

Five technologies are converging to transform the retail shopping experience forever.

This is big. This isn't Amazon, it's Amazon x100. Very social, very local and very efficient.

This will impact multiple industries.

Though it applies to other retail, the example I'll share in this email is clothes shopping -- specifically, a new approach that will give you back massive amounts of time in your life and make the experience fun, fast and super-personalized.

Gone are the wasted hours in dressing rooms or combing through racks and finding nothing in your preferred size or style.

The five converging technologies are:

1.3D imaging

2.Body-motion sensors

3.Virtual reality headsets

4.Virtual worlds

5.Big data & AI

Let me give you a glimpse of the future.

Of course this doesn't just hit clothing. It hits every element related to retail, like buildings, labor and transportation.

First, let's look at the experience, and then we'll examine the tech behind it.

THE FUTURE RETAIL EXPERIENCE:

Here's one future of clothes shopping...

•   You won't drive to a store. Ever.

•   Eventually, clothing stores will go away, dematerialized and significantly demonetized -- just like Amazon has done to most bookstores.

•   Your body is scanned and the data file is private. It's your exact body on that exact day.

•   You put on your VR goggles, and appear in a virtual store. Zero time to get there. No traffic, no parking hassles, no walking across the mall to get to the store.

•   You enter YOUR personal clothing store. Everything in this store is your exact size. Everything fits. The store has every designer and every design on the planet. Forget "re"tail - this is "me"tail.

•   Your friend, who you called a few minutes ago, joins you via their VR headset, and he or she sees everything you see. The experience is social and fun.

•   You voice what you're looking for: "Red high-heeled shoes to match my new dress, which has a long black skirt." Suddenly (think the movie Matrix), racks of perfectly fitting products appear like magic.

•   You can ask an AI advisor (online and listening) for help. Presto, a fashion show materializes before your very eyes. Every model walking down the runway looks like you and is wearing a different combination of clothing.

•   When you see an outfit you like, you just point and instantly, your virtual self is wearing it. No frustration of getting undressed or dressed. Mirrors all around allow you to see your virtual self from every angle.

•   As you move in real life, your virtual reflection the mirror moves in exact sync. It feels and looks just like you are looking at yourself in the mirror.

•   You wonder aloud how these virtual shoes would look with a particular blouse in your closet at home. No problem: every piece of physical clothing you own in the real world is also available for you to wear in this virtual world. You ask, and instantly you're wearing it.

•   When you're done, and you have the exact, perfect clothes you need, you pay the bill and your clothes arrive the next day. (And, if the warehouse or robotic manufacturer is local, perhaps the same day.)

•   Oh, and by the way, the cost for an outfit is at least half of what they are today -- no middleman.

•    

THE TECH BEHIND IT:

Let's begin with 3D imaging. It's now possible to have your body 3D imaged from head to toe at a sub-millimeter accuracy, showing every ripple of muscle or cellulite, to allow the perfect-fitting jeans or shoes.

How? This technology is breaking out (from deceptive to disruptive) right now. First, it may be derivatives of Microsoft's Kinect, or Google's new Project Tango. As Google demonstrated in February, this technology gives smartphones the ability to do realistic 3D mapping. Your phone will be able to create 250 million 3D measurements per second to build a 3D model.

Next, body motion sensors. Imagine wearing low-cost, lightweight sensors that pick up your body's precise movements and replicate them perfectly in a virtual world. As you raise your arms, twirl around, flex your muscles or do your best runway walk, the sensors gather real-time data and reflect those movements in a virtual world.

This technology exists. Developed originally for the video game world, PrioVR came out of, naturally, a successful Kickstarter campaign. See PrioVR in action here: www.priovr.com

Next, let's consider the future of virtual reality worlds. In past blogs I've mentioned my friend Philip Rosedale, the creator of Second Life. His new company High Fidelity is working towards creating virtual worlds with the fidelity of James Cameron's movie Avatar. Remember how beautiful and real that animation looked? Imagine stepping into that world from your living room.

The next piece of tech is the Oculus Rift VR headset -- virtual reality goggles you wear to enter into a virtual world. I recently wrote about this company, started by Palmer Luckey. Just 18 months after a $2.5 million Kickstarter campaign in Aug 2012, Facebook acquired Oculus VR for $2 billion. From what I've seen, their next generation of headgear, DK2, is nothing less than spectacular. Check it out here: www.oculusvr.com

Big data and artificial intelligence are the final pieces of converging technology. Imagine data on every piece of clothing available in the world, and artificial intelligence (think IBM's Watson) able to understand and advise you on fashion and fashion trends.

HOW YOU CAN LEARN MORE:

So that's it: A glimpse at clothes shopping in the future.

This is the sort of content and conversations we discuss at Abundance 360 -- the convergence of technology leading to the dematerialization, demonetization and democratization of products, services and industries.

How would you prepare your business and your family if you knew what the future would look like today?

If you'd like personal coaching from me on this and want to learn more, head to www.a360.com. And if you want a deep dive into any of these technologies, consider coming to Singularity University's Executive Programs.

Share this email with your friends, especially if they love to shop or are in the retail industry.

We are living toward incredible times where the only constant is change, and the rate of change is increasing.

Best wishes,


Peter

P.S. I'm going to begin sharing my tech-focused insights like this each weekend. If you want your friends, colleagues and family to be on the same page, send them to www.diamandis.com to sign up for my blogs.

Peter H. Diamandis, MD Chairman/CEO, X PRIZE Foundation 
Proud Author of the NYTimes Bestseller: Abundance - the Future is Better Than You Think