Tablets and media streaming will dominate the consumer electronics market during 2011 thanks to an influx of hundreds of new gadgets at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, a local expert has predicted.
This year’s CES has been dominated by tablets and 3D televisions, but plenty of new gadgets in the markets of digital storage and streaming technology have also made an appearance. In true CES fashion, a variety of wacky and unusual gadgets – such as digital ski goggles – have been released.
But Telsyte research director Foad Fadaghi says the last days of the CES in Las Vegas have produced dozens of new tablet devices from several different manufacturers, all vying for a piece of the market that barely existed 12 months ago.
Among the most noteworthy include the Samsung Windows 7 tablets, which feature folding QWERTY keyboards, the cheaper Vizio Via tablet and the Motorola Xoom, which so far has been one of the only models tipped to dethrone the iPad, with some tech publications labelling the device best in show.
“Tablet computing is going to explode this year,” Fadaghi says. “There is such a large range of variety for so many consumers that they will dominate the year ahead.”
“The other big trend that we’re seeing is the “smartening” of television sets, and we expect that to accelerate this year. As people get used to apps on tablets, and on smartphones, it will make sense for them to use apps on television sets and there are a lot of possibilities there.”
Samsung, LG and Panasonic are just some of the manufacturers creating these “smart” television sets, which are usually internet enabled and provide access to content without the need for set-top boxes. Samsung unveiled a range of new devices that actually allow users to watch pay-TV content through the television itself, without a set-top box.
“The other trend we’re seeing this year is streaming. Although we’ve seen the technology around this for a while, it’s really taken off now, with people recording something on one unit and then transmitting it via WiFi to a tablet or smartphone.”
“There will be a lot of different ways to consume media this year.”
LG unveiled its “Smart TV” product this year, which allows users to share content between a number of different devices, including smartphones and tablets. Sony has released its own streaming audio solution, called Homeshare, and Panasonic has released a high-definition streaming solution that allows users to watch 3D high-definition content through a Verizon internet connection in the US.
But the biggest trend is the rise of tablet computing, Fadaghi says, tipping that the market could explode in a way the consumer PC market did several years ago – but this also means smaller manufactures could be left for dead.
“You’re going to have all these different makes and models, and possibly you may even see people building their own tablets one day just as they do with PCs.”
“As to whether all the manufacturers will survive, that really depends. There are plenty of older PC manufacturers that don’t exist anymore. But one thing that stands out is that there will be plenty of choice among operating systems, so it won’t be all Windows and Android. There will be a lot of choice.”
Throughout 2011, Fadaghi says more consumers will take up technology previewed at this year’s CES.
“Tablets and smarter phones, video recording and IPTV, along with the arrival of affordable packages on set-top devices, this will be more popular. You have standalone televisions, but you have these products adding to that experience and expanding that, this will start making in-roads.”
Come back tomorrow to find out SmartCompany‘s top 10 gadgets at CES 2011.
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
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