Ed’s CES 2020 #TechTrends Part 2
On the second day of CES 2020, you can feel the people a bit more grounded and a bit more focused on why they are here, as shown by the more prominent desire to get my business card after a short discussion. The dust settles a bit, and I go back into the fray.
I had the pleasure of going through our French Cousin’s tech startup agglomeration. Some very interesting stuff from data anonymization to health care and elderly care tech. The belle of the ball has to be the Sodium Cycles of sodium battery-powered electric motorbike. 50cc, more than 100 km autonomy, regular recharge in 3hrs, and it looks awesome. The sodium battery is also much more environmentally friendly than its lithium-ion counterpart. Honourable mentions have to be given to Kheiron from IoThink solutions who propose a complete IoT management platform that is very user-friendly, Abeye who proposes glasses that help people suffering from dyslexia read faster and better with powered glasses and WeProov who help manage car flotillas by automatically seeing, identifying and assessing body damage to a car.
The greater Asian community is also not short on amazing ideas, from Samsung’s C-Lab startup Hyler showcasing a high liner that digitized and searches the word highlighted to create your own personalized notebook on a particular document to the Seoul National University showcasing a beautiful UHD perovskite display with an amazing colour gamut.
Headphones and smart litter boxes aside, there seems to be a clear shift towards hardware-based solutions and personal care. I am writing these lines waiting for the shuttle heading to the main event, the LVCC where all the big players are showing their colours. As I wait for the shuttle, I can’t help but have this old NOFX song stuck in my head “The longest Line”.
The third day for me was about consolidating some observations of trends and going to see the big ones, the game changers, the OEMs, the big players of the industry.
The car, the smart home and the display reigned supreme among a few gaming, VR and massage sections. Everyone is trying to showcase their smart homes like an Ikea showroom riddled with speakers, and people are lining up to see a car.
On the fun side, Hyundai and Bell are showcasing gigantic copter taxis that are right out of a Huxley novel. I personally don’t think vertical is the sustainable way to go but it is nonetheless very impressive and cool. Hyundai also showed (amongst others) the new way to see the autonomous vehicle. No cockpit and an extensive entertainment system, all powered by hydrogen fuel drives. On the absurd side, an underwater propulsion apparatus showcased by a merman in a big aquarium, a pen that can draw in 3D like a 3D printer and a gigantic ball for VR for immersive walking and feeling like a hamster. A big disappointment has to be Google with its amusement park approach to showcase nothing. Long lines to wait and slide down a slide, showrooms full of Google homes and Pixel 4 that you can’t manipulate, and an overall lack of innovation. But you can wait two hours to play with a few gumball machines if that is your take on fun.
All in all, this CES has been as impressive and overwhelming as it has been redundant. It is nonetheless refreshing to see what is being done in the world and to have it presented in such a condensed and beautiful manner. I know our start-ups have had a blast bouncing their pitch to whoever wanted to hear it.
Next year I’ll be bringing better shoes.
Cheers!
Ed
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this blog article are not those of TandemLaunch Inc and do not represent the view of any entity with which TandemLaunch has been, is now or will be affiliated.
