Four Ways CES Technologies Will Impact Marketers

After just coming back from the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, a lot of the gadgets and glitz seem like a blur. The exhibit space alone took up over 30 football fields, and while New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez may be able to cover that much ground in a few days, I’m still building up the stamina.

While it’s not a show for marketers, many of course take part. I had a few missions when I went:

• Get a heads up on some emerging technologies that may have an impact on the brands we work with
• See where emerging digital fields like social media and mobile media play a role in the consumer electronics developments
• Catch up in person with a lot of the social media royalty who head out to that desert oasis, notably at events like Social Media Club’s nightly bashes at the Venetian and the annual It Won’t Stay in Vegas party for bloggers
• Connect with some speakers and attendees at Digital Hollywood (I moderated a panel on mobile)

It’s that first mission that I’ll share a few thoughts on here, and others will undoubtedly impact a lot of the content to come.

1. 3D is coming. And it’s amazing. I don’t know how fast or what the price point will be, and I know we’re not going to be watching everything through space age goggles. Add that into the challenge of getting everyone to upgrade $1,000-plus TVs that they just purchased. But sitting in the Panasonic theater a few rows back from this 152-inch TV, it’s hard not to want to walk home with that setup. I’m not a sports nut, but I’d pay to watch the Olympics this way. Somehow we’re going to need to get beyond the goggles, but seeing this right after watching Avatar will start stoking that demand. With 3D advertising, automakers and the Geico gecko should have a field day with the possibilities, though I’m hoping we don’t have to see prescription medication side effects flying at us in gruesome detail.
2. Augmented reality is moving beyond the webcam. While you don’t necessarily see how in this video I shot at the blogger party, check out the AR.drone Quadricopter from Parrot.com, a remote control helicopter. It’s controlled by an iPhone (or an iPod), and with the cameras mounted on the vehicle, the ‘pilot’ can see what the vehicle sees, and vehicles can even recognize each other. All of it plays into what augmented reality is all about: adding a layer of digital content over the real world.
3. Mobile apps give retailers a hand. One of the biggest surprises at the Showstoppers press event was when I checked out the custom earbuds from Yurbuds. They were able to determine the right size by taking a picture of me holding a quarter up to my earlobe through an iPhone app; they’ll also accept photos through their site. What I loved about it is that when approaching the booth, I was really just wandering aimlessly – it wasn’t obvious how the mobile app would improve the experience but it fundamentally changed the ‘transaction’ (okay, so to fully disclose it, this was a freebie, but you get the point). The next night, at the blogger party, I got a live demo of the Square payment peripheral that will essentially let anyone with a smartphone process credit card transactions. You can see photos and videos on my blog (where I also have some less marketing-focused, personal observations of the event).
4. E-readers are the new tablets, and tablets are the new e-readers. There were a number of e-readers announced, including the Que and the Skiff, and then everyone was coming out with tablets. The funny thing is that the e-readers are getting so many more features that they’re starting to resemble tablets, with all of the costs but not as many of the killer apps like Web browsers. Some e-readers should make it by focusing on the ‘e-paper’ aspect as an alternative to print rather than an alternative to the Web. What may happen in turn is that the true e-readers develop business models more akin to print (it’s hard to imagine click-through rates catching on on the Kindle), while tablets become just another extension of existing online models as they expand online access.

These are some starting points. Undoubtedly a show taking up over 30 football fields will provide even more to think about.