Keeping an Eye on Technology Futures, No Hidden Agendas, New Attitudes, No Platitudes!
Hey, what new hot widgets are you going to buy this year? The Consumer Electronics Association show in Las Vegas showed a plethora of products - new HDTV, cellphones with video and touch screens, multicore computing, ubiquitous broadband and third-generation cellular networks.
As digital TV prices fell, sales jumped to more than $23B. Now all those digital TV consumers want content that will show off their new gadgets. This year it will arrive through the Internet and the likes of YouTube. Already I'm receiving more YouTube links via email than I get with jpg pictures.
As digital TV and cellphones converge with the Internet, improved device management and navigation become necessary. In the home, remote controls have become unmanageable - the arrays of buttons on different devices and the on-screen menus are maddening. Also, as smart phones become smaller, with more features, the interface needs change. Apple is setting the pace by eliminating hard buttons in favor of on-screen dynamic manipulation of icons.
Voice control interfaces are becoming surprisingly accurate. You'll be seeing more voice-command in automobiles this year. And soon, you'll simply be telling your TV which channel you want to watch, when to turn up the volume and when to mute. And lots more things you didn't think you really needed.
