New decade, new optimism, new inspirations, and new products
Once upon a time, CES was where manufacturers displayed market-ready products so buyers could purchase them on the spot. It’s a whole different world now. CES has become a synergistic mix of pure concept, near-future prototypes, tech showcases, and market-ready products.
Let’s take a look at 2020 CES highlights from the unique perspective of Petra Industries.
Show Floor Report
by Gerald Cruz, Director of Business Development, Petra Industries
“Our team of executives and sales leadership spent three days walking more than 140 combined miles. We sought out the year’s hottest tech offerings from both new and current vendor partners.
“Smart health and fitness products have risen to the forefront of the CES marketplace stage this year. Petra had the privilege to review such product offerings from its current partners Garmin, Omron, and Vivitar. We also looked at newcomers to the arena such as Charmcare, WELT, Amazfit, and Maxpro Fitness.
“Wireless headphone technology and true wireless are here to stay. This was certainly evident this year from the number of our phenomenal vendor partners in this space. The leadership team at Petra had the opportunity to review and sample this year’s upcoming lineups from AfterShokz, Skullcandy, and Etyomotic/Lucid, among many others.
“Qi wireless charging and conductive charging continues to evolve and adapt to customer needs and expectations. Our partners at Belkin, Eggtronic, and Mizco showed off some exciting new technologies launching in 2020. These range from tabletop charging solutions to unique new automotive gadgets as well as customized installation furniture charging.”
CES Highlights: Petra Partners Take Home Awards
Ten vendors with which we do business were CES 2020 Innovation Award Honorees. And another won a Digital Trends Top Tech Award.
10 Innovation Award Honorees
- AfterShokz Xtrainerz bone conduction headphones are designed for cross-training applications, even swimming.
- Garmin Fenix 6X Pro Solar multisport smartwatch recharges with solar and the Garmin Venu smartwatch has an AMOLED display and can monitor a broad range of health metrics.
- House of Marley Liberate Air wirefree earbuds are sustainably designed and manufactured.
- Jasco’s Philips-branded 4 Device Universal Remote Companion with Flip and Slide Cradle can securely house many models of streaming sticks or Fire TV remotes.
- Omron Complete is the first blood pressure monitor with EKG capability in a single device.
- Polk Audio Legend Series L800 Tower Speaker with Stereo Dimensional Array acoustically isolates the stereo channels and cancels out interaural crosstalk, creating a deep, three-dimensional soundstage that faithfully reproduces the recording.
- Rand McNally ClearDryve 180 Headphones are designed for long-distance professional drivers. These are 2-in-1 wireless, noise-cancelling stereo headphones that incorporate a road-legal mono headset.
- Surecall Fusion2Go Max is the most powerful multi-user in-vehicle cell signal booster that delivers improved call reliability and fastest data speeds while on the go.
- Swann Security Tracker Camera is the world’s first compact, non-mechanical pan-tilt security camera that includes Direction Detection. It automatically tracks moving objects without physically panning or tilting.
- weBoost Home Complete is a residential cell signal booster that works throughout a large, multi-level home up to 7,500 sq. ft.
Digital Trend’s Top Tech Award Winner, Smart Home Category
The Lockly Vision Smart Lock took home the honors. The smart lock has an integrated video doorbell for two-in-one protection, ideal for homeowners and rental property managers alike.
CES Highlights: Belkin shines on the show floor
Petra vendor Belkin debuted a number of new products under the brands of Belkin, Wemo, and Linksys.
There were two products in particular that caught our buyers’ eyes. One was the new 3-in-1 wireless charger.
It can simultaneously charge a user’s iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods. The charger includes a charging puck for the Apple Watch, a pad for AirPods, and a fast wireless charging stands for the iPhone. It is compatible with most phone cases up to 3mm as well as the case for the AirPods Pro. And it has an LED light that clearly displays charging status.
The other Belkin product is the Boost Charge Wireless Charging Stand and Smart Speaker.
It allows consumers to listen to music, watch videos, and take phone calls while charging their phone in multiple viewing angles. The compact design is ideal for the bedroom or dorm room nightstand, and a home or office desk. A simple one-touch Bluetooth button provides a seamless experience. And the wireless charging stand provides a steady charge of up to 10 watts for Qi-enabled smartphones.
Information on the new Linksys and Wemo products shown at CES 2020 can be found here.
12 Random CES Highlights
CES 2020 featured over 4,500 exhibitors launching nearly 20,000 new products.
Here are some that caught our attention:
- Impossible Pork, from the folks who brought you the Impossible Burger.
- Six LG TVs actually have ASTC 3.0/NEXTGEN tuners built in: 55-, 65- and 77-inch class GX Gallery Series 4K Ultra HD models, the 65-inch class WX Wallpaper 4K model, and 77- and 88-inch class ZX Real 8K models.
- Hyundai’s S-A1 and Uber’s flying taxi and Bell’s Nexus 4EX air taxi require more work as well as on-the-ground hub infrastructures to advance to the next stage.
- Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 Fold is a 13.3-inch folding laptop, ideal for travelers.
- Charmin’s concept RollBot shouldn’t be taken too seriously—we hope! It senses when there is no toilet paper and then delivers a roll.
- Wallbox Quasar Bi-Directional EV Car Charger not only can charge an EV car, it can reverse the power flow so the car can power a home.
- Samsung’s Sero rotating TV screen is for the YouTube generation. About 40% of videos on YouTube are shot vertically, so the TV is designed to sense the orientation and rotates to match.
- The Groove X Lovot is a robot that wants to be hugged. It debuted at CES 2019 as a prototype. Right now it is only available in Japan.
- Withings’ ScanWatch has 2 optical sensors rather than one. It is designed to detect AFib as well as sleep apnea.
- Pegasus International Flying Car is a flying vehicle that’s half car and half helicopter.
- Sony’s Vision-S concept car. The car surprised many attendees. It served to show that Sony is moving into self-driving vehicle tech, especially with its lidar and image sensors.
- Alienware’s Concept UFO is shaped like a Nintendo Switch but is being developed to be a Windows gaming PC.
CES 2020 in the rearview mirror
CES 2020 had fun toys and mind-blowing stuff. And it had new and expanded exhibit areas and more conferences and speakers than ever. But there was a serious undertone. CES 2020 billed itself as “the world’s largest and most influential tech event, where the entire technology ecosphere gathers to conduct business, launch products, build brands, and partner to solve some of the world’s most challenging issues.”
This throws a real-world overlay on top of what many still perceive as a light-hearted event.
Every year, CES is a showcase of hope, solutions, and wonder. Petra is proud to be a member of the Consumer Technology Association, the organization that owns and produces CES. And we’re excited to scout and deliver the latest tech to our customers. CES 2020 will be a win-win for our vendors, customers, and end consumers.