At the start of January, executives from across the globe make their excuses at home and head over to Las Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). It's work honey – honest – they tell their significant others, as they had for a land of excitement with streets of delightment. But how do the vendors at the event see it? KitGuru walks a mile in the other man's moccasins.
Like most people, lots of staff at KitGuru operates a kind of ‘Transcentral' mentality. Originally defined by a band called KLF, we assume that wherever we are, is pretty much the centre of the universe – so we have a me-centric outlook.
When it comes to shows and exhibitions, we always arrive from a ‘OK, so what is here that we will be interested in? What will our readers want to know about?'
But there is a completely different side for shows – one where the people paying for stand space not only want to get in front of end users, but one where they are actively looking for someone to take their product on and help them make a market for it.
So what kind of companies are looking for a match dot com over in Las Vegas for January?
Well here's an example, a tablet manufacturer called Hampoo (like shampoo, but without the ‘s'), who is coming all the way from mainland China with products like gaming tablets with detachable game controllers, full HD glasses-free 3D tablets, smart wearable devices, tablets with barcode scanners and RFID chips, educational tablets with NFC and stylus pens among others.
One area that Hampoo will focus on is ‘No goggles needed' 3D screen technology on full HD tablets, which is something that we're just not sure about. The whole wave of 3D seems spent – roll on Avatar II and III to prove us wrong. It also supports the idea of Intel Wireless HD – which is more interesting – even if only because Intel spokesmen can now answer questions about WiDi.
The second area is much more interesting: Using Near Field Communication to link your tablet into a restaurant when you want to order and pay. While there may be those around you who love being waited on hand and foot, sometimes it would be really cool to just have the menu appear on your screen – make your selections and pay – with little/no interaction at all. This really feels like the future. We're expecting a wave of ‘Bill Splitting Apps' which will finally resolve the issue of ‘If I only ordered rice and a Coke, why do you want £10 from me?'.
Lastly, there is tablet gaming. Using Intel's Atom Z2580, to which they have added the Power VR SGX544MP2 and a promise that this device will give you access to a library of more than 30,000 games.
Hampoo will also have education and medical application products on show – complete with anti-bacterial screens.
KitGuru says: Companies like Hampoo will be looking for love in the dessert and hoping that what starts in Vegas don't end in Vegas.
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