In the world of consumer electronics, there is only one place to be at the beginning of each year – the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. CES is where the world’s largest tech companies come to show off their latest innovations and CEOs come to cast their vision of what is coming next. This year was no different.
For a tech enthusiast, (read: total tech gadget geek, and proud of it!) I was amazed at the sheer number of fascinating technical innovations to see and try out. Innovations covered everything from voice- and motion-controlled television, to an interactive shopping experience, where your avatar tries on the clothes for you – truly a connected paradise!
But officially I was there on business, so I put on my Gemalto hat and went to work scouring the floor for interesting new ideas and innovations in the authentication space. Some of you will have seen my earlier post during the event on Intel’s new Ultrabook range incorporating NFC technology, which certainly got the crowds buzzing on the opening day.
From a Gemalto perspective, it’s exciting to see some of the technologies which we have been working with for a number of years finally gain significant traction in such a high-profile public forum. NFC, cloud computing, mobile payments and secure online transactions all featured prominently and showed some significant drive from leading companies, which can only be a good thing for enterprise security moving forward.
Microsoft managed to generate a lot of chatter on the show floor too. As any follower of CES will know, it has finally decided to pull out of the event going forward. While this announcement was expected, it led some to question ‘is this the end of CES as we know it?’
Far from it, in my opinion. In fact, I tend to agree with Lance Ulanoff of Mashable who recapped Steve Ballmer’s last keynote. While it is interesting to observe Microsoft’s exit, the show continues to push on and I’m sure it will continue for many years to come.
Keep checking the blog over the next few days for my thoughts on some of the more exciting authentication and security technologies to come out of the event. And feel free to let me know what caught your attention at the event via the comment section below.
