2013 Consumer Electronics Show opens in Las Vegas
Baku, January 8 (AZERTAC). The Consumer Electronics Show, the world`s largest annual consumer technology trade show, runs from January 8-11 in Las Vegas, drawing thousands of attendees and exhibitors peddling everything from smartphones to kitchen appliances to electric cars.
This year has already seen the release of Samsung`s multi-view TVs and Panasonic`s wide range of smart TVs. But there is already a wide range of unusual gadgets that can be found at the expo.
The gadget pageant has expanded its focus significantly in recent years. It`s now divided into more than two dozen “TechZones” with products geared toward moms, kids, homeowners, gamers, environmentalists, educators, fitness nuts and medical professionals.
The Arlington-based Consumer Electronics Association, which orchestrates the annual event, even swapped its long-held moniker, the Consumer Electronics Show, for the more amorphous International CES.
“We`ve successfully positioned ourselves as the innovation event for the year, so we have a diverse set of industries represented,” said Gary Shapiro, the association`s president. “Consumer electronics does not begin to describe what`s at the show, frankly.”
Shapiro said exhibitors have leased a record 1.9 million net square feet of floor space. That`s full capacity until the association can take over another convention center in 2015, he said.
CEA has put greater emphasis on entrepreneurs in the past two years, part of an effort to give the show longevity and relevance in an industry that`s increasingly shaped by small players who punch above their weight.
McLean-based TroopID will display the service it started in November that helps retailers verify military personnel and veterans for discounts at a booth in the show`s exhibit for start-up ventures called Eureka Park.
Executives at Hillcrest Labs in Rockville will travel to CES this week as they`ve done for at least the past 10 years. The company reserves a hotel suite where they host 50 to 70 meetings with potential partners.
Hillcrest Labs makes a motion control technology called “Freespace” for television remotes and smartphones that detects a person`s hand movement. The company met their first major partner, LG, at CES several years ago and Lucien said the show’s ever-expanding focus creates even more opportunities.
Other local companies in attendance will include language software creator Rosetta Stone, radio technology firm iBiquity Digital, automaker Audi of America and electronic deadbolt company SimpliciKey, among others.
Echo360 made the trek to Las Vegas last year for the higher education technology portion of CES, one of 150 events the company attended. Taylor said the firm is paring that number back to 60 this year, and CES didn`t make the cut.
Companies from Maryland, the District and Virginia that will exhibit at the 2013 CES, according to the show`s directory, down from 59 in 2012.
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