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Thoughts from CES 2012
The lights never seem to dim in Vegas. Even at 4am, when the sun is slowly rising in the east, the city itself seems to be emitting some sort of warble, an obsequious challenge to sleep less and spend more.
CES itself is much the same. This is not an event for the general public, but the place for companies to show off their upcoming flagship products, and make business deals that affect everyone. With three main halls, each of which take hours to navigate in a confused haze of caffeine and hunger pangs, there is no end to the potential for great news reporting.
But it was in this environment that we spent four days immersed in tech, scurrying around talking with various representatives soaking up the what’s new. The feeling is a little like being drunk: you exist on adrenaline, fawning over the few important device announcements and then, once exhausted, continuing to wander the expansive fluorescent hallways like a zombie. But the genius is in the scale: there is a sheer surplus of material to write about — some good, some famously bad — but yet all very promising that someday, hopefully, will help the industry move forward.
Two mobile devices that were crowd favourites from CES 2012: the Nokia Lumia 900 and the Sony Xperia S. Both handsets are conscious evolutions of their existing product lines, but make thoughtful changes in ways that consolidate the individual components into a cohesive and attractive fullness. Both companies are coming at their prospective markets as underdogs: Sony is rebranding, removing the Ericsson from its name, and with it comes the potential for an important brand re-recognition. Nokia has a harder job: it has completely shifted its operating platform, and has a lot more to lose if its Windows Phone commitment doesn’t pan out.
But it will. It’s clear from the company’s reception throughout the show that Nokia has made its name important again in North America, and with it the Windows Phone brand. Sony, too, has been playing the mass-market consumer card, focusing on creating attractive products that don’t compete on “techs and specs,” but on overall design and performance.
Neither company, like so many of the underdogs at this show, will have an easy 2012. The clear mindset winner of the show – Samsung – is coming into the calendar year high on life, profit and market share. But it’s also clear they are not going stop innovating. Expect huge things from the company this year, from the next Galaxy phone to tablets and, perhaps more impressively, cohesive device interoperability. Samsung showcased a TV prototype in which you could use hand gestures to change channels, or your voice to search for content.
For Canadians, the relevant news was slim but good: we are getting the LTE Galaxy Note; the Lumia 800 and 710; the Xperia S. Many devices, like the Lumia 900 and Xperia Ion, US-exclusives for now, will most likely come to Canada later this year.
LG held a press conference to announce the LG Spectrum (Bell Optimus LTE) was heading to Verizon; we’ll see their full upcoming product line at Mobile World Congress in February. Meanwhile, HTC only had a small booth for the US-only Titan II. RIM showed off its fantastic-looking Playbook OS 2.0, but nothing new on the handset front (which was expected). Lenovo, Asus, Acer were all completely AWOL for Canadians, though Motorola showed off its RAZR MAXX that, if we’re lucky, will find its way north.
Mainly the show was a testament to how far the industry has come in such a short time; everything, from fridges to stoves to windows, are connected somehow to the internet, and the smartphone is the source of their power. As the “cloud” becomes fuller and more accessible, easier to use and less expensive, the smartphone will continue to be our ears, eyes and perhaps even our touch.
Thanks for following our coverage of CES 2012, and we’ll be back next year!
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13 comments for “Thoughts from CES 2012”
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While I’m glad Samsung is making such a splash because unlike Apple, they actually ARE bringing something new to the table and changing the landscape with revolutionary products……what the heck are you guys doing, HTC?
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To be honest, I don’t think any phone maker has done much lately.
They just keep bumping the specs and changing the design, its been a while since anything revolutionary has happen. Everything is following a generic time map. This year couple years ago it was 3G and dual core and 3MP cameras, now its LTE quad core and 8MP cameras. Big whoop.
Im waiting for the next company to make a big change, to think outside the box and actually come out with something revolutionary.
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Can’t wait to see the first Sony branded Xperia S coming to Canada! Beautiful and unique design with that transparent line. 720p Bravia screen, 12mp camera with 1080 video recording and front facing camera recording in 720p!!!
Rogers or Telus?
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Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
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Specs aren’t everything. As far as I’m concerned my phone doesn’t need 4 cores. Heck my HTC Desire is still running strong (with some tweaked software mind you) with only a one 1Ghz core.
Have you ever played with a new Windows phone? Absolutely stunningly smooth operation, yet the specs are generally much weaker than your typical Android. Apple has also shown that hardware specs aren’t everything.
I used to be all about the specs myself, but unless you’re going to start rendering HD videos on your phone, the extra horsepower from 4 cores will provide minimal performance enhancements IMO.
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100% agree
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Im using a 1ghz HTC HD2 runnging Android 2.3.5 on a device that wasn’t even meant for Android! Experiencing no slow downs at all! Just about to upgrade to ICS anyday now. Only thing I would like is NFC and the 2nd camera.
Holding out to see what the newest HTC will bring!!!
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Razr maxx sounds awesome! Battery life needs improvement and the razr delivers.
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The mindshare for Nokia and Windows Phone has greatly increased over the last couple of months and it reached new heights at CES. Now we’ll see if that translates to broader appeal amongst consumers.
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Sony have made a good comeback this year. The Xperia S and Ion both look good(excellent build quality) and have great all round specs! I prefer the Xperia S! Roll on March
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Motorola’s Razr Max with over 20 hrs of talk time – how can you not like that.
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I’m surprised that Motorola did not turn heads with its MAXX. Honestly, they are the first company to come up with such a phone. Such a big battery. I have to say that the design itself is revolutionary. They are the first ones who came up with a smartphone design like that (kevlar) to reduce thickness and increase battery size. If this comes to Canada I really REALLY want it. I really like the design of the phone in general as well.
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[...] Their new tablet/smartphone hybrid, Samsung Galaxy Note, comes with a stylus for sketching and taking notes. It will be released in Canada later this year according to mobilesyrup.com. [...]
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