Driverless Car CES 2015
Driverless vehicles, flying drones, smartwatches.
Strange sights will be seen this week in Las Vegas as the 2015 International Consumer Electronics Show fires up its more than 20,000 products and technological breakthroughs from some 3,500 exhibitors for 150,000-plus conventioneers. Geeks will go giddy over the gadgets!
The 1.85 million square feet of floor space covers about 15 miles, or nearly 400 basketball courts. This is big business. In fact, the U.S. consumer electronics industry is now worth $211.3 billion, 5,000 times more than the largest jackpot ever won in Las Vegas ($39.7 million).
There will be everything from flying drones to driverless cars. Ten global auto manufacturers will showcase dozens of driverless vehicles ahead of the Detroit Auto Show. Some park themselves, like the BMW i13.
The Audi A7 drops off a driver at the entrance to a garage, then navigates to an open space, stops and locks itself. The driver can use a smartwatch app for it to pick him or her up.
Mercedez-Benz chief Dieter Zetsche plans to arrive onstage for his keynote speech from the back seat of a car driven without a driver.
CEO Dr Dieter Zetsche in front of Mercedes Benz F015
The marriage between electronics and automobiles is huge at CES this year with Ford, Chrysler, GM, Mazda, Toyota, Audi, Hyundai and Volkswagen joining BMW and Mercedes.
CES predicts that sales of technology in cars will pass $11 billion this year as the automobile becomes a rolling wi-fi hotspot. The car is becoming an extension of the smartphone and an integral part of “The Internet of Things.”
One auto maker is set to showcase a car where the driver and three passengers can all face one another for conversation, meals and business meetings while moving on down the road. Google, which has been testing a fleet of self-driving cars, says they are only three years away now from regular use.
Apple, with its CarPlay system, and Google’s Android Auto will debut the ultimate in infotainment units in several of this year’s produced cars, and all versions will be on display at CES.
2015 CES
Other highlights will be new TV sets with extraordinary picture quality and larger home-theater screens. Expect to see everything from PlayStation 3 games to apps controlling in-home temperature and safety locks to appear on televisions from smartphones.
Naturally the new craze of smartwatches from Apple’s iWatch to Intel’s marriage with watchmakers Tag Heuer and Fossil will be big attractions. The Goldkey wrist watch will not just monitor health, fitness and eating habits, but also will work as a phone.
“The Jetsons” predictions of wearable technology in 1962 have arrived!
Gadgets and gizmos include handheld drones with video cameras, robots and “smarthome” products including a garden sprinkler system that pulls down weather forecasts to plan its watering controls. There’s a special section at CES called “The Internet of Things” just for the smarthome developments.
Karen Chupka, senior VP of International CES, said: “It’s all about the opportunity to connect everyday items like cars, home security systems and kitchen appliances to networked devices like smartphones and PCs for greater control and management of our everyday lives.
Even 3D printing has grown to more than 25 manufacturers here in Las Vegas this week demonstrating how to make everything from customized chocolates to smartphone cases.
Three Las Vegas “green projects” (Touro University, Green Our Planet and Green Chips) were presented with a total of $100,000 today to continue their work on advancing clean energy and sustainable living.
CES officially opens Tuesday (6th) and continues through Friday (9th). It’s so huge that nearly every hotel room in town is booked with exhibitors taking up all of the Las Vegas Convention Center and Sands Convention Center, with additional tech exhibits at the Venetian, Palazzo, Westgate and Aria.
We’ll have a Royal Robin Rundown on Tuesday of all the Hollywood, music and sports celebrities and VIPs attending CES this week. They include Nick Cannon, who in addition to his CES Ambassador duties, will be guest DJ at 1 OAK in the Mirage on Tuesday.
Also: Ryan Seacrest, Dr. Phil, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Neil Young, DJ Tiesto, Tricia Helfer (“Ascension,” “Battlestar Galactica”), “Project Runway’s” Nick Verreos, NBA legends Shaquille O’Neal and Clyde Drexler and volleyball victors Karch Kiraly, Kayla Banwarth and Christa Harmotto Dietzen.
Tech nerds, geeks and professionals are about to have their annual splash with the next generation of technology. Welcome to Las Vegas! We’re glad to have you here, your home for more than 40 years.
Source: Robin Leach / Las Vegas Sun
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CES 2015: Drones, TVs, Wearables and more. – USA TODAY
Consumer Reports at CES 2015