CEA Winter Summit 2006

2-4 March 2006 Join fellow CEA members and prominent consumer electronics industry leaders at the 2006 CEA Winter Summit. Hear from key experts, learn the latest in market research and address business opportunities and technical issues that affect you and your bottom line. Enjoy everything this Vail Mountain Resort has to offer while hitting the slopes and taking in the beautiful Colorado scenery. Take advantage of this prestigious but open event! Executives in the consumer electronics industry who are members or non-members of CEA are invited to attend. Feel free to contact us if you know of anyone who might be interested in attending. Vail Marriott Mountain Resort & Spa
Vail, Colorado, USA http://www.ce.org/Events/event_info/default.asp?eventID=WS06

Digital-Lifestyles eTech Meetup

Digital-Lifestyles, as media sponsors of eTech, will be heading over to the US on Friday in preparation of the much-hallowed event.If you’re heading over there too, do get in touch and we’ll have a Digital-Lifestyles meetup over there, to chat about all things digital. We’ll be there during the whole event, heading back late on the Thursday, but figure Tuesday/Wednesday would be best.

CEDIA Electronic Lifestyles Forum

23-25 Feb CEDIA has announced an inaugural event bringing together professionals from the architectural, design, and residential technology industries. Electronic Lifestyles ® Forum 2006 is the preeminent event focusing on how technology affects ergonomics and anthropology. With the support of the American Society of Interior Designers, this forum will open doors for discussion, and the sharing of ideas of how technology is changing the way we live, and how it affects the design professional’s thought process. Keynote Speakers: Nicholas Negroponte – one of the foremost futurists on the international scene today!
William McDonough – world-renowned architect, designer, and winner of three U.S. presidential awards! Palace Hotel, San Francisco http://www.cedia.net/el_forum/

NATPE 2006

24.Jan – 26.Jan.06 NATPE 2006 is the only American market serving the worldwide television industry. Attending the annual conference January 24-26 under one roof at the Mandalay Bay Hotel & Convention Center in Las Vegas offers you a clear vantage point to view the global television community. Whether you’re looking to meet with colleagues, find new partners, learn about the burgeoning business opportunities of mobile and digital or share ideas, it’s all under one roof at NATPE 2006. Mandalay Bay Resort, Las Vegas http://www.natpe.org/conference/

Oxford Media Convention 2006

19.Jan.06 The 2006 Oxford Media Convention organised by ippr in association with MediaGuardian and PCMLP, Oxford University will focus on the role of public service broadcasting and media regulation in a digital age. Convergence, which has been talked about for so long, is finally upon us, as the internet and mobile phones are gradually becoming viable platforms for consuming and sharing all forms of content. The public contract between media companies and citizens is being rewritten, with fundamental reviews of the BBC and other broadcasters, to bring them in line with the new giants of audiovisual. Saïd Business School, Oxford University, UKhttp://media.guardian.co.uk/oxfordmediaconvention

TecHOMExpo At International Builder Show 2006

11.Jan.06 – 14.Jan.06 Home technology evolves too fast and furiously to miss this year’s version of tecHOMExpo. Now in its sixth year, tecHOMExpo lets you download ideas, new products, hands-on demos and more. High-speed access to the suppliers you need—and the custom upgrades consumers demand—will keep your business up to standard. tecHOMExpo keeps you on top of the technology you need to build new homes and earn more profit. Orange County Convention Center, Florida, USAhttp://www.buildersshow.com/tecHOMExpo/

CES 2006 Highlights

CES 2006 Entertainment HighlightsIf you haven’t been to CES, you may have heard of the headache inducing noise, leg-ache inducing size and debt-ache inducing taxis and hotel rooms. We’ll save you all that and run over the highs and lows from this year’s CES 2006 show – shame we can’t help out with the glitzy lights of Las Vegas.

Noteworthy on the entertainment front was the Saitek A-250, a $129 wireless 2.1 speaker system playing music stored on a PC’s hard drive via Class One Bluetooth technology. The system managed to effortlessly stream music up to 100 feet away from the PC.

CES 2006 Entertainment HighlightsSatellite radios from XM and Sirius while Toshiba’s new HD-DVD playing Qosmio laptop gathered attention. It’s the first laptop to debut with a built-in HD-DVD player. The laptop can also play hi-def discs on your TV. The Qosmio is expected to hit the streets in March 2006 – months before the first Blu-Ray boxes are due out.

For multimedia aficionados, PC World reckons the Harmony 890 could take gadget lovers to remote control nirvana, with Logitech’s Harmony 890 Universal Remote using RF technology allowing owners to control consumer electronics located in other rooms and floors.

CES 2006 Entertainment HighlightsIt looks great, but you’ll need deep pockets and an understanding partner to justify forking out $399 for a humble remote control.

When it comes to portable video devices, Samsung’s new YM-P1 handheld DVR was described as a “genuinely intriguing product”, offering users the ability to record TV directly to the built in 20GB hard drive for viewing later on the unit’s 4-inch screen. You can expect the device to come out in February, priced around $400.

In the flash-based MP3 player department, SanDisk’s 6GB flash player proved a hit, impressing with its generous storage capacity, pretty-boy looks, feature set and video support.

CES 2006 Entertainment HighlightsElsewhere, the PC World editors were less than impressed with the ongoing willy-waving battle for the biggest plasma screen, arguing that they’d prefer it if the manufacturer’s considerable energies were directed into producing affordable plasmas for regular folks.

Read their full list of highlights and lowlights here: CES 2006: Picks and Pans.

CES 2006.

CES 2006 Starts: MP3 Player Sales To Soar 200%

CES 2006 Starts: MP3 Player Sales To Soar 200%Factory sales of consumer electronics are set to soar to a record high of $135.4 billion (~£77bn ~Ä112) in 2006, according to the Consumer Electronics Association’s annual industry forecast.

The figures were released on the eve of the world’s largest consumer technology beano tradeshow, the 2006 International Consumer Electronics Show at Las Vegas.

“The numbers say it all – the consumer electronics industry is hot,” screamed an excitable Gary Shapiro, CEA’s president and CEO.

“Sales exceeded our expectations in 2005, totaling $125.9 billion and we’re forecasting 8 percent growth in 2006. Consumer electronics sales are consistently growing, breaking records every year, because our industry is constantly changing to provide products that consumers love and can’t live without. I cannot wait to see the thousands of new products unveiled this week at the International CES that will continue to grow this amazing industry,” he enthused.

CES 2006 Starts: MP3 Player Sales To Soar 200%Projections for 2006 and year-end figures for 2005 are included in CEA’s bi-annual US Consumer Electronics Sales and Forecasts report, released every year at the International CES and updated mid-year.

The report shows year-end totals for 2005 exceeding CEA’s initial projection of $122 billion, increasing by a hefty 11 percent over 2004.

Much of the growth is put down to next-generation product lines, the growth of Wi-Fi, flat panel displays, MP3 devices and gaming consoles and software.

Another bumper year is projected with the CEA estimating that sales of digital television (DTV) will scale new heights in 2006, with total sales expected to surpass $23 billion and 18 million units.

CES 2006 Starts: MP3 Player Sales To Soar 200%In 2005, DTV sales grew 60 percent to $17 billion, with the market fuelled by the growing popularity and competitive price declines of flat panel LCD and plasma displays, which accounted for 40 percent of all DTV sales.

With next-generation gaming consoles lining up for launches throughout early 2006, the gaming market is set to grow to $14 billion, up from last year’s healthy $12 billion total.

CEA forecasts huge growth for MP3 players, with consumers set to go ga-ga for devices with video playback capability.

CEA Director of Industry Analysis Sean Wargo projected sales figures of $4.5 billion in 2006, with 30 percent of all MP3 players having video playback capability.

CES 2006 Starts: MP3 Player Sales To Soar 200%“MP3 technology helped boost the audio and accessories markets in 2005. With the introduction of video playback capability, MP3 player sales surged 200 percent in 2005 to $3 billion. Trends in 2006 should be no different,” he added.

Wireless handset sales should get cash tills ringing to the tune of over $16 billion in factory-to-dealer sales this year, significantly up on 2005’s figures where 104 million wireless handsets sales scooped up total sales of $13.5 billion.

We’ll be reporting on developments throughout this year’s International Consumer Electronics Show at Las Vegas, so stay tuned!

International Consumer Electronics Show 2006, Las Vegas (Warning! Cheesey techno track on homepage!).