What excited us most at CES 2017?
The technology industry thrives on excitement. Thankfully these feelings aren't exclusive to industry insiders, as each year we see everyday people getting more and more excited for new gadgets and updates to the devices they love. The annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is often the peak of this, with the consumer making it clear that the technologies debuted and displayed here could affect almost anyone.
The excitement should extend to people in IT jobs as well. Ericsson discussed how, with 5G mobile internet on the horizon, smart cities are seeing even greater potential. Impressively, a Kiwi company managed to divert the gaming industry's attention away from its beloved virtual reality headsets to take a prestigious award.
Kiwis bring innovation to a decades-old product
Since its invention in 1964, the mouse has been more or less the same tool – refinements aside – for the majority of its user base. However, there's one audience that laps major advancements, and has come to expect much more than two buttons and a scroll wheel: Gamers.
Distracting gamers from shiny new VR headsets is no mean feat.
It's this enthusiast market that led Kiwi company Swiftpoint to an award-winning appearance at this year's CES. The company's revolutionary new gaming mouse – dubbed The Z – earned the Best Computer Peripheral Innovation award. Considering we've just had a year where a number of virtual reality headsets have hit the market, the fact that a New Zealand company can still make a splash with something completely different is hugely encouraging for other professionals around the country.
The Z is the first mouse to be able to tilt, pivot and roll, giving it massive movement advantage over the regular devices we all rely on. With a built-in accelerometer, gyroscope, force sensor and tactile feedback options, it's easy to see why it was such a show-stopper.
4G's successor is on the way
We're all used to the speed offered by 4G, and perhaps we haven't even considered what a faster alternative would be like to use. Despite this, 5G is set to provide significant speed increases over what we expect. A CNET article is predicting speeds of between 30 and 50 times higher than 4G's current peak. To put that in perspective, the publication noted it would take 6 minutes to download the film Guardians of the Galaxy at 4G speeds. At 5G's theoretical limits that drops to just 15 seconds.
Ericsson's presence at CES this year included 5G and its potential uses as a major drawcard. Importantly, the company believes the technology will be able to do everything from improving the personal entertainment experience to shaping how major cities will function. Ericsson's Chief Strategy and Technology Officer Ulf Ewaldsson says the key to getting the technology to market is finding just how far its potential uses stretch.
"The only way we are going to get to a 5G world is through the cultivation of use cases that expand our understanding of what 5G technology can do, as well as provide real value to consumers and enterprises," he began.
"Innovation is measured by how many people can share, use and experience it. Thanks to our long and rich history in connectivity, we are deeply familiar with the feedback loop between innovation and experience."
Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf also spoke on what 5G could offer, describing it as the technology that will be the tipping point for internet of things enablement. Again, that's another development that will cascade down from major smart city projects through to the way individual buildings function.
Connected cars unite IT professionals and automotive engineers
Car manufacturers across the world seem to have all come to a similar conclusion. The future of the automobile is one without an important human component: The driver. Part effort to improve safety, part desire to reduce tedious traffic jams, autonomous vehicles have been in various states of development for years.
Tech companies are seeing opportunities in the automotive market.
While Google has been doing much of the legwork with its ongoing testing throughout California, car and tech companies are now partnering up to bring their own competitors to consumers. Nvidia is the catalyst for a couple of these high-profile relationships, with the company confident its artificial intelligence programs are more than capable of delivering the desired experience. So far, the company has paired with both Audi and Mercedes on separate projects. The Audi is set to be on the road 2020, while the Mercedes could beat its German rival by up to two years.
Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang believes the development won't just be about safety and efficiency either.
"When our teams came together there was instant chemistry, and we share a common vision about how AI can change your driving experience, and make it more enjoyable," he explains.
These developments reinforce just how wide-ranging IT job opportunities are becoming and suggest they'll continue to open doors into other industries in the future.
