IEEE, the world's largest technical professional
association, goes beyond the marketing spin at next
week's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) to highlight 12
top consumer electronics trends in 2012, as defined by IEEE technical experts in the industry.
- Powering Connections - The concept of a fully
connected society will shift the way people work, think
and live. If the technology can be connected, it will
be. Ubiquitous, nonstop connectivity is what is next,
predicts Dr.Henry Samueli, IEEE Fellow, chief
technology officer at Broadcom Corporation, and a
keynote speaker at the 2012 IEEE International
Conference on Consumer Electronics (ICCE), co-located
with CES. According to Dr. Samueli, that means
improving global business operations with real time
cloud-based data sharing, and seamlessly accessing
information and entertainment in our homes and cars.
Advances in miniaturized sensors will further enhance
this connected world as we are able to monitor our
health and our environment in real time, opening up
endless new opportunities for innovative new healthcare
models.
- A Tipping Point for Video Entertainment on the Web -
Streaming web-based video on televisions has steadily
gained popularity with consumers, but in 2012, the U.S.
will reach a tipping point when users will extend
beyond the tech-savvy and early adopters of Wi-Fi
enabled TVs, says Richard Doherty, IEEE Senior Member.
The upswing can be credited to widespread availability
of video capable devices. Doherty predicts that by the
end of 2012, nearly 50 percent of U.S. households and
35 percent of Canadian households will watch Internet
video on full-sized TV screens (24-inch TVs or larger)
from embedded IP video capable devices or add-ons such
as videogame consoles, Blu-ray players or net media
players.
- Patient Monitoring Technology Moves Into the Home -
Advanced health monitoring technology will finally be
available for use in homes and not just clinics and
hospitals, says IEEE Fellow Stuart Lipoff. These new
devices will allow consumers to take charge of their
health care, finding ways to streamline their care to
reduce costs. New patient monitoring systems, now only
in hospitals, will be battery-powered and portable
enough to be carried like a cellphone. These devices
will monitor and communicate vital signs to a patient's
doctor, saving patients from making time-consuming and
costly trips to the hospital.
- Convergence of Home Networking Technologies - The
number of networked devices consumers own is growing
exponentially, including mobile phones and tablets. At
the same time, says IEEE Associate Member Oleg
Logvinov, consumers expect their content to be easily
accessible - and secure - across all those devices. As
a result, we will begin to see a new breed of simple,
plug-and-play devices capable of finding all available
network connections as soon as they are turned on, and
the networks themselves will become smarter so that the
right quality of service is delivered on every
connection for the least amount of energy. According
to Logvinov, these innovations are possible because we
are seeing new technologies in the semiconductor
industry that integrate many different networking
technologies into a single chip in a cost-effective
way.
- Advancing Long Term Storage with Ceramic - Digital
files can't last forever. Family photos, music and
other archived information have a limited lifespan on
today's storage devices. However, IEEE Senior Member
Tom Coughlin says we will see new advancements in hard
drive technologies in 2012. Storage devices that etch
data in ceramic will make it possible for stored
information to last up to 1,000 years.
- Consumerization of IT Continues Relentlessly - Dr.
Nahum Gershon, IEEE Senior Member, says in-home
technology's influence on business technology decisions
will continue to build in 2012. According to Dr.
Gershon, who will be presenting at the 2012
International Conference on Consumer Electronics
(ICCE), the consumerization of IT will drive companies
to provide more access to social media networks and
applications, as well as issue more mobile devices like
tablet computers to their increasingly tech-savvy
employees. A recent example is the increasing use of
video chat applications such as Skype to connect
business professionals working in different regions,
says Gershon. In 2012, he predicts that people will
begin using tablets and smartphones with geo-location
applications to inform colleagues where they are
working (e.g. in the office or off-site).
- Consumer Electronics as a Service - In 2012,
electronics manufacturers will more widely pair their
devices with services, applications and content
provided to consumers via a remote server online (i.e.
the Cloud). Apps for the Apple iPhone and Android
phones are well-known current examples, but IEEE Fellow
Stuart Lipoff predicts there will be more devices such
as Apple TV and Internet-connected TVs drawing on
content and services like email, calendars or address
books that are maintained on remote servers. According
to Lipoff, consumers will see more inexpensive devices
with longer battery life because taxing hardware
functions such as storage and computing power will be
leveraged in the cloud rather than in the device.
- Smartphone Hacking to Increase in 2012 - John
McCanny, IEEE Fellow, predicts that mobile security
will be a rapidly increasing issue, due to convergence
in mobile architectures, mobile phones becoming the
dominant web platform and the expanding number of
mobile users. In fact, 2012 will see a rapid growth in
mobile malware given consumers' increasing preference
for accessing the Internet from mobile devices such as
smartphones and tablets. Businesses will also be
vulnerable as more professionals demand access to
corporate networks from personal devices, increasing
the risks of cyber attacks and cyber espionage.
- Natural Disasters Raise Global Consumer Electronics
Prices - The electronic industry is feeling the impact
of natural disasters, as major flooding in Thailand has
disrupted manufacturing facilities, leading to a short
supply of hard disk drives (HDDs) ? a key component for
everything from DVRs to videogame consoles to laptops.
According to Tom Coughlin, IEEE Senior Member, the
ramifications of that shortage will more clearly
surface in 2012 and production costs will surge in the
short term. In the fourth quarter of 2011 alone, there
was a shortfall of 60-70 million drives vs. anticipated
demand. In 2012, there will be a total shortfall of
120-150 million units vs. demand according to a study
conducted by data storage consulting firm Coughlin
Associates.
- Private Companies, Not the Military, Will Drive Major
Technology Innovations - Radar, satellites, GPS, the
Internet - military research has been the driving force
behind some of the most important technology
innovations in history. That will be much less the case
going forward, predicts IEEE Senior Member Nahum
Gershon. Private companies will start to play an even
larger role in developing cutting-edge technology and
products that will change the way individuals and
business think and operate.
- Vehicles That Aid Drivers' Awareness of Surroundings
- Consumers will begin to see more vehicles that can
monitor their surroundings and warn drivers of traffic
signs, pedestrians, other vehicles and lane departures,
says IEEE Senior Member Alberto Broggi, who rode in a
driverless car from Italy to China in 2010. More cars
will apply advanced sensors to enable vehicles to
detect and warn drivers of any immediate stops or
dangers in the way of the vehicle, which can
significantly decrease the likelihood of vehicle
accidents.
- Automated Metadata Generation Makes Personal Content
More Useful and Available - Information about
information may sound redundant, but enabling devices
to automatically aggregate and generate data such as
location and timestamp can significantly improve how
consumers manage and protect their personal photos,
videos and music. In 2012, IEEE Senior Member Tom
Coughlin says we will see new devices such as cameras
that will automatically generate metadata information
for all photos and videos from the device.