CEA Presentation trends to watch in 2011. As expected 2011 CES drew the crowds! They expect 120K this year and it could not be a better for us mobile folks as a  turning point in the CE industry mobile is the spotlight! I am here to cover Android and working as free lance for Nikkei BP IT Pro this time.  My colleague from Japan, Takahiro Kikuchi will be covering devices and I will be looking at Applications, Content and new enablers along the way.  The exciting news is that there will be over 100 Tablets on the floor. More the 20% greater then the expected amount.   iPad is still the champ in the Tablet space, but with this explosion of Tablets it is going to be hard for them to stay “King on the hill”. The Four main trends of the CE industry presented by CEA.

1) Portable vs. Pocketable. In the dynamic spread of screen sizes between the 2~3inch smartphones to the large laptop and PC LCD displays at the 15 inch level, a new category of tablets have now emerged in what was the VOID of displays between the 5inch and 15inch level.  These are portable and the differences with the pocketable smartphones is a unique trend that has emerged in 2010 and will explode in 2011.  It has been over 18 months in the waiting of when Tablet devices will become main stream and Apple has led the way with this new category. Not only is this Void being filled but the sweet spot of  pricing In this trend there will be the following factors that were described by the CEA team.   1) Differenciation 2) Use Case Scenario’s 3) Integration of Sensors 4) Close Cousins with the eReaders… Collide or co-exist.

2) The intelligence of Things With connectivity, advances in processing power for these portable devices the trend of new found intelligence of devices will be key in 2011. They highlighted some key factors effecting the overall integration of intelligence.  1) GPS 2) Connectivity 3) Computing power 4) Network effect of the App Ecosystem. As smartphones and devices get more and more smarter, there will be a plethora of apps that link hardware to things…. for instance, connecting your smartphone to a thermometer to gage when your BBQ meat is ready, or using devices for health check and blood pressure monitors..

3) Miniaturization and Sensors Sensors are now going to make the key differences in connectivity and usage cases for new emerging content.  From pressure sensors being use to gage height as a complement for GPS, to all kinds of augmented usages. Augmented reality was not discussed in the press review, but it is something I do believe will be a key content area in 2011.

4) Applications Although we saw a boom for Apps in 2010, the evolution will mature with the business models of  the App publishers as they integrate into all different aspects of a users world. From Shopping/ Retail Apps to accessing the home network.  They will control multiple devices and have network effects creating a broader experience.  Four areas to keep an eye on; 1) Content Apps 2) Connectivity with the home 3) m-commerce 4) Apps enhancing the hardware experience. As Tablets and Smartphones continue to occupy the leading category of the CE world so will the volume of growth. CEA estimates that Tablets will hit 30Million units , with eReaders about 20M for a total of 50M devices in 2011

Richard Ting, Head of Mobile R/GA posted in his posterous a very cool example of connecting an iPhone Application to an Automobile.

This is again the taste of the future of cool apps connected to “things”…..