ÓÀÐǶij¡

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• Transcript

  James Kotecki (00:07): 

  This is ÓÀÐǶij¡ Tech Talk. I'm James Kotecki, bringing you another thought-provoking media roundtable conversation captured live at ÓÀÐǶij¡ 2025. We brought together some of the brightest media minds for this conversation and we are bringing it to you right now. 

  Sarah Myers (00:24): 

  Good afternoon everyone. Thanks so much for joining us. My name's Sarah Myers, I'm with ÓÀÐǶij¡. So we're on day three of the show, so I'm sure by now we've walked miles to see all of the exhibits in the conference programming and we've experienced a ton of innovation here at the show. And as you know, ÓÀÐǶij¡ is the global launch pad for tech trends that we're going to see in 2025 and then beyond. And today I'm thrilled because we're going to get a global perspective of where our industry is headed from some of the top global outlets that are here covering the show. So we're going to explore the innovation here at ÓÀÐǶij¡ and how it's going to impact businesses and consumers in 2025. 

  (01:07): 

  So I'm joined by Max Ren, Patrick Holland, and Samantha Dorisca. I'd like to go down the line here, if everyone can just quickly introduce yourself and your outlet and then we'll kick it off. 

  Max Ren (01:20): 

  Thank you, Sarah. It's so wonderful to be here. Thank you for inviting SMG. This is my 12th year covering ÓÀÐǶij¡ and it's always amazing to come to this desert city. Thank you. 

  Patrick Holland (01:31): 

  All right, I'm Patrick Holland. I'm with CNET, I'm a managing editor there. I run the mobile team. And I've been coming to ÓÀÐǶij¡ since 2016. 

  Samantha Dorisca (01:40): 

  Hi, my name is Samantha Dorisca. I'm representing AfroTech and this is actually my first year. 

  Sarah Myers (01:45): 

  So an official welcome to Samantha, we were talking backstage about this being her first show. All right. So as we say at ÓÀÐǶij¡, let's dive in. To kick it off, I'd love to talk about the trends that you are seeing at the show now that we're on day three. Jump right in. 

  Samantha Dorisca (02:05): 

  Sure. So I've been really interested in the creator economy, so I did go to TikTok's panel yesterday, which was really amazing. And some helpful things that I saw was personality is king. That's something that people should definitely be leaning into. People do gravitate towards people who are more authentic, as simple as that might sound. It actually said like 40% of individuals do appreciate brands who do highlight personalities. So I thought that was something really interesting that I learned yesterday through their panel as well. 

  Patrick Holland (02:38): 

  Yeah, I think one of the things that's been surprising to me, I've spent a lot of time with the Venetian Expo, the biggest booth there is the AARP booth and it has a bunch of small brands in it. But just the amount of tech, the amount of time being spent on using and approaching wellness for seniors and people as they get old. Remember GenX, the generation that have Nintendos and things growing up, and as they get old they're going to want more and more aspects of technology in their lives, whether it's for monitoring their wellness or their mental health, as well as diagnosing things as well. 

  Max Ren (03:16): 

  Well, impressive Patrick. For me, the first impression for me is the LED smart TV that is more than 150 inches wider. That is huge size. So during the pandemic I purchased 90 inch smart TV in my cinema. I thought I owned the largest TV in my cinema. But this year I thought, wow, who is going to buy 160 inch in their home? So definitely ÓÀÐǶij¡ and then those products, they are getting more innovation and getting more applicable to day-to-day living. 

  Sarah Myers (03:56): 

  That's true. There's so many product categories here at the show. I think Patrick, you touched on a little bit of digital health but also age tech as part of that digital health story. As we explore how people of the next generation can start to age at home, which I think is a really, really big trend that we're seeing and very applicable to consumers as well. 

  (04:19): 

  So curious to know, I'm sure you all sort of had an idea as you planned your experience and how to cover ÓÀÐǶij¡, as you got here, any products or trends that surprised you in terms of something you weren't necessarily expecting, something that impressed you more than you maybe thought it would? 

  Patrick Holland (04:39): 

  I mean, I'm going to say I did not expect to see nine different kinds of swimming pool cleaning robots. Is they're that big a market for pool cleaning robots? It's kind of wild. But one of the ones I absolutely adore are some of these really small brands that aren't like Samsung, aren't these big name brands,. And there's one out of Japan called Yukai and their whole thing is to make you happy. And they have this little tiny bear that you hold in your palm, you stick your finger in the bear's mouth and it nibbles on your finger and it makes you happy. They have this little lemur that latches onto your wrist and can pick up when you're looking at its face, kind of like a baby that might see you in public, might discover you and look at you like that. And it just delights everybody. And I think there's as much room for stuff like that that there's for a giant, giant big-ass TV. 

  Samantha Dorisca (05:31): 

  And I'll add to that. I mean I'll do a more serious one, a more playful one. I've been also liking what I'm seeing in the advertising space. They're introducing ChatGPT there so people can create marketing campaigns within seconds, access to a bunch of information, cutting down time as well. So that was super cool that I saw, I believe that was with Viant. 

  (05:51): 

  Another one where these glasses, it's through, you literally just put it on and they're also super cute as well. It's integrated with ChatGPT, so you can ask it whatever you want. You can also play music. It has speakers on both sides of the headphones as well. And it can also take photos and videos, which I thought was super cool. You'll need the app to access it. I would argue accessible is like $200, which I didn't think was too bad considering what I saw. So, that's some things that were exciting. 

  Max Ren (06:18): 

  Well I think everyone remember the Nvidia's Jensen Huang's product announcement, I think that is huge. I think you will see the lines, how many people waiting in the line. I think that is significance showing how important is AI, it's involving in day-to-day living, especially technology in product involvement in our daily living. 

  (06:44): 

  So me and Sarah, we are from Washington DC region. We just had a winter storm, so unfortunate for the California fire, but we do have a winter storm in DC and I do see we have a wonderful product that is AI snow blower, snow machine that removes every few inches. Continue forever helping you to get rid of this. We have a grass cutting mower, we have a snow blower machine, AI bots. So this is wonderful to see the reality of real living in the AI integrated day-to-day living. So it's awesome. Thank you. 

  Sarah Myers (07:33): 

  That's true. Obviously AI is huge here at the show and I think the big shift at this year's show is how AI is anticipating the needs of the consumers, which I think is great. And it's clearly spanning every industry, so from digital health, content, smart home, truly we're seeing it integrated across every single category. So it's certainly prevalent throughout the show. 

  (07:59): 

  So obviously the tech here at ÓÀÐǶij¡ is driving change for business but also consumers. And so I just kind of wanted to touch on how do you think the technology here at ÓÀÐǶij¡ is going to translate into a direct impact for consumers in the coming year and in the coming years? 

  Max Ren (08:17): 

  Well, I think ÓÀÐǶij¡ is making great contribution to technology involvement. I really appreciate Sarah and ÓÀÐǶij¡ for this wonderful contributing to our technology in day-to-day living. So for how more to involve, I think I asked Gary a question 2021, how human technology involvement could benefit the climate to reduce the risk of such as a winter storm and the fire hazard. So I think it's hard to see more than 500 acres of land, houses being burned down. Some of my friends, my colleagues, their family is also being affected. So how can ÓÀÐǶij¡ involve in helping to bring real product that we don't need to worry when someone's house could be burned by a wildfire or by someone accidentally drop off their cigarettes, whatsoever. So we can live in a safer, healthier, greener environment. Thanks. 

  Samantha Dorisca (09:30): 

  I wanted to add, I feel like technology will definitely be connecting people more with brands, maybe their favorite brands. That's one of the takeaways I've learned is comment sections do matter. It can drive customer interest and lead to customer acquisition. So I definitely feel like, yeah, that's just something that's going to be really important for people to be leading into is just engaging with their brands because they might be launching more products that are based on those insights because they will be paying more attention to that in 2025 and the years ahead. 

  Patrick Holland (10:05): 

  And I'm going to build off that. I think that's also going to lighten a lot of people's wallets with a lot of the stuff that's being launched here. But then I also think, I'm looking out in the audience, how many of you guys have an Apple Watch or a wearable on your wrist? Yeah. And so you're getting all this data from that, maybe your bed might have data about your heart rate, your smart scale might have data about you and you get all this data in these kind of scores and what are you doing with that? 

  (10:30): 

  And I think something I really... It's a concept that I saw was this Withings OMNIA Scale and the idea is it brings all this data together to give you an idea of your health and a way to assess it or go to a doctor and assess it. Now this is not a real product, but aspects of this will be used in real products. So you just see that now that we're getting all this data and there's an argument to be made, do we need to be giving all of our medical data to these devices? But if we are doing with that and what are we going to learn about that for ourselves? 

  Sarah Myers (11:02): 

  That's great. Backstage, Samantha and I were talking about the conference program. So we talk obviously so much about all of the exhibits here at ÓÀÐǶij¡, there's 4,500 companies to see, but the conference program that we have here is so robust with more than 300 sessions. And so, I'm curious if you have had a chance to attend a keynote, a panel, a session, what have you learned? What's taken you by surprise in terms of the conference programming here at the show? 

  Samantha Dorisca (11:33): 

  I would say I did attend several panels and a underlying theme was the importance of representation, especially as it relates to the cyber security space. I think we've all seen certain cyber attacks and ways to combat that is diverse perspectives. And I know one of my questions was is it a lack of talent or opportunity? And the consensus was it was just more so opportunity. So that was one thing from yesterday as well that I wanted to note. 

  Max Ren (12:06): 

  Well I attend several product announcement and some gala in the past three days. Wow, three days is a lot. I haven't had much time to browse through, I think the exhibition is ever expanding. Hisense, they have one of the largest LED screen and then they are also using a lot of AI related product. 

  (12:30): 

  But we enjoyed one of the panel, which is about the debate should anonymous driving be using the radar technology. So I talked to RoboSense, the CEO, and the Hesai CEO. So they were suggesting all the smart vehicles should have radar, but of course our tech Elon Musk, who is rejecting the radar idea. So I think we are having some big debate. Do you think the future smart vehicles should have a radar or should use the lens like human eye? So this is one of the area. 

  (13:12): 

  And another area that checked me so much is the AI application into the health and medical field. So I talked to one of the inventor who is a great scientist in the US who is focusing on improving human health from application of AI medical product. Thank you. 

  Patrick Holland (13:37): 

  Okay. I'm a little strange on this one because I've actually spent almost my entire time only in the exhibition halls. I'm with CNET and we have these tours that we do for clients every year to give them a look at themes and products that are exciting. And some of the conversations that we're having on these tours has been fascinating. And one of them is a little bit about, there's that old Portlandia sketch about you just put a bird on it. You got a tote bag, you put a bird on it. I feel like this year we're seeing the word AI being put on a lot of things and that means a lot of things. There's an AI coffee maker, what is AI about that? 

  (14:10): 

  But then we see some really meaningful uses of AI. Govee lighting, this is RGB lights that you have that do these crazy colors, a little bit associated with gaming or some content creation. But the neat thing is they have an AI bot that you just talk to just like a regular person and let them know what you want and then that is how it's prompting. So those AI prompts of how you interact is probably one of the most important aspects that we're going to take away from something like this ÓÀÐǶij¡, because that's the first step into getting what you want or interacting with that. Or if it's on something like the Matter platform it's then interacting with all your devices at your home. 

  (14:50): 

  So AI, it's exciting. We got to be a little weary about some of the labeling, but if we're getting it right it's going to be a pretty impressive move forward. 

  Sarah Myers (14:59): 

  That's great. So here at ÓÀÐǶij¡ we talk a lot about how the technology and the innovation at the show is going to solve a lot of our global challenges. And I'm curious to know are there specific products that you've seen here while at the show that you think are going to tackle some of those products? So obviously we're seeing a lot in the way of sustainability, access to clean water, food security, just curious to see if you've stumbled across any kind of products that you think are really going to solve some of the problems that we're facing globally. 

  Patrick Holland (15:33): 

  I'll hop on this if you don't mind. There's a company called Beatbot. Now they do make one of those pool cleaners I alluded to earlier, but they announced this turtle, it's a robot turtle. And what it does is if there's a natural disaster or something that happens, maybe an oil spill in the water, this is something that could go into that water, it can dive down, it can assess what chemicals are in the water, analyze it. And then it can actually submerge or rise up to the top of the water and on its shell is solar panels, so it's constantly charging. And why they picked the form of a turtle is in a weird way, nature has solved the problems of how to navigate through water in the form of a turtle over millions of years. So that was one of the most exciting things. It's not an actual product yet, as so many things are here at ÓÀÐǶij¡. But you just see the step forward, like, "Okay, I could see why that would make an impact." 

  Max Ren (16:32): 

  Samantha, you want to go first? 

  Samantha Dorisca (16:34): 

  Mine, again, a lot of the things I went to was like creator focus, so what comes to mind is an AI feature called Symphony, it's TikTok as well. I think it's helpful. You can literally ask it to show you top trends. It can kind of help you develop your content and the prompts as well. So I thought that was something that was super helpful. Saves time and things that people can be paying attention to. 

  Max Ren (16:57): 

  Thank you. I liked, one of the best product I think is the humanoid that can help us to do the day-to-day cleaning, not just mopping for a mopper or two-in-one, three-in-one vacuum, but I think the humanoid. So I think we don't see many humanoid product this year, but there is some great product. And also as I mentioned, I think, Patrick, you have a great swimming pool, so I have a big, big yard. I need to have some kind of snow remover like AI snow remover bot and AI connected lawn mower. So this is the product that attracts me the most for now. Thank you. 

  Sarah Myers (17:47): 

  I know we're approaching the end, but one area I just wanted to ask, so Samantha, I know it's your first time here at ÓÀÐǶij¡ and your second full day, did I get that right? Okay. So I'm curious to know what has been your favorite section of the show floor. I mean there's clearly we're spanning all over Las Vegas, but what's been your favorite section of the show floor thus far? 

  Samantha Dorisca (18:11): 

  Just because as a tech writer I've covered him a lot, will.i.am, I literally lit up when I saw he had a partnership with LG. So I was was just reading about it this morning, but I was able to test it out myself, ask questions on it. So that was super exciting and cool. And he's somebody who's really immersed in the technology space. He has his own company. He's doing really great work too. He uses generative AI too, which has been a really helpful tool for creators and entertainers too. But it was really cool to see his hands-on approach to this with the technology. I know some of the features they said he helped with some of the sounds on the button, it can accommodate depending on the room that you're in and even the lighting on the speakers as well. So yeah, I was really happy for that one. 

  Max Ren (18:57): 

  Waymo, usually they don't participate in the ÓÀÐǶij¡ but this is the first year they were participating. So self-driving, especially West Hall, it is the most fascinating brand new facility and we have so many great vehicle. But I think we don't call it vehicle nowadays, it's all AI carrier. So in the future we shouldn't call a car anymore. It's a part of the AI that it's going to moving office, so that we are going to see this trend. So I think within the next couple of years we're going to live in this reality. We're going to work and we're going to live in AI mobility from point A to point B. and then we're going to have this all in one, all things connected in that mobile connectivity and mobility. So this is a future living, I like West Hall the most. Thank you. 

  Patrick Holland (19:57): 

  I think I can do this fast. My favorite place is called Eureka Park. It's in the Venetian Expo. It's you go downstairs, it's stinky, it's smelly, it's tight, but it's just probably what ÓÀÐǶij¡ was like in the '80s and '90s. It's all these small little independent companies, mom and pops putting up these random little products, some of which we were lucky to find if we go down there as journalists, just to give them a little bit of a spotlight. But that is my absolute place to go. I always go there every time I go to ÓÀÐǶij¡. And if you don't go do it this year, do it next year. 

  Sarah Myers (20:29): 

  Just again to follow up on Eureka Park. So that's our startup hub. And I agree with Patrick, it's one of my favorite sections of the floor just because you have 1400 startups. So as an example, Ring, the doorbell, was initially a startup at Eureka Park years ago, and now it's become sort of a household brand. So it's just a really exciting section if you're able to get over there. We are officially out of time, so I just want to thank our panelists today and then also thank everyone in the audience for joining us. 

  James Kotecki (20:57): 

  Well, we hope you enjoyed that round table discussion from ÓÀÐǶij¡ 2025. That's our show for now, but there's always more tech to talk about. Watch out for more highlights from ÓÀÐǶij¡ 2025 and beyond. If you're on YouTube, please subscribe and leave a comment. If you're listening on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart Media, or wherever you get your podcasts, hit that follow button and let's give the algorithms what they want. You can get even more ÓÀÐǶij¡ at ces.tech. That's C-E-S dot T-E-C-H. Our show is produced by Nicole Vidovich and Paige Morris and edited by Third Spoon. I'm James Kotecki, talking tech on ÓÀÐǶij¡ Tech Talk.