ÓÀÐǶij¡

Accordion

• Transcript

  James Kotecki (00:07): 

  This is ÓÀÐǶij¡ Tech Talk. I'm James Kotecki, exploring the trends shaping the world's most powerful tech event. ÓÀÐǶij¡ 2025 in Las Vegas, and the energy is electric. We are diving back into the show to uncover even more groundbreaking tech from the show floor. And one more time. We are honored to welcome back our ÓÀÐǶij¡ hosts, the creators highlighting the must-see moments across social media at ÓÀÐǶij¡. And joining us for one more exclusive look at the future that is unfolding before our eyes. Justine Ezarik, AKA iJustine, and Brian Tong, aka Brian Tong. Welcome once again to ÓÀÐǶij¡ Tech Talk. 

  Brian Tong (00:48): 

  What's up, James? Hey James, you know my friends ... I consider you all my friends. You can call me BTZ too if you want to, but, you know. 

  Justine Ezarik (00:54): 

  You can call me IJ. 

  Brian Tong (00:54): 

  IJ. 

  Justine Ezarik (00:57): 

  IGZ. 

  James Kotecki (01:00): 

  All right, breaking it down to the Innovation Awards. Let's start with that. These are a highlight of ÓÀÐǶij¡, and for folks who have not actually walked by what the Innovation Awards are, there's a little section, there's a piece of the show floor that actually shows what these products are, and what these awards are. Justine, can you start us off by talking about what the Innovation Awards mean? 

  Justine Ezarik (01:21): 

  Yeah, so it's wild. I mean there's ... okay, I'm looking here at the stats, there's 3,400 plus submissions, and there'll be 496 award recipients in 33 categories. I mean, this is kind of spanning across everything at ÓÀÐǶij¡. And I think what's really cool, is this is kind of showing us the best of the best, and it's really fun because you could just kind of go and see all of the awards. Everyone is there, and it is really incredible just to see everyone, and how excited they are about, "Hey look, this is us." 

  James Kotecki (01:53): 

  And it feels like a museum of the future to me. Is that how it feels to you? We always talk about, what's the one thing you got to go do and see at ÓÀÐǶij¡? It feels like if I only literally had 30 minutes at ÓÀÐǶij¡, which is a ridiculous thing to say, but if that was all I had to go see it, you could just go to the Innovation Awards, and very quickly get this highly kind of curated museum of the future kind of sense. Is that one way of looking at it, Brian? 

  Brian Tong (02:17): 

  Oh, a hundred percent. I'm going to open up the kimono a little bit, because when I used to go to ÓÀÐǶij¡, I would actually kind of use ... when you're a newbie and you don't really know what's going on, I would use the Innovation Awards to guide me a little bit. And I will tell you what I found interesting over the years is, God bless the people who go through this because, okay, think about this, over all the years there's so much technology, there's so much innovation, it is hard to even pick out ... Wait, is that a new feature or not? Have I seen this before? And a lot of times, a lot of these Innovation Awards, it could be something like a phone, or a smart stove, and there's this one new feature on it that is the only product that has that, that happens a lot in these innovation awards. So it is worth paying attention to, because a lot of times we talk about that feature, could be that next feature that becomes the big trend in that industry, moving forward. So I think there's a lot of gold, and a lot of nuggets from these best of innovation awards from ÓÀÐǶij¡. But again, I need to give big props to the team that has to sift through all 3,400 plus submissions. 

  Justine Ezarik (03:26): 

  That's so many. 

  James Kotecki (03:28): 

  Justine, even beyond the Innovation Awards, what do you think it takes to get a product, or even an idea to stand out at ÓÀÐǶij¡? I mean, when people come out of ÓÀÐǶij¡, and they go back home and people ask them what the big things were, of course every product and every brand wants to be in that conversation of, what were the highlights from ÓÀÐǶij¡ this year? What were the trends? What do you think it takes to get a concept into the consciousness, when it comes out of ÓÀÐǶij¡? 

  Justine Ezarik (03:54): 

  I mean, I think you have to catch people's attention. I mean, even last year, Brian, do you remember the ice cream maker that was this little- 

  Brian Tong (03:59): 

  Oh, come on, yes. 

  Justine Ezarik (04:02): 

  Still waiting for it. Still waiting for it. 

  Brian Tong (04:03): 

  Still waiting. 

  Justine Ezarik (04:04): 

  It's like something like that that even, it's something that seems kind of silly, but yet it was awesome, and everyone kept talking about it. So I think it's creating that buzz. Also, trying to do something that no one has done is very difficult, because obviously you don't know what every other company is doing. So trying to find something that is unique, and different, is a very daunting task. So I think that's why the innovation awards are so important, because it really is rewarding those people who are trying to find those things that have not been done before, and it's new and it's innovative. 

  James Kotecki (04:37): 

  And maybe the advice is, just have fun with it. Make sure that it's something that you actually find value in, because it's so hard, if you were just to be doing this to create innovation for the sake of winning an innovation award, you probably couldn't innovate your way out of that problem, right? Because there's so much competition. But if you're actually truly creating something of value, then that probably puts you in the best contention. 

  Justine Ezarik (04:58): 

  For sure. 100%. 

  Brian Tong (04:59): 

  You have to kind of think out of the box too. I remember there was a year, there was this product called the Happy Fork, and it was a fork that basically measure ... it was to prevent people from essentially overeating, and warn them, there's a lot of activity going around with your fork. And there's a charm to it. Or there was, I don't know if you remember this one, Justine, back in the day, there was a pillow. It was a cat pillow, it was a pillow that had a cat tail, and it was like a comfort pillow. It was made from a Japanese manufacturer, and it was just like for people that kind of had anxiety, you'd literally put this pillow on you, and the tail would move like a cat. But I was like, what? 

  Justine Ezarik (05:35): 

  That's so funny. 

  Brian Tong (05:38): 

  But sometimes I do think the innovation award is what stands out, and what Justine talked about with the ice cream maker, there's something that taps into the human psyche that they know, or they want to tap into, and they go full-fledged into it, and somehow it reaches us. We know there's a waterfall, there's a fire hose of content that comes out, and sometimes certain things stick. And it could be a large company, it could be a small company, but that's what you hope for. I don't know, sometimes if these companies really know like, is this going to stick or not? But they bring their full force to it. 

  Justine Ezarik (06:07): 

  I mean, I know I don't want a judgment fork when I'm eating my meal. 

  Brian Tong (06:11): 

  You want a happy fork. 

  James Kotecki (06:12): 

  It wasn't a judgment fork. I probably didn't explain it the best, but- 

  Justine Ezarik (06:16): 

  No, no, but actually, I mean, I think that is a really good idea, because it is one of those things that does give you that gentle reminder. I mean, I don't want to be judged, but also I feel like that is innovative. That's something new that you never would've thought, that may be useful. 

  James Kotecki (06:31): 

  And just to draw out maybe kind of a theme from what the two of you were saying, there's this element of emotion, the product- 

  Brian Tong (06:36): 

  Yes. 

  James Kotecki (06:36): 

  The idea needs to convey and stick with you as some kind of emotional feeling, because analytically you're going to be just flooded with so much information, and stats about all this technology, but at the end of the day, it's human emotion that's going to carry those things forward, which transitions almost seamlessly to our next topic, which is the entertainment, and culture, and media, and advertising, and marketing section of ÓÀÐǶij¡. For those who don't know, for those who might just go to the LVCC, the Las Vegas Convention Center, there's a whole other section of ÓÀÐǶij¡ that takes place over at Aria, and the Cosmopolitan, which is called C-Space, which is dedicated to marketing, media advertising, and branding. Brian, what does it mean that that is also a part of ÓÀÐǶij¡, this giant technology show? 

  Brian Tong (07:18): 

  Well, we know, and I would actually love to hear you chime in as well, so I will ask you the question back, because you're around these companies a lot. With ÓÀÐǶij¡ being such a large showcase of tech, there's a lot of media companies that are streaming content, and they want to see what are the new platforms, or what are the new ways that people are using technology, and how they can be on those platforms. Remember, years ago there was no such thing as a smart TV, and now we don't even really need these additional set top boxes, or USB drives to plug into our TVs anymore, because the processors, and all the streaming services are built into the TVs. That's a great correlation of how those brands, they were at ÓÀÐǶij¡ saw like, Hey, we need to actually start getting built into TVs, Samsung's on site, LG's on site, Panasonic's on site, Sony's on site. 

  (08:08): 

  They go and talk to those brands, and say, "Hey, how do we get our platform on yours?" And then you've seen even over time, some of these media brands, oh, that TV doesn't have this app. Ooh, I'm not going to get that TV yet. And it does eventually take time. Now most TVs have all the core apps, but you see how that played out in actual real life, where they needed to be at ÓÀÐǶij¡ to make that relationship. And a lot of times ÓÀÐǶij¡, a lot of the action happens behind the scenes, in the meeting rooms, that we don't see at all, but then ends up the fruits of that labor show up later on. 

  Justine Ezarik (08:41): 

  Even things like Netflix last year, they're promoting their shows. Three-Body problem had a really big activation. Did you get a chance to see that, Brian? 

  Brian Tong (08:49): 

  I was so busy, I did not. I know you did, but I did not. 

  Justine Ezarik (08:52): 

  It was so cool. They had this whole interactive thing, and it was cool because it did use tech to portray the feeling of what it's like to be sort of in the series. So it's like things like that, that are different marketing aspects, that people are also taking advantage of, and it's so fun to see. 

  Brian Tong (09:11): 

  Did they have, what is it like a faux virtual reality headset, that was super futuristic looking, or something? 

  Justine Ezarik (09:18): 

  So they had the futuristic headset that was from the show, so then you saw people kind of walking around wearing them, because they were giving them out to some people. So it was just a cool little activation, and stuff like that is just so fun. 

  James Kotecki (09:29): 

  And a nice nod to the convergence of science fiction and reality, that of course is ÓÀÐǶij¡ broadly. 

  Justine Ezarik (09:34): 

  So, so true. 

  Brian Tong (09:36): 

  James, I'm curious though, what have you seen, because you are talking to all these brands that are at the show? 

  James Kotecki (09:41): 

  Yeah, yeah. I mean, I did ask a leading question there, because as you know, I host conversations over at the C Space studio during ÓÀÐǶij¡. That's my primary job during the show, is to host 40 or 50 conversations with these marketing, media, branding, and advertising executives who are there. Yeah, absolutely, just what you said, it's all about the content that's going on all these screens, and all these devices, and how that content is paid for. So we talk a lot about streaming, streaming economics, the advertising economics, how advertising is made more relevant to folks who are in their homes, who are out of their homes, who are out about in the world. And of course all the technology that's being showcased over on the show floor, including transportation. My God, what you put in cars, the screens that you can now watch, because the car is driving itself, or because you just have more screens or entertainment options in your car. 

  (10:30): 

  All these things are converged. So you're absolutely right. All these media marketing and advertising brands still come to ÓÀÐǶij¡, because they want to be dealing with that technology, and these are the platforms that they have to showcase all of those things. But you can see the trends bubbling up through the years, whether it's Metaverse being really hot, one year crypto and blockchain being really hot sometimes. And now AI obviously being a really hot topic of conversation. And now I think we're probably going to see, in ÓÀÐǶij¡ 2025, really talk about the practical economics of how all these things continue to move forward, in a world where maybe the economics start to look different, but the technology is still accelerating rapidly, from an AI perspective, and of course from others. So yeah, thanks for turning the tables on me. You got me a little flummoxed- 

  Brian Tong (11:12): 

  I'm just curious though. 

  James Kotecki (11:13): 

  I'm supposed to be the host of these conversations, Brian. 

  Brian Tong (11:16): 

  You know what? I just wanted to know. 

  Justine Ezarik (11:17): 

  We don't get to make it over there. 

  Brian Tong (11:18): 

  Yeah, exactly. Yeah, I just wanted to know. 

  James Kotecki (11:20): 

  Yes, I am your host in the C Space outpost, that is ÓÀÐǶij¡, but people can take, I think there's an express bus over there, if people want to check it out. Speaking of science fiction, there's a term quantum computing, quantum technology, that I think I probably heard when I was watching Star Trek reruns, in the nineties. I probably heard them say it as part of their techno babble, but we're seeing actually this theme, and maybe other sci-fi themes, maybe a bit more on the periphery, but starting to converge, here at ÓÀÐǶij¡ 2025. Justine, I know that this is a new one. Any initial thoughts about quantum computing, or some of these more edge topics, and how they might fit in? 

  Justine Ezarik (11:59): 

  Yeah, I mean, this is super high level. So it's like, if you can take what our little tiny computers are doing, and just exponentially expand that, to be able to really take on massive, huge tasks, that is something that is so huge, that we aren't able to just do ourselves. And I think that's going to be the future, and that's going to be giving us a lot of answers that we may never have been able to do before, because it's able to do these calculations that are so mind blowing, that it's something that we never were able to do until now, because the tech is here. And I think that's really exciting that ÓÀÐǶij¡ is kind of jumping into that. I think they have a whole section dedicated towards that, in the north hall. So I'm hyped to go see that, learn about it. And since it is sort of a newer addition to ÓÀÐǶij¡, I'm excited to learn. 

  James Kotecki (12:49): 

  Yeah. And Brian, let me ask you a follow-up question on that, because Justine said that she's hyped to see that, and this brings up the idea around what gets hyped, and then what actually becomes reality. So as we come to a close on this conversation here, do you have any kind of macro level thoughts, on the relationship between a lot of hype for exciting technologies coming out of ÓÀÐǶij¡, but then the reality of how these technologies actually get out into our real world, beyond the convention center, and into our practical day-to-day lives? 

  Brian Tong (13:20): 

  I think the hype is always going to be real at ÓÀÐǶij¡, and what happens is, the consumer decides which hype they buy into, because they get a practical sense of it, once we start seeing these products hit the floor. So ÓÀÐǶij¡, when we say it's the future, you're seeing concepts, and products, that you might see in five years, but you also might not see them in five years. Now, quantum computing, I'm not going to completely expose myself, but I have a whole lot to learn about it. We know that this is the future of how our devices, our computers, our machines are all going to run. It's a completely different state of how it operates, and it also is going to be more efficient, and even more miniaturized. So that is the next frontier that is going to be here to stay. But when I think about the hype around ÓÀÐǶij¡, I remember, look, I bought into the hype, and I still think that's viable, but 3D TVs were all the hype, were all the hype one year. Where are 3D TVs now? They're technically capable of doing it. Justine's putting her hand over her mouth. 

  Justine Ezarik (14:19): 

  Yeah, you can't see me. 

  Brian Tong (14:20): 

  Right? And I loved, I invested in the 3D TV, the best of the best at the time, and then they stopped doing it. Now the TVs today are technically more capable than ever of doing 3D, but the consumer said, "Uh uh, we aren't having it." Curved TVs, we started seeing curved gaming displays, which makes sense. But curved TVs, there was one year, every TV had a curved model. The consumer said, "Uh uh." So there are things that we see at ÓÀÐǶij¡ that become something like, a smartwatch from LG debuted at ÓÀÐǶij¡. And guess what happened with the smart watch revolution after that? And another company coincidentally named Pebble, who'd pushed it out on Kickstarter, that became a thing. But that's because the consumer space said, "Yes, we want that." Not everything you at see at ÓÀÐǶij¡ happens, and I'm okay with buying into the hype, and I'm also okay with owning the fact that I have jumped on the hype train, and have been totally wrong, because aren't we all? Justine, what was your reaction to 3D? 

  Justine Ezarik (15:20): 

  I also had a 3D TV, and I don't think I ever even used it. The glasses were never charged, they didn't work well, I had a headache, but now it's all about rollable, foldable, and transparent TVs. So I'm here for it. 

  James Kotecki (15:33): 

  And that's what's so exciting. I love this theme of the ability for us as consumers to make this choice, and I really appreciate that empowering way to end our conversation today. Justine, Brian, thanks so much for joining us again on ÓÀÐǶij¡ Tech Talk. 

  Justine Ezarik (15:47): 

  Thank you so much. This was great. 

  Brian Tong (15:47): 

  Thank you James. 

  James Kotecki (15:49): 

  And make sure to catch Justine and Brian's coverage of ÓÀÐǶij¡, at ÓÀÐǶij¡, across social media channels. That's our show for now, but there's always more tech to talk about. 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, recorded by Andrew Linn, and edited by Third Spoon. I'm James Kotecki, talking tech on ÓÀÐǶij¡ Tech Talk.