Mobile and Personalisation Strong in 2011
Jinfo Blog

By Joanna Ptolomey

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I am in the market for a new fridge freezer – capacity and energy rated consumption interest me.  But I had never thought about having integrated wifi too.  That is just one of the more  ‘random’ items on show at the Las Vegas Consumer Electronic Show this January.

Mobile devices continue to be strong in 2011 – no surprises there.  But with around 100 tablet devices reckoned to be shown, the buzz continues.    However niche markets are developing – some will be very consumer focused whilst some are aiming for particular business markets.  Apple iPad continues to hold its dominance, but the Motorola Zoom and Blackberry PlayBook seem to have industry folk interested.

eBook readers are selling strongly with the real money in the eBooks rather than the tablets themselves.  Who said we wouldn’t be reading anymore – books and magazines in e-format are having a fantastic period of continued growth.

Multi-touch, screen-driven interfaces will be a growing market.  There are obvious business uses to share information as a team.  Other markets include education and learning environments, video gaming and information in public spaces.

Internet TVs have been around for a while but they don’t seem to have really taken off.  This year industry commentators think things are about to change for the better.  It is all about controlling content and responding to personal viewing habits.   Integrating on-demand services such as BBC iPlayer and other web-based companies, especially in videostreaming, is becoming big news.   TVs are no longer single devices with pre-set channels of content – culturally they are achieving a new kind of status.

Commentators have noted the show this year was ‘more epic’ not just in physical size but the different industry players who came to talk mainly ‘content’.  Telecoms, car industry and print media were all there.  Like TVs most electronics are no longer developed as standalone devices with one use in mind and pre-set content.  With more content than ever now we need the devices to help us manage it.

2011 – another interesting year in devices and electronics.  And that Samsung fridge did look great...

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