CES Cruises Into Official Opening Day

Official Opening

By PERRY MICHAEL SIMON in LAS VEGAS: CES' first official day (after two days of media-oriented preliminaries) and the opening of its exhibit floors takes place TODAY (1/5) with CONSUMER TECHNOLOGY ASSOCIATION Pres./CEO GARY SHAPIRO kicking things off with a talk with CARNIVAL owner ARNOLD W. DONALD on the cruise line's incorporation of technology into its offerings, followed by a full day of sessions and product announcements.

Among the session tracks in action today are the Connect2Car track with panels on developing a "united language" for various connected car platforms, software development, and a look at how aftermarket firms are handling the matter; the Digital HOLLYWOOD track focusing on the television and film industry's adapting to the new platforms; and an Innovation Policy track featuring an FCC and FTC Commissioner roundtable including FCC Commissioners MIGNON CLYBURN, AJIT PAI, and MIKE O'RIELLY and FTC Commissioners TERRELL MCSWEENY and MAUREEN OHLHAUSEN. 

At the SANDS, the popular Sports Business Innovation track will include appearances by NBA Commissioner ADAM SILVER, NCAA President MARK EMMERT, former NBA star GRANT HILL, WNBA star SUE BIRD, the MIAMI HEAT's CHRIS BOSH, former CHICAGO CUBS/current ST. LOUIS CARDINALS player DEXTER FOWLER, and a panel of eSports leaders.  Two tracks will look at smart homes, and the VENETIAN will house the FitnessTech Summit.  And DELL brought in the latest Spider-Man, actor TOM HOLLAND, to introduce a new gaming PC.

Ford Brings Amazon's Alexa To Its Vehicles

FORD is bringing AMAZON's ALEXA to its cars for voice control within FORD's Sync 3 AppLink, the company announced at CES.  FORD owners with the system will be able to access their cars from ALEXA-enabled devices and will have access to ALEXA in the car for not only ALEXA's typical home skills like audio and other tasks but will let drivers use the voice control to operate enabled devices in the home, including lighting and garage doors.  Connection of cars through AMAZON Echos, Taps, and Dots will be available later this month, and the in-car implementation will be enabled this SUMMER, with the Focus Electric, Fusion Energi, and C-Max Energi models first in line.

“FORD and AMAZON are aligned around a vision that your voice should be the primary way to interface with your favorite devices and services,” said FORD Connected Vehicle and Services Executive Director DON BUTLER. “Customers will be able to start their vehicles from home, and manage smart home features while on the road – making life easier.”

FORD is also taking users' smartphone navigation apps to its in-dash touch screen via AppLink when the phones are connected via USB.  “FORD understands how customers are using their smartphones, so it’s important we offer them more choice in how they connect and control their capabilities in the car,” said BUTLER. “Our new Sync AppLink mobile navigation capability will help keep drivers’ eyes on the road and their hands on the wheel while using the apps that they love.”

Ford SmartDeviceLink Project Adds Partners

FORD's previously-announced SMARTDEVICELINK open source software platform, also to be included in TOYOTA vehicles, has added several new partners under the SMARTDEVICELINK CONSORTIUM banner.  MAZDA, PSA GROUP, FUJI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, and SUZUKI are the new automaker members of the group, with ELEKTROBIT, LUXOFT, and XEVO as supplier members and HARMAN, PANASONIC, PIONEER, and QNX under Letters of Intent to join.

The technology is based on FORD AppLink software, released as open source in 2013, and TOYOTA's use of SMARTDEVICELINK will launch with a telematics system in 2018.

The Case For Hi-Res Audio

The consortium behind Hi-Res Audio -- DEG: THE DIGITAL ENTERTAINMENT GROUP, joined by the major labels -- gave a presentation on the progress the higher-quality audio format is making in the digital marketplace.  DEG Sr. Dir. MARC FINER, CTA SVP, Communications JEFF JOSEPH, SONY ELECTRONICS President/COO MIKE FASULO, producer and THE RECORDING ACADEMY Chairman Emeritus JIMMY JAMM, ATLANTIC CO-CHAIRMAN/CEO CRAIG KALLMAN, UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP CTO TY ROBERTS, and NAPSTER/RHAPSODY CEO MIKE DAVIS spoke at the session, with DAVIS announcing that his streaming service will offer Hi-Res Audio this SPRING; ROBERTS hinted that PANDORA may have news of its own in that regard.  KALLMAN pointed out that the audio industry, in moving to lo-res MP3 distribution, is the only industry "that spent the last 30 years downgrading our consumer format." 

The presentation also offered research from MUSIC WATCH contending that Millennials, counter to popular assumption, are willing to pay for better sound quality, ranking it second only to on-demand listening as motivation for subscribing to streaming services.  But the new "Stream the Studio" campaign was not included in the presentation, being announced separately (see separate story).

FCC Commissioners Avoid Controversy In CES Session

FCC Commissioners MIGNON CLYBURN, AJIT PAI, and MIKE O'RIELLY appeared at a panel THURSDAY afternoon and expressed enthusiasm for the future (at least, PAI and O'RIELLY did, in light of the incoming Republican administration) while avoiding specifics about what the industry can expect from the new Commission.  The talk, before a standing-room-only crowd that left a long line of attendees outside, covered topics like the spectrum auction, CLYBURN's "Solutions 2020" initiative, and infrastructure generalities.

THX Announces Certification Program

THX has announced a new "Approved by THX" certification program for consumer electroics manufacturers.  "We have identified ODMs (original design manufacturers) that can build high quality and performance products for our partners and we are thrilled to create an easier path to certification for them through this new THX Approved program," said CTO SCOTT FRANCIS. "Using our decades of expertise creating best in class products, we are helping even more companies build certifiable devices. Our ODM partners can help brands bring these products to market in less time at a lower cost than the traditional pipeline to certification. This results in better margins, faster time to market, and with the THX Certified badge the ability to sell more units."  Among initial certified partners are CLARIDY AUDIO (showing the first THX-approved subwoofer at CES), STREAMUNLIMITED, and ZYLUX.

New Stuff From Sennheiser

SENNHEISER took the opportunity at CES to announce two new models of wireless headphones, the HD 4.50BTNC and HD 4.40BT, the former with noise cancellation, and wireless earbuds with a leather neckband, the Momentum HD1, coming later this month.  And the new Ambeo Smart Surround earbuds offer the ability to record 3D audio with microphones built into the outside of the buds.

Solving Connected Cars' 'Babel Problem'

ELLIS AND ASSOCIATES' JOHN ELLIS moderated a panel updating attendees on the efforts to solve the problem of finding a universal language for connected car systems, focusing on the GENIVI ALLIANCE's work towards standardization and unification.  JAGUAR LAND ROVER's MAGNUS FEUER noted, "we need to do this if we are to suceed as an industry," using open source code to spread the costs and risks of the project across the business, although HARMAN's KYLE WALWORTH added that while open source has helped the industry to solve the "Babel problem," "we have too many dialogues going on."

House Of Marley Shows Off Additions

HOUSE OF MARLEY's audio line has added several new products, the MARLEY family's company announced at CES.  Included in the announcement are two new versions of the Positive Vibration headsets, the Positive Vibration 2 and Positive Vibration 2 Wireless, and an in-ear Bluetooth neckband headset, the Smile Jamaica BT, made from FSCTM certified wood, recyclable aluminum and silicone.  “This year represents a significant step for the brand as we are expanding our collection of uniquely designed, Bluetooth in-ear and over-ear headphones,” said Dir. of Product Development JOSH POULSEN. “CES is the time to showcase what we have been diligently working on for the last year, a line that offers extraordinary design and a vibrant, rich sound that can be enjoyed during the show in our custom-made, listening experience trailer.”

T-Mobile Goes With A Single, Bottom-Line, All-Inclusive, Unlimited Data Plan

T-MOBILE announced that it is changing its T-MOBILE ONE plan to a simple, one-price, all-inclusive unlimited data plan for a single monthly price, baking all taxes and fees into the bottom-line cost.  The new plan also offers a "KickBack" credit of up to $10 per month if customers use less than 2GB of data in the previous month, and an "Un-contract" - T-MOBILE "signs" a "contract" and the price remains the same until the customer decides to make changes.

“Wireless consumers pay Billions extra every year in added surcharges, taxes, monthly fees and carrier price hikes. It’s reached epidemic proportions! And, the carriers just keep inventing new ways to make their customers pay. So, the Un-carrier’s putting an end to it,” said President/CEO JOHN LEGERE. “Today, with Un-carrier Next, we’re laying down New Rules for the Mobile Internet, and with T-MOBILE ONE, we’re creating the first unlimited subscription to the Mobile Internet that works for absolutely everyone.”
 
“The Internet wasn’t meant to be metered in bits and bytes, so it’s insane that wireless companies are still making you buy it this way. The rate plan is dead – it’s a fossil from a time when wireless was metered by every call or text,” added LEGERE. “The Internet was meant to be unlimited, and at T-Mobile, we believe that everyone should have unlimited mobile Internet.  With the moves we’re making today, T-MOBILE ONE is now the one plan that works for everyone.”

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