Tag Archives: CES

Steve Winter discusses how to handle live conferences @ CES 2022



Brotman-Winter-Fried marketingThe last two years have created a lot of new scenarios for the world. Particularly, the business world has had to adapt to a lot of adjusted scenarios. Much work has begun to be from home, rather than in offices. This forced IT to change the way they think of their corporate networks to allow for greater variability, while also protecting data. But, the biggest part of industries to be affected by the altered way of thinking has been events, like CES. Our good friend Steve Winter from Brotman-Winter-Fried discusses some of the changes and how to deal with them.

Virtual versus physical events

The general consensus for businesses has been that virtual events are incredibly difficult and less productive. Even though the overall expense of setting up a virtual exhibit versus a physical one is significantly less expensive, the number of people you interact with is lessened. If you look at it from a pure numbers game, the more people you talk to, the more likely you are to interact with someone who might want to do business with your company or even invest in the product offering. With fewer people, there are fewer chances and therefore fewer successes.

However, currently, physical events are not as well attended as in the past. For example, Steve Winter refers to the number 40% for CES 2022. Everything felt like it was at 40% of capacity – the number of exhibitors, the number of attendees, and even the number of media. Some of this is because of personal fears or legitimate medical situations. PArt of our team was forced to stay remote for CES 2022 because of medical situations. Others were prohibited from travel because of international restrictions. We spoke with companies ahead of CES that said they were having to drop out because, even if they could get into the US, they might not be able to go home.

How to address the issues

One of the hardest but most direct is to tough it out. Being in attendance in person is simply the best option. The accidental interactions you have with people on the show floor of an event like CES are unable to be replicated by a virtual venue. Many of the long-term partners we have, such as BenjiLock and Monster Illuminessence, were born out of chance encounters while wandering the show floor with no real intentions. With virtual events, it really comes down to curation and having a very strong plan, which completely eliminates the chance encounter.

The second great option is to have a strong PR partner, such as Brotman-Winter-Fried. They can help pick up some of the slack for those who can not attend in person, and enhance the opportunity for great conversations. They can also set up some planned conversations through their existing network of connections. In the past few years, some of our best guests have come to us through some of the big names in the CES PR space – namely Steve and his partners.

Summary

To learn more about Brotman-Winter-Fried or to contact Steve Winter, head to the company’s website.

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central.

Sponsored by:
Get $5 to protect your credit card information online with Privacy.
Amazon Prime gives you more than just free shipping. Get free music, TV shows, movies, videogames and more.
The most flexible tools for podcasting. Get a 30 day free trial of storage and statistics.


Steve Winter discusses CES and the future of trade shows @ CES 2021



Brotman-Winter-Fried ConsultingEvery year during CES, we expose a little bit of inside baseball about how our show or the industry works. This year, we got the opportunity to speak with Steve Winter, president and founder of Brotman-Winter-Fried Consulting. Steve has been a long-time friend of the Tech Podcasts Network team, and we feature several of his clients annually. This year, Steve brought us 5 companies: Cutii, Domalys, Publidata, GoSun, and Clean Air Zone.

But, as we have worked together for years, the conversation naturally went to the future of trade shows. With CES going virtual, we experienced new problems. Depending on the length of the lockdowns, there is a possibility of a lot more like this. Different events are planning to address them in different ways. Some are looking to follow CES’s lead. Others are looking for virtual equivalents of physical shows. Both have their ups and downs, and only time will tell which works best. Fortunately for us, the way CES decided to handle virtualization worked well. However, exhibitors might have preferred a closer to traditional representation.

One thing we noticed was that there was a lot less news during CES 2021. Steve pointed out that, under a normal CES there are around 4200 exhibitors. This year, the number was just under 2000. With fewer exhibitors, you can expect less news. But, we saw more than a 50% decrease. This suggested to Todd that those who were participating were not taking it as seriously as in years past. Steve points out that, with so many unknowns, companies spent extra time preparing their presentations. Todd and Steve present an inside view of the future of conferences, with decades of experience between them.

To learn more about Steve’s work or to engage his PR services, head over to the Brotman-Winter-Fried Consulting website.

Interview by Todd Cochrane of Geek News Central.

Sponsored by:
Get $5 to protect your credit card information online with Privacy.
Amazon Prime gives you more than just free shipping. Get free music, TV shows, movies, videogames and more.
The most flexible tools for podcasting. Get a 30 day free trial of storage and statistics.


Get a Mental Flossing with BrainCo



Being “in the zone” reflects that total mental focus and clarity that comes to people concentrating hard. For athletes and professionals, it can take years of practice and hard work. For us mere mortals, BrainCo offers a way to learn how to focus. How? Professor Don gets all brainy with Max.

The idea behind BrainCo is to use their Focus One headband with gamification to improve mental concentration. The BrainCo band reads small electrical impulses in the wearer’s brain and picks up on changes in the frequency and amplitude of the impulses (EEG). As everyone’s brains are different the band establishes a personal baseline and works on changes from that baseline to understand when the person is relaxed, focussed or distracted.

While wearing the Focus One headband, the owner plays a smartphone game which takes information from the headband and responds as the wearer mentally focusses. Simply, the person has to focus to do well in the game. Overtime, the person learns how to focus their mind.

The BrainCo Focus One reinforces good mental behaviour and this can be especially useful for children who have learning difficulties such as ADHD, but it also has application in ensuring that teachers are engaging with their students.

The FocusOne isn’t yet available to buy but if you are interested, you can register on the BrianCo website for an early bird discount.

Don Baine is the Gadget Professor and gives lectures at TheGadgetProfessor.com.

Become a GNC Insider today!

 


Keep it Hot with a Cauldryn



Stainless steel insulated water bottles are commonplace today and have largely taken over from the glass vacuum flasks – the latter are just too delicate, especially for camping and hillwalking. And while the steel bottles are good are keeping stuff warm, the liquid has to be hot in the first place….or does it? Cauldryn Fyre bottles have a built-in heating element which not only keeps liquids warm, it can actually boil water. Colten and Joe have a quick Americano.

The Cauldryn Fyre water bottles feature a modular design, offering a 16-ounce, stainless steel, vacuum insulated bottle with the revolutionary Fyre heating element. The standard Cauldryn Fire is powered from AC but the Fyre Mobile features a rechargeable battery to heat the liquid and keep it hot all day. The mobile base has a couple of USB charging sockets too. There’s a DC base available for heating from 12V / 24V.

The Cauldryn Fire system is modular. Want a smoothie? There’s a blender attachment. Need a light? Snap in the rechargeable battery. It’s even got integration with Ok Google. Seriously, I want one of these.

The Cauldryn Fire is shipping now. The standard Fyre is US$69.99, Fyre Mobile is $129.99 and additional battery units are $69.99. DC base $9.99.

Colten Clymer is one of the team at GeekNewsCentral.com.

Become a GNC Insider today!


Flir Duo Flies with Autel at CES



Flir created a minor sensation few years ago with the Flir One thermal imaging attachment for smartphones costing only a few hundred bucks. Building on this, Flir have launched the Duo, a dual sensor compact camera designed to be carried by drones. John gives Todd a quick demo of the new Duo and see if you can spot the GNC cameraman.

The Flir Duo combines both visible light and thermal sensors into a single camera which can be carried by any drone that attaches GoPro cameras.  The visible resolution is full HD at 1920 x 1080, whereas the thermal camera is only 160 x 120. This might seem poor but the resolution of thermal imaging tends to be much lower. Flir has a nice trick called MSX blending where the visible and thermal images are combined to give more detailed pictures. There’s a demo here.

There a two versions, the Duo and Duo R, with the latter providing calibrated radiometric temperature measurements, i.e. it can tell accurately how hot an object is. The Duo is priced at US$999 and the Duo R is $1,299. Available now.

Flir have partnered with drone makers Autel Robotics and paired their Duo with the X-Star Premium drone for an all-in-one package including customised flight software. Oddly the package appears to be available only to US military and no word on price.

Todd Cochrane is the host of the twice-weekly Geek News Central Podcast at GeekNewsCentral.com.

Become a GNC Insider today!


Razer’s Project Valerie Triple Screen Laptop at CES



One of the best things about motor shows are the preposterous concept cars that will never see the light of day and serve only to showcase the manufacturer’s technology. Razer are verging into this territory with a bonkers triple 4K screen laptop, codenamed Project Valerie, where the three screens combine to give a whopping resolution of 11520 x 2160. And get this….the screens will automatically expand and collapse – so cool. Aimed at the (very) serious gamer or esports player, it’s totally awesome and no doubt will have a price tag to match when (if?) it goes on sale.

Todd Cochrane is the host of the twice-weekly Geek News Central Podcast at GeekNewsCentral.com.

Become a GNC Insider today!


Bitdefender BOX Protects the Smart Home at CES



With the arrival of the Internet of Things, installing antivirus software on a PC isn’t going address malware lurking on a smart home control unit. A different approach is needed and Bitdefender’s BOX might be the solution. Dan talks to Todd about what Box offers over traditional security products.

The Bitdefender Box is a small hardware device which is connected into a free port on the main router – it’s similar in size to the control units for SmartThings or Hue. Once configured via Bitdefender’s Central Account or the companion smartphone app, it monitors the network traffic for suspicious activity. Box provides several layers of security over and above standard antivirus with everything from URL filtering to anomaly detection.

Bitdefender Box is available now for US$129 in the first year, with an annual subscription of $99. The next gen Box is expected in the summer, priced at $199. Box is currently only available in the USA.

Todd Cochrane is the host of the twice-weekly Geek News Central Podcast at GeekNewsCentral.com.

Become a GNC Insider today!


Get the Zzzzs in with Witti at CES



Witti are reasonably well-known for their Beddi collection of stylish bedside clocks and lights which both help the sleeper doze off and wake them gently in the morning. Expanding their product portfolio, Witti is introducing Sleepi and Todd finds out from Alfred what it can offer snoozers.

Sleepi is a sleep monitoring system, comprising of a bedside light and clock, a sleep tracker that goes under the mattress and the obligatory smartphone app. The app tracks sleep and wakefulness, providing a report in the morning. What makes Sleepi different is that it works with smart homes to figure out what interrupted the sleep, e.g. the room was too hot, and then adjust the temperature automatically. That’s smart.

A Kickstarter launch is planned for Sleepi, with shipping towards the end of 2017. Expected retail price around US$149.

Todd Cochrane is the host of the twice-weekly Geek News Central Podcast at GeekNewsCentral.com.

Become a GNC Insider today!


Real and Virtual Play Combine with Sam’s Curious Cars



Learning is best done when fun and what’s more fun than play? Sam’s Curious Cars fall right into this sweet spot and Todd gets an interactive demo from Joachim.

Sam Labs have created a series of component-based toys (think chassis, wheels, motors) that can be built up to make a vehicle – in this instance a car. The components are compatible with Lego bricks, so builders can really express themselves.

Once constructed, the car can be controlled by other components, like a switch for power and a slide for left and right. The car can also be controlled by an app and for advanced learners, the cars behaviour can be built up using control blocks in the app. It’s designed to introduce some of the key concepts of programming without actually having to code.

There’s a series of six different sets, priced from US$99 and the Curious Cars are $199. Additional sensors and motors can be bought separately. Available now from the Sam Labs shop and other good retailers.

Todd Cochrane is the host of the twice-weekly Geek News Central Podcast at GeekNewsCentral.com.

Become a GNC Insider today!


Craft Beer at Home with iGulu at CES



Fancy a beer? Me too, but I’ve never brewed my own, though his might change with the iGulu automated home brewing system. Todd looks for some refreshment in the hot halls of tech.

Winning a CES Innovation Honoree award, the iGulu machine brews a beer from ingredients to fresh beverage in anything from seven days to a couple of weeks, depending the receipe. Everything is done in the iGulu, from initial mixing and mashing to the fermentation and pour, with sensors ensuring that the final product is perfect. There are receipes for everything from lagers to stouts and the process can be tweaked via the iGulu app to suit personal taste. There’s a small screen to control and check on progress of the brew. I’m feeling thirsty….

The iGulu is available for pre-order via Indiegogo starting from US$550, with an expected final retail price of US$800.

Todd Cochrane is the host of the twice-weekly Geek News Central Podcast at GeekNewsCentral.com.

Become a GNC Insider today!