With more than four decades of success, the International CES connects the growing segments of the consumer electronics industry, helping to enable CE innovations to grow and thrive.
Produced by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), the 2011 CES will run January 6-9, 2011 in Las Vegas, Nevada, and is expecting more than 120,000 attendees from 130 countries who will visit the booths of 2,500 exhibitors boasting hefty portfolios of the latest consumer tech products.
Yes, CES is the world’s largest consumer technology trade show, but more important, it’s really several shows within a show. Enter one part of the show floor to find entertainment/content exhibitors and step into another area to discover digital imaging and lifestyle electronics. This year’s show will offer exhibitors from audio, automotive electronics, computer hardware and software, connected home, content distribution, digital health and fitness, digital imaging electronic gaming, emerging technology, entertainment/content, Internet-based multimedia services, lifestyle electronics, telecommunications infrastructure, video, and wireless and wireless devices markets.
At least 130 technology companies based in the Midwest and 630 technology companies from the Pacific-western region of the U.S. will showcase their latest CE products, including 575 California tech companies exhibiting everything from green LED displays to 3D technologies.
CES will offer a conference program featuring more than 300 sessions with 900 high-level speakers and SuperSessions that discuss hot industry trends and topics to help companies expand their businesses and understand new technology. And Living in Digital Times will produce lifestyle conference tracks on the fastest growing technology consumer markets—from parents and children to students, young adults and seniors.
There will be 20 market-specific TechZones at CES, including new destinations: 3D@Home, with content creators, service providers and TV manufacturers that make 3D in the home a reality; Broadband Communications, highlighting the role of the infrastructure in expanding broadband capacity; and Connected Home Appliances, which will bring white goods to the show floor for the first time, including SmartGrid appliances. Also launching is Access on the Go, dedicated to technology that is changing the way consumers access content. As consumers seek new ways to view, obtain and send content on the go, this TechZone will examine such devices as eBooks, netbooks, smartbooks and tablets.
Other new TechZones include Mobile DTV, featuring consumer devices that bring the digital living room to the car and portable devices; the Electric Vehicle TechZone, highlighting high and low speed vehicles, energy storage devices and charging equipment; and Sports and Fitness Tech, focused on tools for the sports enthusiast and trends impacting the fitness and outdoors markets.
“As leader of one of the world’s most innovative technology companies, a keynote address from Steve Ballmer is the perfect way to kick off the 2011 International CES.”
The 2011 CES is also bringing back highly trafficked EHX@CES, the Gaming Showcase, HDMI, Home Plug, Location Based Services, Robotics, Safe Driver, Sustainable Planet, USB, Wireless Mobility and Zigbee.
The iLounge Pavilion, CES’s fastest growing TechZone, will feature a large display of iPod, iPhone, iPad and Mac related products and services. Due to exhibitor demand, space for the 2011 iLounge Pavilion has doubled over the 2010 show, with more than 100 companies sharing 25,000 square feet of exhibit space.
“The inaugural iLounge Pavilion was a tremendous success and a major destination on the show floor for the more than 120,000 individuals who attended the 2010 International CES,” said Karen Chupka, senior vice president, events and conferences, CEA. “We received such positive response from exhibitors that we have already doubled the footprint of the iLounge Pavilion at the 2011 CES, making it the largest display of its kind in CES show history.”
Additionally, Entertainment Matters is a new International CES program for entertainment professionals attending CES, including special exhibits, conference programs and events for the Hollywood community.
Keynote Headliners
Of course, the show will have no shortage of keynote addresses and presentations. CEA announced that John Chambers, chairman and CEO of Cisco; Jeffrey Immelt, chairman and CEO of GE; and Ursula Burns, chairman and CEO of Xerox, will join the 2011 International CES keynote lineup as participants in the CES Innovation Power Panel. Keynote addresses will also be given by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer (preshow); Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg (opening keynote); Alan Mulally, president and CEO of Ford Motor Company; Boo-Keun Yoon, president of Samsung’s Visual Display Business; and Rupert Stadler, chairman of the board of management of Audi AG.
“As leader of one of the world’s most innovative technology companies, a keynote address from Steve Ballmer is the perfect way to kick off the 2011 International CES,” said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO, CEA. “Microsoft’s entrepreneurial spirit and drive have been major forces behind the success of the company and its impact on the global consumer technology industry. We look forward to hearing Steve’s strategic vision for the future of Microsoft and our industry.”
Living in Digital Times, producers of daylong lifestyle conference tracks at CES, has lined up keynoters for the HigherEd Tech Summit, Digital Health Summit, Sports and Fitness Tech Summit, Kids@Play and Mommy Tech Summit, and Silvers Summit. This year’s keynoters include: HigherEd Tech Summit—Walt Mossberg, author of the Wall Street Journal’s Personal Technology column, who will examine how the Internet, mobile devices and social networking are impacting higher education, and Anya Kamenetz, a staff writer for Fast Company and author of DIY U: Edupunks, Edupreneurs, and the Coming Transformation of Higher Education; Digital Health Summit—Colonel Ron Poropatich, MD, deputy director of the Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command at Fort Detrick, who will address the intersection of technology and healthcare and the effect of technology innovation on care; Sports & Fitness Tech Summit—Seth Wescott, two-time gold medalist in snowboard cross, who will share how he utilizes technology to help navigate some of the world’s toughest mountain terrains, and Shellie Pfohl, executive director of the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition, who will provide an update on initiatives and programs of the President’s Council; Kids@Play and Mommy Tech Summit—New York Times technology columnist David Pogue, who will focus on “The Digital Generation Grows Up,” and Jesse Schell, founder of Schell Games and author of The Art of Game Design; and Silvers Summit—Dr. Gary Small, neuroscientist and director of the UCLA Center on Aging at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience & Human Behavior, who will look at how the constant use of technology affects brain function in the age of Google, Facebook, YouTube and unlimited access to news and information.
In addition, Living in Digital Times will present the “Last Gadget Standing” event, in which industry judges and online readers will vote on the products they believe will become standard fixtures in the consumer electronics market. The final ten products selected will compete onstage in Las Vegas. Previous Last Gadget Standing winners include the Eye-Fi Card (two-time winner).
