The Consumer Electronics Show is done for another year, with mind blowing leaps in computer processing power, tablets, phones, design and screen technology. Now begins the waiting game as consumers around the world prepare for some of this technology to actually hit the market. For the mobile consumer, let’s wrap up the most relevant discoveries, most of which were already addressed on Day One.
Phone
Windows PWN – With Apple absent and Android available on everything with a touchscreen, the focus on something new and refreshing shifted to Microsoft, who are gently, gently rolling out their new mobile platform, Windows Phone. Nokia’s strategic partnership with the Redmond giant has resulted in the Lumia line, elegant phones based on the N9 design and running Windows Phone 7.5 (Mango). Australian release dates haven’t been set, but the Lumia 900 was the clear winner at the show, with its sturdy polycarbonate body and departure from the scary black-rectangle look.
Moreover, the Windows Phone platform is the winner, managing to offer something truly different – a comprehensive operating system that looks neither like iOS, or like a cut-rate version of iOS. All they need now is a worldwide push of this software, on a handful of really good phones, with lots of incentives for developers to start adding to the current Windows Phone Marketplace of some 50,000 apps. The date set so far for this is “2012”, which might mean this year.
Intel – another new development. Intel, the maker of most computer CPUs (central processing units), has stayed out of the mobile market, leaving it to British competitor ARM. Intel’s new Medfield chip will start shipping to manufacturers soon, offering little difference to the end user except wider video capabilities. For anyone who has had to convert a bunch of AVI movies to MP4, this is still just barely news.
Tablets
Android – not much to report since Day One. There will be some cheap, high powered options like the Asus 370T, a 7-inch pocket rocket powered by four cores and running Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich), which somehow only costs $250. Vizio, a California designer of surprisingly cheap TVs, entered the tablet market in a big way, with a stunning 10 inch M-Series tablet that was widely considered the best iPad competitor on offer. No word on specs and pricing, but Vizio has made a lot of money from selling sturdy, cheap TVs to millions of Americans; expect them to be a significant player before long. No word on Australian releases yet.
BlackBerry - BlackBerry’s Playbook tablet never got a big push in Australia, where the Blackberry brand has generally gained little traction. Previously only to be found at Harvey Norman, Optus are currently running an offer on their $49 cap plan where you receive a free 16GB Playbook when you take on a BlackBerry Torch 9860 for 24 months. The Playbook has a few glaring omissions, like a lack of a native email app, but a major update to the Playbook operating system was debuted at CES that takes care of these issues and more. The OS will be available in February, so it might be worth picking up the Optus deal now.
Overall
CES 2012 did little to boost real innovation for mobile consumers, especially in Australia where we’ll have to wait a while to get the new gear. The real game changer will be the release of 4G (also called LTE) networks, offering speed and stability on par with fixed-line broadband technologies. Telstra will be rolling out Australia’s first 4G network across the land this year, already available in the big cities. Plenty of exciting 4G capable handsets were unveiled at CES, but so far, only the HTC Velocity has been given a tentative February release for Australia. Expect Samsung to hit Australia with several more options by midyear, as Optus and Vodafone start rolling out their own 4G networks. And of course, at some point Apple will have to respond to the market, despite only releasing their last iPhone less than 6 months ago. Stay tuned!