ACT at CES

ACT has just returned from the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas where Jonathan Zuck participated in a panel called Kings of Convergence.  He made the point that developers in small and medium-sized business have much to gain from the technology convergence, but that industry leaders must respect intellectual property, the lifeblood of convergent products, for the innovation economy to work.  Zuck cautioned that “we have to make sure that innovation isn’t crushed by assimilation under the banner of convergence.”

Over 180,000 people participated in the conference, an increase of 11% from last year.  Conference representatives hailed this as a sign of resurgence in the consumer electronics industry and suggest it offers encouraging signs of

ACT also met with many of its small developer members at CES and reviewed some of the devices that consumers will find on the shelves later in the year.  Some of these provide opportunities for the developer community to write new programs.

If there was a common thread of new technologies it would be the explosion of new tablets similar to the iPad.  Many new entrants in this category add a new flavor to the quickly growing market.  In his pre-conference keynote address, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer previewed a few new tablet/laptop combinations.  One of the most intriguing of the lot is an offering from Samsung, the PC7 sliding series.

Samsung’s new tablet addresses a shortcoming of the Apple iPad expressed by business users.  It has a keyboard that slides out from beneath the tablet and comes equipped with a full version of Windows 7, providing full computing capabilities for tablet users.

This exciting new offering should be coming out in March so keep an eye out for it.