CES 2014 belongs to the wrist. Fitness bands and a first real wave of smartwatches are on every booth and every demo arm, and you can feel an entire category trying to be born at once. Nobody has nailed it yet, the software is clunky and the battery life is rough, but the bet is unmistakable: the next screen is the one you wear.
4K grows up, the car gets smart
4K is no longer a curiosity, it is becoming the default high end for TVs. Cars get serious too, as Google launches the Open Automotive Alliance to bring Android into the dashboard, and Valve shows off its Steam Machines in a bid to drag PC gaming into the living room. Apple has not even shown its hand on a watch yet, which leaves the whole wrist wide open.
The trend for the year ahead
The wrist is the new battleground and the car becomes a screen on wheels. Expect a flood of wearables, most of them mediocre, and a real fight over who owns the dashboard.
Most of these wearables are not good yet, let us be honest. But the direction is right, and whoever cracks the combination of useful, glanceable, and all-day battery is going to own a brand-new category.
Part of 20 Years of CES Through My Lens, my year-by-year diary of the show.