It’s a New Year with the Promise of Better Tech. Let’s See What’s Trending.

Each year thousands of innovators and business leaders gather from all over the world to showcase new technology and address the industry’s most relevant issues at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, NV. As depicted during CES last year, new smart home trends flourished throughout 2018. This year’s CES highlights 5G as an important and growing topic for 2019, as it will bring about a huge technology shift for businesses and consumers alike.

Here are some key takeaways our team members discovered from their CES experience.

The Talk of the Town

Most people think smartphones when they hear the term 5G, but there is much more to the story. The transition from 4G to 5G will affect devices like security cameras and drones and largely transform industries like entertainment, gaming, healthcare, and connected cities. So, it’s not surprising that 5G dominated the conversation at CES. For those in the medical industry, 5G may allow remote surgeries to be performed more often and more precisely. And, though now fairly common, smart home technologies and wearables have come a long way with the help of 5G.

We know this means major changes for businesses and retailers, but what about consumers? It’s likely that changes won’t go into effect until the latter half of this year, leading into 2020. For those of us who live in an area that can be supported by 5G and depending on your wireless carrier, this could mean significantly faster download speeds (roughly 20 times faster) and better video streaming capabilities as we move forward. Moreover, this could launch the healthcare industry beyond the basic health and fitness monitoring we’re currently seeing. We could experience doctors that aren’t human or at-home robotics that can remind your loved ones to take their medication (this would be more software than hardware).

Similar to last year’s conference, CES 2019 brought us smart home technology, but with a more fine-tuned artificial intelligence (AI) technology that will allow retailers, medical professionals, and businesses alike to reach consumers on a deeper level. The buzz this year seemed more centered around incorporating AI in health and wellness platforms than it has in previous years.

Fan Favorites

Wondering which products caught the most attention? Here are a couple our team can’t stop talking about.

Google Home Hub

A huge part of CES was the very visible emphasis on new products featuring Google assistant capabilities. As our team took time to walk around the showcase floor, they noticed Google specialists at nearly every booth dressed in white jumpsuits, ready to fire off answers and fun facts about their products. The Google Home Hub was a major product featured, sharing the stage with Amazon’s Alexa products again this year. With two vastly impactful companies creating smart home products designed to connect and simply your life, it will be interesting to see which product will come out on top this the year.

Kohler Smart Home Products

As smart home products flourish, making your life simpler and more enjoyable, more companies are jumping on board. Our team discovered a smart water faucet from Kohler and smart mirrors that incorporate Alexa. The water faucet in the kitchen can be turned on from your phone and measures the amount of water you needed in your pan.

Want to feel like you’re in a hot spring in your own house? Not a dream anymore. For the bath-lovers out there, the water faucet for the tub was measures the amount and temperature of the water flowing into the tub. While you’re at it, feel free to ask your Alexa mirror on the wall, “Who is the fairest of them all?” She will answer.

And, It’s Just Getting Started

2019 may be the year that this next-gen technology we’ve been witnessing finally falls into place. Changes in this industry are constant and ever-evolving, so the finish line may seem like it disappears at times. Regardless of what our technology innovators and business leaders bring us this year, we continue to make technology advances in so many areas of our lives. With the promise of self-driving cars, talking mirrors, and doctors who aren’t human, it will be intriguing to see how these all play out in the “real” world.