Last week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas may have been the biggest ever, but observers attending the annual high-tech trade show were underwhelmed by a lack of innovative gadgets or disruptive technology.
One exception, according to local angel investor Mike Volker, was Vancouver’s Recon Instruments, which generated some buzz with its MOD Live micro-optics gadget for skiers.
Recon’s mini-dashboard, which is mounted inside ski goggles, allows skiers to see and record real-time data, like speed, altitude and jump heights. A tiny camera can record runs and because it runs off an Android platform, it can even link to a smartphone via Bluetooth, allowing the skier to text, listen to music and post to social network feeds.
Recon was one of the 3,000 exhibitors at this year’s January 10 to 13 CES, which broke records with 153,000 attendees.
Stephen Midgley, vice-president of global marketing for Absolute Software (TSX:ABT), attends the CES each year. Absolute recently began offering its tracing software for the Android-based Lenovo ThinkPad. But for Absolute, the CES isn’t so much a place to showcase new products as it is a chance to concentrate a lot of business with multiple partners over a few days.
“Obviously, we get to see what some of the latest trends are but, more importantly, a lot of our partners are there, and a lot of our potential partners are at CES,” Midgley said. “Pretty much all of our work is done off the show floor, not on the show floor.”
Roam Mobility CEO Emir Aboulhosn also attended the CES, but was not an exhibitor. The Vancouver company last week launched a new mobile network for Canadians travelling in the U.S. that avoids roaming charges.
Since Roam’s market is strictly Canadian, there is no point in exhibiting at the CES. Aboulhosn attends the annual show to stay on top of technology trends and scout out potential partners. He agreed with observers who found this year’s CES underwhelming.
“There wasn’t anything there I haven’t read, seen or watched a video of in the past, and nothing that was a game changer in any way shape or form.” •
