Thursday, March 25, 2010

News Digital CES presentation from Ed Smith

Ed Smith, CEO of News Digital presented to the Sydney team today.

Ed has recently been to Las Vegas for the 2010 CED and has pulled together a short presentation on the latest developments as he sees it.

To that end, here were his (edited by me) highlights:

  • 3DTVs are huge business and set to be the big news this Xmas
  • However, already in the pipeline thereafter is the even more exciting (thinner, clearer) AMOLED, which will probably be the next big thing in TVs in 2011
  • e-readers appear to have been over before even reaching Australia with tablets offering the same functionality and more (having said that their best usage appears to be office based report reading which makes some sense, no more lugging around 200 pages)
  • Interesting combo products are in the pipeline, such as e-reader/tablets (fold out one each side) and even e-reader + whiteboards designed for the class room
  • e-readers are now so common place/cheap he saw them for sale in a vending machine at a train station
  • There is much debate over the very small netbook vs the tablet with people taking sides
  • Wireless is becoming increasing important in the household as devices are popping up everywhere - one wireless connection could cover your TV, PC, fridge, tablet and bedside 'clock'
  • Widgets and apps are becoming the next big thing on TVs
  • There is a new iteration of gaming approaching that is much more about multiplayer and social off the back of World of Warcraft success (think eg kids playing with lego online with their friends, building and sharing)
Ed finished up with a couple of slides on some thoughts around how News plan to monetise content. Not surprisingly, new devices will play a pivotol role in this, with apps and widgets offering premium content via subscription for example. Watch this space!

No comments: