In the conference track of CES this year is a lineup of talks and panels on gaming and esports. During the “Generational Shifts: The Evolution of Gaming” panel, moderated by Consumer Technology Association (CTA) Senior Manager of Market Research Steven Hummel, industry executives and thought leaders shared their views on market trends emerging post-pandemic and how those trends are driving gaming across other media. While it is not surprising to hear that the average age of gamers tends to skew younger these days, perhaps the bigger takeaway is that gaming has become the new social media for many. Read more

Deloitte Consulting Chief Technology Officer Bill Briggs opened a CES panel discussion on Tech Trends 2025 with the declaration that, “the pace of change in technical has never been faster and the magnitude has never been greater.” “How do we translate that into the investments we need to be making and how we think about products and customer experiences?” he asked. Much of what faces us, he stressed, is “more knowable than we feel it is.” In Deloitte’s 16th annual Tech Trends report, the company lists six tech trends, with artificial intelligence as the common thread. Read more

Israeli startup PxE Holographic Imaging has developed a drop-in replacement sensor for any camera that holographically captures depth information without lidar or other hardware. Or more specifically, it augments any existing sensor with this capability, so any existing sensor OEM’s product can be adapted. Imagine face ID without an IR projector and sensor, your videoconference camera able to send a 3D image, or volumetric capture suddenly becoming more affordable. Extraordinarily, the physics appears to check out, and PxE demonstrated the technology to us at short- and room-size range in their CES suite at The Venetian Las Vegas. Read more

During the COVID-19 pandemic, gaming enjoyed a tremendous surge in popularity — a high point that has suffered somewhat of a dip in the last year. However, gaming executives are bullish on their 2025 prospects. “During the pandemic we saw double digit growth in mobile, PC and console,” explained Sensor Tower SVP of Gaming & Entertainment Chirag Ambwani. “And now, in the last six months, we’re seeing gaming coming back to growth after that slight dip.” Better, some trends are highlighting the growing importance of gaming, suggest the experts. United Talent Agency’s Michelle Kim moderated a CES panel on Gamevertising to address the latest trends. Read more

CTA President Kinsey Fabrizio introduced X Corp. CEO Linda Yaccarino and journalist Catherine Herridge for a CES keynote conversation on the social media company established by Elon Musk in 2023. Herridge skipped the pleasantries and went straight to the news that Meta was abandoning third-party fact checking, and replacing it with Community Notes, adopting X’s policy on the topic. “Mark [Zuckerberg], Meta, welcome to the party,” said Yaccarino. “How exciting when you think Community Notes are good for the world. It couldn’t be more validating that Mark and Meta realize this.” Read more