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. Continue reading CES: Deloitte CTO on Tech Trends 2025 from AI to Quantum

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. Continue reading CES: PxE Develops Camera Sensor That Captures Depth Info

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. Continue reading CES: In-Game Sponsorships, Gamified Promos Build Brands

Fourth Frame Studios Head of Studio Oluwafemi Okusanya held a conversation with Blizzard Entertainment Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Monica Austin on how her company is defining its IP in the marketplace. Austin reported that “World of Warcraft” just had its 20th anniversary and reached one-quarter of a billion players. “Blizzard was the first studio to recognize community,” she said. “For the next 20 years, we want to think about a modern version of building community. Community from a marketing and Blizzard lens is the biggest opportunity for exploring our IP.” Continue reading CES: Power of Gaming IPs, Why Games Are the New Comics

At CES 2025 in Las Vegas this week, the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) unveiled transformative trends and expected highlights of the massive trade show during a media preview on Sunday. CTA Senior Director of Innovation and Trends Brian Comiskey led a discussion on the rise of Gen Z, the increasing influence of artificial intelligence, and predicted a “Quantum Decade” for the 2030s. Sustainability, energy transitions, and human security, especially around food, also emerged as critical themes. “Innovation is never just one thing — it’s the convergence of technology and human-centric values that drives progress,” Comiskey noted. Continue reading CES: Tech Trends Focus on Gen Z, AI, the ‘Quantum Decade’

A federal jury in Las Vegas has convicted five men for illegal streaming operations perpetrated through a company called Jetflicks, which generated millions of dollars in subscription revenue while causing “substantial harm to television program copyright owners,” according to the Department of Justice. Jetflicks, which charged customers $9.99 per month, had a catalog that included “hundreds of thousands” of copyrighted TV episodes, larger than the combined offerings of Netflix, Hulu, Vudu and Amazon Prime, prosecutors said, explaining the outfit “used sophisticated computer scripts and software to scour pirate websites for illegal copies of television episodes.” Continue reading DOJ Scores Criminal Conviction Against Operators of Jetflicks

CES 2024 attracted more than 135,000 attendees to Las Vegas where 4,300 companies filled 2.5 million square feet of exhibit space. Technology that empowers creators, a new generation of displays, and the promise and peril of artificial intelligence dominated the show. After several years of incremental advances, market development built on maturing technology, and over-hyped trends, this year felt different with an energy that suggests the beginning of a new era. Among the major themes were embedded AI, vehicle tech, digital health, screens and XR, and numerous policy and regulation topics. ETC@USC attended the conference for live reporting on products and services. Our post-show report features extensive coverage and perspectives related to key creative, business, and technology areas. Continue reading ETC’s CES 2024 Report: Creators, Displays, and AI Innovation

Technology that empowers creators, a new generation of displays, and the promise and peril of artificial intelligence dominated CES 2024. After several years of incremental advances, market development built on maturing technology, and over-hyped trends, this year felt different with an energy that suggests the beginning of a new era. Among the highlights were next generation displays, including MicroLED and transparent technologies. If a consensus emerged, it is that AI may be everywhere but it isn’t everything. “People at the heart of creativity” was Sony’s CES slogan, yet its people-centered sentiment applied broadly across the show. Continue reading CES: AI Was Everywhere but Not the Only Thing in Las Vegas

LG Electronics will showcase its latest television technologies at CES in Las Vegas next week, including its 2024 lineup of QNED and QNED Mini LED TVs with models up to 98 inches, and the company’s top-line M4 and G4 OLED TVs (more on those sets in tomorrow’s ETCentric). LG says the advanced graphics capabilities of faster AI processing will provide viewers with a brighter picture, smoother motion and superior, vibrant colors. The company also announced an upcoming soundbar lineup, featuring premium surround-sound devices specifically designed for its new OLED and QNED TVs for what LG describes as an “elevated home cinema experience.” Continue reading LG Plans to Demo Its New OLED and QNED TV Tech at CES

The Hisense 110UX TV, a 110-inch diagonal screen said to have 10,000 nits of peak brightness — five times greater than that of the best OLEDs — will make its official debut at the 2024 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. With more than 40,000 backlight zones for local dimming and high levels of color volume, Hisense says it achieves 95 percent of the BT.2020 color palette, or about 20 percent better than the top OLEDs. Developed on Hisense’s ULED X platform, the preview photo showed it on a console-style stand that appeared to house its own audio system. Continue reading Hisense to Debut ‘World’s Brightest’ 110-Inch TV at CES 2024

Walmart has doubled the size of its Marketplace platform in the past 18 months, with about 100,000 active sellers. Now, the company — which receives seller applications at the rate of about 20,000 per month, about 10 percent of which get approved — feels it is within striking distance of Amazon. Some say Walmart has been emulating the moves of the Seattle-based e-retail giant, including now adding sponsored video ad units in time for the holiday shopping season. The Walmart+ online brand has been emphasizing convenience, membership, free delivery and even a Paramount+ Essential plan, similar to Amazon’s approach of offering Prime Video. Continue reading Walmart Extends E-Commerce Push, Adds Sponsored Videos

Sphere Entertainment, James Dolan’s MSG Entertainment spin-off, has opened Sphere Studios in Burbank. The 68,000-square-foot compound will output immersive entertainment for Sphere venues. The flagship Sphere in Las Vegas opens in September with a series of U2 concerts designed to show-off the 580,000 square-foot display that Sphere says is “the world’s highest-resolution LED screen.” The company has filed eight patents, including for the ultra-high resolution Big Sky camera, unveiled this week. Sphere says Big Sky has “the world’s sharpest cinematic lenses,” capable of delivering edge-to-edge images for the 16K x 16K immersive display at Sphere Vegas. Continue reading Sphere Launches Burbank Studio, Immersive Camera System

The National Association of Broadcasters will lead a new public-private transition to ATSC 3.0 from ATSC 1.0, an initiative known as “the Future of Television.” Also known as NextGen TV, ATSC 3.0 will bring 4K Ultra High Definition images, two-way interactivity, greater accessibility options, and multi-screen applications to televisions via over-the-air broadcast signals working in tandem with broadband. FCC chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced the Future of TV onstage in Las Vegas Monday at the 100th NAB Show. The FCC will work with NAB to bring together industry, government and public interest stakeholders to establish a roadmap for NextGen TV. Continue reading NAB to Lead ATSC 3.0 Transition Working with FCC, Industry

The Entertainment Technology Center@USC will host its 7th vETC virtual conference at NAB Show 2023, April 16-18 in Las Vegas. Highlighting significant presentations of emerging technologies and their impact on the M&E industry, at the HP booth (N2826) with key partner FUSE Technical Group, vETC speakers will present concepts, workflows, business models, case studies and more. This year’s vETC looks to keep pace with the quickly emerging trends in virtual production. The presentations will be recorded and posted on our YouTube channel. The 3-day program with a full list of speakers is available on the ETC site. Continue reading vETC at NAB 2023: Democratizing Onset Virtual Productions

What a difference a year makes. CES 2023 attracted more than 115,000 attendees from 140 countries to Las Vegas where 3,000 companies filled 2 million square feet of exhibit space. Among the major themes relevant to M&E this year were artificial intelligence, the multiverse, AR and immersive experiences, displays, mobility, IoT, and numerous policy and regulation topics. ETC@USC attended the convention with onsite and remote teams, once again blending its in-person tradition with a virtual presence. Our post-show report features extensive coverage and perspectives related to these key creative, business, and technology areas. Continue reading CES 2023 Report: Connection, Collaboration and Cooperation