Every time I attend the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), I am amazed at the innovation that is on display.  Each January, the Las Vegas Convention Center becomes a technophile’s dream, with acres of exhibits that display a wide range of equipment and applications, just about all focusing on ways to improve our lives.  There is the functional and the futuristic, the practical and the esoteric, the “Wow!” and the “What in the world would I do with that?”

This year, some reports from the exhibit floor have commented on a shortage of “Wow’s”.  What was on display this year?  Of course, there were the newly-announced tablet computers.  The huge assortment of 3D televisions (with and without special eyewear).  And the tablets.  The gaming applications with increasingly immersive surround technologies.  And the tablets.  The ultra-green household appliances that can manage the food in your refrigerator and dry your clothes with precision.  And there were a lot of new tablets.   But, in general, a lot of the technologies on display this year could be described as “evolutionary” rather than “revolutionary”.

At any CES show, video technology is the central attraction – the big video vendors buy booth spaces that are larger than the town in which I live, and spend tremendous amounts of their marketing budgets to present their message to consumers and to the industry.  And this year’s message was about a maturing of the video market – the focus is no longer on “Whose television is the biggest?” but is more about the quality of the experience of the consumer.   While this may not make for exciting headlines in the technical media, I think it is a good sign that a lot of the innovations of recent years are becoming useful and practical for the mass market.

Consider the 3D televisions – last year, 3D was the buzz of the show.  Vendors such as Sony, Panasonic, LG, Samsung, and others had attendees saying “Wow!” at every turn.  But… there were those silly glasses!  This year, the vendors are starting to show “glasses-free 3D” – this technology is not generating the same buzz as last year, but the messaging indicates that vendors realize the importance of making technologies practical and easy-to-use.

Or consider those ubiquitous tablets.  The consensus among this year’s CES attendees is that the Motorola Xoom was the best in show.  (In fact, the device won that award from the show organizers.)  Even in the relatively nascent tablet market, the Xoom won acclaim not for creating a new segment, but for features related to being video-friendly and intuitive.  (Although it would have been nice if the Motorola exhibit staff had allowed us to hold the thing.)

A final example – Intel Insider™.  With this announcement, Intel is signaling its intention to make it easy for consumers to watch first-run HD video content on any device (and also to sell a whole lot of chips).  While Intel’s security technology is interesting, I think the real message here is that Intel is moving the market for consumer video forward by collaborating with the movie studios (who obviously hold a critical position in the video ecosystem).

These types of announcements may not generate a whole lot of “Wow’s” in the technical media, but I think they are perhaps more substantive than that – they show an increased attention to the quality of the consumer experience.  I believe they indicate a maturing of the video market to the point where innovative technologies will not only be a curiosity on display for a week each year in Las Vegas, but will be essential parts of our lives.