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Concept, self driving and electric vehicles at #CES2020 in Las Vegas Above, Mercedes-Benz VISION AVTR (ADVANCED VEHICLE TRANSFORMATION) is a groundbreaking concept vehicle developed in close collaboration with the AVATAR team. This concept vehicle embodies the vision of Mercedes-Benz designers, … Continue reading
Updated: January 15, 2020′ 1:35 PM
Friday, January 10, 2020 | 2020 Consumer Electronic Show ( #CES ) in Las Vegas. ( #CES2020 )
#CES brought together manufacturers, retailers, media and market leaders from across the globe. It offers outstanding network opportunities for the 170K plus attendees, and it showcased the future of consumer technologies and innovation. Furthermore, CES has evolved from a show about consumer electronics to a “showcase of technology and innovation” that influences every aspect of people’s lives.
Below are a few lessons learned and observations over four days attending #CES2020 in Las Vegas from January 7 – 10, 2020:
• Lyft deployed 100 robo taxis to operate during #CES2020 on the congested streets of Las Vegas using Qualcomm technology to safely navigate the street and deliver passengers to their destination. The taxis can be scheduled using the Lyft app after accepting an user’s agreement. As per the user’s agreement, there are non-robots safety observers riding along in the robo-taxis with passengers.
• Hyundai and other manufacturers unveiled flying air passenger vehicle concepts at #CES2020. Hyundai’s displayed a Uber air taxi tilt rotor concept capable of carrying four passengers plus pilot with top cruise speed of 150 mph and max speed of 180 mph. The Hyundai PAV “S-A1” is expected to be operational as early as 2030. #CES2020hyundaisa1
• 5G is the next generation of wireless network technology. It is projected to have greater bandwidth capacity, significantly faster mobile data speeds (to around 1Gbps according to Qualcomm’s CEO) and lower latency. It is expected to usher in intelligence cities and to allow vehicle-to-vehicle communications which is critical to self-driving cars. While 3G and 4G technology brought increased speeds and higher capacity to the wireless network, one CES2020 speaker described 5G as an use case technology; that it will enhance everything we do. 5G is expected to deliver faster download speeds, real-time responses, and enhanced connectivity permitting improved mobile streaming and and gaming experiences.
• IBM Watson in partnership with ESPN Fantasy Football have an initiative leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to project player performance weekly for fantasy football. The initiative has been operational for three years and the results according to the IBM rep had been positive. Watson AI is able to consume and analyze tens of thousands of documents, including news articles, blog posts, videos and podcasts every week during the football season. This analysis yield insight that’s presented to users through the ESPN Fantasy Football app and website. It projects how likely a given player, such as Seahawk’s QB Russell Wilson, would score on the high or low end of their ESPN-predicted points range. Watson provided to users the probability of a player scoring more than their projected point total (“boom”) or less than their projected point total (“bust”).
• Diversity, inclusion and belonging for women and people of color in the technology industry have been thoroughly discussed during this year’s conference and previous conferences. Although the topic has been a point of discussion for more than two decades, corporate executives continue to site the perennial excuses of unconscious bias and lack of diverse talent in the pipeline for reasons the problem continues to persist. Submit that the more likely actual reasons are that executives are not being held accountable and there is little dedicated effort on the part of boards and executives to solve the problem.
• American Express sponsored a lounge during #CES2020 located in the North Hall of LVCC. The lounge offered #AMEX Business card holders a place to relax, recharge mobile phones, obtain a hot cup of coffee and enjoy a reprieve from the hectic pace of #CES. Overall, the lounge proved quite popular with show attendees and lines continuously queued at the entrance to take advantage of the many amenities offered by the hosts.
• Global video gaming and esports are booming and their presence at #CES2020 reflected their meteoric rise in popularity. In the LVCC Central Hall, several dozen original equipment manufacturers of gaming systems and periphery equipment were on display. The periphery equipment ranged from items that would enhanced the gaming experience to the weird / unnecessary items that hope to attract the gullible few. Gaming appears to be in the gold rush fever stage phase of its growth. One gaming expert commented during a session that video gaming and esports tournaments have awarded more than $500 million in prize money.
• Delta Airlines made a spectacular first-time appearance at #CES2020 showing off its technology to improve the passenger’s flying experience. The company revealed it app that will queue passengers for boarding, provide real time tracking of baggage and update fliers on traffic conditions on their route to the airport using information provided by their partnership with Lyft. Additionally, Delta displayed a robotic exoskeleton that their employees would don to aid in lifting heavy equipment and in baggage handling.
• The proverbial ‘elephant in the room’ omitted during #CES2020 was related to the technology sins of intellectual property (IP) theft, forced technology transfers and hacking by China. We can only assume that the technology sins have had a negative impact on domestic and non-Chinese foreign companies exhibiting at the the Show. Cognizant of the consequences the NBA and its players experienced in 2019 for commenting on Chinese bad behavior, it is somewhat understandable why (CES desires to maintain its favorable relationship with China) serious discussions regarding Chinese technology sins have been omitted during #CES2020.
• It appeared that every television original equipment manufacturer brand (Samsung, LG, Sony, TCL, Sharp, Haier, Hisense, etc.) unveiled an 8K television during #CES2020. The 8K televisions displayed impressive resolution, amazing picture quality and definition. The displays were simply astonishing. And, most unveiled an 128-inch display that made observers feel integrated or actually present with the virtual image. As a result of advent of 8K, 4K HD television costs to consumers have fallen dramatically.
Wednesday, January 8, 2020 | 2020 Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in Las Vegas. ( #CES2020 )
Spent the morning hearing about Quibi, the new short form video platform designed to operate only on mobile devices. Quibi is short for quick bites.
Quibi plans to create quality and compelling video content to be viewed on the go. The company’s technology will feature content that can be viewed either in landscape or portrait orientation on a user’s mobile device. While in landscape, the picture will show wide screen video image. In portrait, the view narrows allowing viewer to see the content from an alternate perspective that’s optimized for portrait.
Meg Whitman
Corporate Social Responsibility
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has garnered significant attention and discussion during CES 2020. The prevailing premise regarding CSR is that it has become a must do mission by corporations. Even major corporations are embracing the call for action.
‘The Look‘ is a short video created by P&G, which is intended to shine light on unconscious bias prevalent in American society. It conveyed a powerful message about a problem the culture that unfortunately persist in America.
Yet, many tech companies from all appearances are only giving ‘lip service’ to diversity and inclusion of people of color.
In a session yesterday discussing corporate values and purpose, the moderator commented “don’t read people’s lips; watch their feet”. The words mouthed by corporate executives regarding CSG appear transformative, yet the associated actions for the most part by corporations have been lacking and plagued with excuses and lack of accountability.
Unconscious Bias in Technology
An unconscious bias that most senior managers and executives of color have witnessed first hand is the blatant inequality in the hiring process. A classic example is when a majority male candidate can be hired for a position without the prerequisite skills or experience under the assumption that they can learn the job and acquire the required skills and experience for the position.
In stark contrast, women and people of color must possess the prerequisite skills and experience for the prospective position in order to land on the final hiring slate. In short, this unconscious bias is a leadership problem and issue. Basically, organizations can come up with a million reasons why they’re not achieving diversity and inclusion.
One hope is that the seemly sincere CSG conversations occurring among corporate executives at CES 2020 will result in observable and measurable action on diversity and inclusion by CES 2021. And, ‘unconscious bias’ and ‘blaming the pipeline’ will no longer be excuses for lack of action and progress. Instead, corporate executives will accept that diversity and inclusion are deliberate choices and are ultimately good for their business’ bottomline.
It is easy to observe the pending presence and impact of #CES2020 Show on Las Vegas. With more than 170K plus expected attendees, the 2020 CES Show and attendees literally take-over the “City of Sin”.
Today, listened to CES Tech Talk Podcast entitled “Making Space for Drones“, which featured Steve Dickson, Administrator, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Mark Blanks, Director, Virginia Tech Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership. They discussed facilitating and regulating the safe operation and testing of drones. During the CES Tech Talk, the FAA Administrator emphasized that if someone operates a drone, they’re considered a pilot and are subject to FAA regulations and guidelines. FAA is expected to have a significant presence at 2020 CES.
Additionally, my intent was to locate the best on the Las Vegas strip or just off the strip venue for a weekend happy hour and to simultaneously watch NFL Wild Card Football games.
Thus far, made a brief stop for food and drink at MB Steak located adjacent to off-strip Hard Rock Resort and Casino. From the hour of 4 pm to 5 pm, the restaurant’s small bar area offered a very limited happy hour menu of cocktails and appetizers. Although enjoyed the happy hour offerings of brisket sliders and Gentlemen’s Mule, the venue was absent of life and nearly empty. And, the bartender seemed a bit surly and provided service with a pained expression.
Another weekend happy hour venue worth a visit is the Tex-Mex El Segundo Sol’s Loco Hour from 4 pm to 7 pm at Fashion Show Mall. The Tex-Mex restaurant offers a Loco Hour menu at the bar consisting of quesadillas, tacos, Margaritas, draft beers and well drinks to name a few. The daily Loco Hour draws a decent size crowds of Las Vegas locals and visitors stopping for nourishment and hydration. The food was okay and the beverages were above average. Overall, an excellent venue for an early evening happy hour.
Afterwards, spent time wandering the nearby casinos and people watching.
First brief wandering was inside the Wynn Casino. And, must say that I was impressed by the design of the entrance and the holiday decorations that adorned the lobby and entrance to the casino.
After the Wynn, I crossed the elevated pedestrian walkway and wandered into the Palazzo to sit in the casino and people watch in the vicinity of Bar Luca. Regretfully, smoking remains permissible and a guy smoking a foul smelling non-American cigarette forced me to leave a prime people watching area.
Afterwards, I found a perch in Venetian near the blackjack pit to people watch. Unfortunately, the new location paled in comparison to the seat in Palazzo and concluded that the people to watch were in the Wynn and Palazzo.
Overall, I terrific day wandering around the Las Vegas Strip casinos.
FAANG stocks and other big-name flyers were, not too long ago, start-ups with no clear path to sustained profitability. If you’re looking for the next potential disruptors, how might you go about assessing candidates? You might want to go beyond traditional fundamental analysis.
— Read on tickertape.tdameritrade.com/investing/faang-stocks-alternative-valuation-metrics-17576