The new hardware movement at CES 2016

David Cranor and I have devoted this episode of the Hardware Podcast to a recap of the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show. It’s probably the last recap you’ll hear, since the show happened four weeks ago, but that just means it’s had more time to marinate. Signs of the new hardware movement were everywhere this year in the innovative new products as well as the cloud of fast-follower devices that surrounded each successful piece of hardware.

Items of note:

• DJI and GoPro have defined the standard design and functionality languages in their fields, and are imitated by nearly every other drone and action cam on display.
• Hoverboards are the first electronics fad that has come straight from Shenzhen. During CES, U.S. marshals raided a Chinese exhibitor’s booth due to a patent infringement claim from the U.S. maker of the Onewheel scooter.
• VR was everywhere, with Samsung’s Gear VR headset particularly ubiquitous
• It’s always interesting to see companies that you wouldn’t necessarily expect at an electronics trade show. We talk about how companies such as MasterCard and United Health were associating themselves with the industry at CES.
• 3D printing has moved into the downward section of Gartner’s hype cycle

Some other products we mention:

• DJI’s Osmo steadicam
• Recon Jet smart eyewear
• The Samsung connected refrigerator
• The Voxel8 electronics printer
• The Picobrew desktop beer brewing machine
• The Sphero robot and how it became the Star Wars BB8 toy