Orange County companies did their part to cut through the clutter at the world’s largest technology trade show, competing with more than 3,600 product makers from around the world in an effort to grab headlines, distributors and new customers.
This year’s CES, held Jan. 6 to 9, was projected to draw more than 170,000 people from about 150 countries to the Las Vegas Convention Center and surrounding casino hotels. OC was well represented at the annual tech fest, sending more than 100 companies to Sin City.
Many, like Fountain Valley-based D-Link Systems Inc., followed similar scripts as in years past, showcasing products at private hotel suites, while others, including virtual reality startup NextVR Inc., held court on the frenzied convention floor and threw a private event of their own to promote innovations.
Irvine-based chipmaker Broadcom Corp., which is about to be acquired for $37 billion by Avago Technologies Inc. in Singapore, debuted a near-field communication chip for mobile payments and transit applications that’s billed to provide greater range, improved security, and faster transaction speeds.
Oakley Inc. in Foothill Ranch, which generates an estimated $1.5 billion annually for Italian parent Luxottica Group SPA, and chip giant Intel Corp. previewed a new smart eye device called Radar Pace, which is designed to provide runners, cyclists and other exercise enthusiasts with continuous feedback and analytics, helping to track progress and improve real-time performance.
Peri Inc.
Irvine startup Peri Inc. showcased the Stone—what it describes as the first Wi-Fi connected portable multispeaker system. The product, which will hit the market in coming weeks, also features Bluetooth technology, allowing users to connect as many as 64 Peri audio devices.
Alcatel Onetouch, the Irvine-based unit of TCL Communication in China, which posts annual sales topping $5 billion, debuted a smart watch for children that features GPS tracking and preapproved contacts. The CareTime device with 2G connectivity allows parents to call and send messages, while geo-fencing technology alerts them when children enter or leave preset safe zones. Children can reply to up to 10 preset contacts and make calls to five registered numbers.
Irvine-based Toshiba America Information Systems Inc. helped Japanese parent Toshiba Corp. showcase what it calls the world’s thinnest and lightest 12-inch tablet. The dynapad, which measures just 6.9 millimeters thin and weighs 1.2 pounds, features precision digital inking technologies by Wacom that mimic the feel of writing with a pen on paper. The tablet costs about $570.
The company, which posts annual revenue of about $1 billion, also demonstrated a series of portable hard disk drives and dual port flash drives for quick and seamless data transfer.
Huntington Beach-based olloclip introduced a product geared for mobile photography users of iPhone 6 models. The Studio device, which raised $154,000 from more than 1,000 Kickstarter backers last year, combines a new protective case with integrated rail mounts and several accessories. The device features a two-finger grip, a mini-kickstand and an adapter to attach lightweight accessories, such as a microphone or light.
“You can make a pretty big rig with this setup really easily,” founder Patrick O’Neill said at the Mirage Hotel & Casino during Pepcom’s Digital Experience, an annual event in Las Vegas that precedes CES. “It’s about creative options.”
Milpitas-based SanDisk Corp., which is set to be acquired for $19 billion in cash and stock by Western Digital Corp. in Irvine, showcased what it describes as the world’s thinnest 1 terabyte solid-state drive. The ultra-rugged, high-performance Extreme 510 Portable SSD measures 1.5 millimeters high and features 480 gigabytes of memory.
“It’s dust- and waterproof for the person that needs to keep photos or data safe while travelling,” said Aran Ziv, a director of product marketing management at SanDisk.
NextVR
NextVR broadcast the Chicago Bulls-Boston Celtics game in virtual reality at a private event at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.
The broadcast and the company’s latest demonstration of VR content—which includes a stroll through New York City’s Times Square—highlighted a new partnership with San Diego-based Qualcomm Inc. The footage seen through Android mobile phone apps was powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 820 processor, a flagship chip that allows 3-D imaging in 4K Ultra HD resolution at a performance rate 40% faster than current standards.
D-Link furthered its line of consumer IoT products, launching a Wi-Fi based detector that monitors and identifies the sounds of standard smoke and carbon monoxide alarms and sends mobile notifications, plus a home Wi-Fi network kit with adaptive roaming technology for connected devices that automatically hops between the router and extender to provide optimal performance and connectivity from a network while users move around the home.
The North American unit of Taiwan-based D-Link Corp., which generates about $1 billion in annual sales, also showcased a new line of routers it says improve speed, range and coverage.
Kingston Technology Inc., also based in Fountain Valley, debuted its first keypad encrypted USB, the DataTraveler 2000, that syncs with any operating system. Previous USBs released by the world’s largest memory products maker for computers and consumer electronics required a quick setup after plug- in and weren’t compatible with Android operating systems, Chromebooks and other devices, like CCTV security cameras.
“You’re unlocking the device before you plug it into your computer,” Kingston spokesman David Leong said during a demo in a Caesar’s Palace Las Vegas Hotel and Casino suite. “It’s OS agnostic. It doesn’t require any interaction with the host device at all.”
The company, which had nearly $6 billion in sales in 2014, also launched two flash memory products under its Wireless brand. MobileLite Wireless G3 includes a larger battery that can charge smartphones twice, and the Wireless Pro features similar features, such as a USB port and SD card slot, but has 64 gigabytes of built-in memory.
