Some of the best stuff we’ve seen at CES has been the tech that works with all types of content, with all manner of IP devices, and with an eye towards integration and collaboration. Products that don’t proclaim to be the new set top box or new streaming service, but to be the all-in-one coming together of everything.
This year’s exhibitors have been incredible at taking amazing cable content in particular and packaging it in gorgeous, creative ways that were almost unimaginable this time last year. These innovations help customers get the most out of their cable and broadband subscriptions, effectively raising cable’s entertainment value-for-money.
Each time we saw a new tool or new user interface that combined streaming services like Netflix and Hulu with cable content and social apps into an all-in-one experience, the idea of content providers in competition with each other seemed almost irrelevant.
For example, when we visited the TiVo booth we saw new products that deliver content in such a way as to barely reveal whether the content was coming through the cable box or streaming over broadband. TiVo also showed off a side-loading app that allowed TiVo recorded content to be downloaded and played on a tablet away from home.
We saw Smart TV’s from almost every maker built with applications that not only show great content from cable and streaming services, but allow it to move easily from one device to another.
And we saw Intel showing off their new home gateway. In collaboration with Comcast, Intel’s chip set will allow cable authentication with every device in the home, portable or otherwise, regardless of whether it’s attached to a set-top box.
There are only so many hours in the day that each of us has to indulge in entertainment. We have to make those hours count. Tools that give users as much variety of content makes this possible.
The content landscape is a collaborative environment where each service adds to creating an amazing, valuable experience. And thanks to some of the tech we saw today, that collaboration is easier than ever.