Latest from Tv Technology in 2017

McAdams On: 2017

Deborah D McAdams — Fri, 20 Jan 2017 11:30:00 +0000

Please remain in your seat with your seatbelt fashioned. Flight 2017 is underway, but turbulence is assured.

As usual, the year kicked off at the Consuming Technology Spectacle in Lost Vegas, where more than 100,000 humans were introduced to their robot replacements. Meanwhile, commercial air travel around the planet will come to a veritable halt on a daily basis because of a network “glitch,” a term meaning, “who the heck knows?”

In 2017, Silicon Valley, responding to the demise of pollinators, will code another nonfood nutrient substance called “packaging” in Bubblé Wrap, Artisan Cardboard and Cellophane. Bon Appétit will declare a minimalist food revolution.

Waste not, want not.

Also in 2017, Apple will introduce the iPhoneWhyNot, in answer to the question, “why do I need another iPhone… hey, this thing just bricked!”

Millennials will endorse Prince Harry’s strong yet fuzzy jawline for the next president of what remains of the United States.

Drones will fill the sky in 2017. News drones, broadband drones, delivery drones, recreational drones, medical drones, survey drones, drones that climb on rocks. The horizon will become a veritable debris field of drones.

Slingshots and falconry will make a resurgence, while Canada will erect a net.

Political satire is quite likely to take a hit in 2017, as are citizens in 26 states plus the District of Columbia.

Also in 2017, Disney will make a “Star Wars” movie explaining all “Star Wars” movies, including Darth Vader’s hormonal issues.

Elsewhere in Hollywood, a new reality show will take shape. “Paintball Hunger Games” will feature a bevy of young, attractive individuals from the job-starved interior of the country competing to have a Facebook database farm located in their communities that will provide two, modestly paying janitorial jobs until Roombas replace them.

Mark Zuckerberg will respond to criticism by saying, “That’s just silly.”

And so it goes.

CTA: 4KTV Sales Outpacing HDTVs

Michael Balderston — Wed, 04 Jan 2017 10:31:00 +0000

LAS VEGAS—4KTVs not only have a higher-resolution picture than HDTVs, but apparently they sell faster too. That is just one of the findings from CTA’s semi-annual “U.S. Consumer Technology Sales and Forecasts” industry report was released on Jan. 3 in the lead-up to CES 2017. In addition, the organization forecasts that 2017 could see retail revenues totaling $292 billion ($228 billion wholesale), in large part thanks to tech like 4KTVs, smart home devices and wearables that feature connectivity.

The CTA report predicts that 15.6 million 4KTV units will be shipped in 2017, bringing its cumulative sales in its first three years to 18.6 million units. That far outpaces the growth of the first three years of the HDTV market, which totaled 4.2 million units in its first three years. Those sales are also a large factor in what will make TVs one of the five biggest tech sellers for 2017—along with smartphones, tablets, laptops and desktops. However, CTA reports those numbers could be on the decline over the next couple years with decrease in sales of LCD TVs; 4K is expected to eventually pick up the slack.

In total, CTA predicts that up to 600 million units of connected devices will likely be sold in the U.S. in 2017, a 5 percent increase from 2016. The biggest area of growth, however, is likely to be virtual reality headsets, which CTA forecasts will sell 2.5 million units (a 79 percent increase year-over-year) and $660 million in revenues (43 percent increase). Additional devices that expect to boost tech sales this year include drones, smart home and digital assistant devices, and wearables.

Other areas of revenue that CTA highlighted in its report include automotive, with new factory-installed technologies like entertainment systems and driver-assist features making up an estimated 50 percent of collective value in new vehicles.

To read the full report, visit CTA.tech/salesandforecasts.