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Intel CEO pitches product hits, misses making a point

7 January 2015 by Steve Blum
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Krzanich drones on.

I didn’t give Samsung CEO BK Yoon enough credit for his keynote address at CES on Monday. Big ideas and industry leadership were front and center; product plugs were sparse and unnoticeable. You might disagree with his ideas and be unimpressed with his leadership, and dismiss it all as self serving, although I wouldn’t. But he filled the true role of a keynote speaker by showing his audience his vision of the future.… More

Enplug wins the Eureka Park pitchfest at CES

5 January 2015 by Steve Blum
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A company with an interactively focused digital signage platform was the best of the bunch at this afternoon’s Showstoppers Launch.it competition at CES. Enplug CEO Nanxi Liu was the first of 11 entrepreneurs who gave a 5 minute presentation telling why they should be funded, and then took 3 minutes of questions from a panel of angel investors. At the end, the panel voted LA-based Enplug the winner.

Second and third place went to Israeli companies – VocalZoom and SwitchBee respectively.… More

Ultra definition TVs coming faster and cheaper, CEA predicts

5 January 2015 by Steve Blum
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Click for the full presentation.

The Consumer Electronics Association is forecasting 4 million 4K televisions will be sold in the U.S. in 2015, representing 20% of the market for 40-inch or larger screens. That prediction ramps to 14 million – 63% of the big screen category – in 2018. Those numbers are significant: in a short period of time, ultra HD TV’s will move from technophiles – less than 1% of the market – into the hands of the 15% to 20% of consumers who can be characterised as mainstream early adopters.… More

ChangeTip takes the geek out of Bitcoin

5 January 2015 by Steve Blum
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Bitcoin is back at CES, with 9 crypto-currency related companies pitching at the Startup Debut showcase last night. Bitpay, the big Atlanta-based payment gateway, was there, as a prelude to anchoring a growing Bitcoin pavilion on the show floor – I’ll be checking that out. BitAngels made a return appearance as well.

The most interesting of the newcomers was ChangeTip. It’s a San Francisco start-up that just raised $4.2 million in seed funding, or so spokeswoman Victoria van Eyk said.… More

Wearables flood in, home hubs back out from CES Unveiled

4 January 2015 by Steve Blum
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The pot calls the kettle back.

The 2015 Consumer Electronics Show will be about networked wristbands and coffee pots, if CES Unveiled – the opening press group grope – is anything to judge by. Wearables and home automation – products that lived in a geek ghetto only a couple of years ago – are the hot new categories this year.

Contenders in the wearable fitness tracker category seem to be following a common path: cram some sensors and a Bluetooth module into a sleek looking wristband, write iOS and Android apps to talk to it, then beef it up with some server-side analysis.… More

Time for a CES power play

3 January 2015 by Steve Blum

As good as it gets.

The limits of mobile devices – convenience and capability – are set by battery life and the means to recharge. Top of my scouting list for the coming week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas is genuinely innovative power sources.

Wearables have moved from the novelty accessory category to mainstream product line status, ensuring CES will be packed with cool new gizmos. But with tiny batteries, designers have to work within tight performance and feature constraints, and ultimately rely on another device, usually a mobile phone, for connectivity.… More

2015 a broadband breakout year for California's central coast

Santa Cruz Tech Beat, for which I sometimes write, published its picks for top stories of 2014. It’s a good list and takes a holistic view of the local tech scene and economy. Looking ahead, I think the ground work that was done this year will drive next year’s success. So, my predictions for the top local broadband stories of 2015 are…

3 – Sunesys fiber line breaks ground
The $10.6 million grant from the California Public Utilities Commission was justified by the benefit delivered to the Salinas Valley — which is substantial, real and sufficient grounds for spending the money.… More

Pressure to spend CASF money will grow in 2015

31 December 2014 by Steve Blum
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The new round of grant and loan proposals for the California Advanced Services Fund is remarkably different from the 2013 batch. Back then, 32 proposals were dumped on the CPUC all at once, ready or not. This time around, the application window will stay open until the money is gone, which means applicants can prioritise quality over deadline driven speed. And, it is hoped, the review process won’t be as clogged or as fraught – if an application is rejected now, it can be fixed and resubmitted.… More

Hard broadband choices for new CPUC president

30 December 2014 by Steve Blum
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Utility policy and the way it’s implemented, including the possibility of a more activist form of broadband regulation, will be significantly different at the California Public Utilities Commission in 2015. The two most powerful jobs – president and executive director – will be held by new people in the coming year.

In 11 months, Michael Picker moved from a job as an energy advisor to Governor Jerry Brown to a seat on the commission to the top job as president, assuming the California senate agrees.… More

Low USDA broadband grant standards dig a deeper digital divide

29 December 2014 by Steve Blum
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Rural broadband projects have another shot at getting funding from the U.S. department of agriculture. The rural utilities service (RUS) has opened another grant application window for its Community Connect program (h/t to Tom Glegola at CPUC for the heads up).

The key eligibility parameters are…

  • The project must be in an area “where Broadband Service does not currently exist”. That’s defined as a combined – down plus up – speed of 3 Mbps. For example, if there’s service available at 1.5 Mbps up and 1.5 Mbps down, fixed or mobile, then the area isn’t eligible for a grant.
… More