Tag Archives: CES 2015

AVG

The future of smart glasses still looks bright

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At the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show earlier in January, wearable digital technology was the darling of the show.

While most of the buzz was around smart watches, Google Glass remained a status symbol worn by some geeks attending the show.  The yet-young “smart glasses” scene even boasted new entrants by major players like Sony and Epson.

So, it was surprising to some, when Google announced last week that as of Monday January 19th 2015, it was halting sales of its glasses and going back to the drawing board. Perhaps not so surprising to anyone outside the bubble of CES.

The consumer product media had ridiculed the glasses and its adopters for everything from how the device looks, to potential privacy infringements.

Google announced that Tony Fadell, the father of the iPod while at Apple and the CEO of smart-home device maker Nest Labs, which Google acquired last year, would undertake the Glass re-boot.

Tony Faddell

Image courtesy of mojandroid

 

Under Fadell’s expert hand, the product’s redesign should help Google Glass, though concerns about the smart glasses concept remain. I recently wrote about wearable devices and adoption, and privacy issues, particularly in the workplace. The focus of that piece was a potential ban on smart glasses and what companies need to do to prepare for the Wear Your Own Device (WYOD) trend. For now, it looks like the negatives outweighed the benefits, on the consumer side at least.

However, I believe that the smart glasses concept has great potential in other areas – one of which, is healthcare.  Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is a prime example of how smart glasses can assist medical staff. It has developed a system that allows an ER doctor to look up information on patients by using Google Glass to scan a Quick response (QR) code on the wall of each room. It’s a great project and you can read a doctor’s blog about it here.

More recently, smart glasses for healthcare applications got another boost in the form of Augmedix, a startup with the aim of providing medical professionals with a Glass-powered records management solution.

Augmedix

Image courtesy of Augmedix

 

Enabled by Google Glass, Augmedix expedites the time physicians spend daily entering or retrieving data from electronic health records, allowing them to focus on patient care. According to the company, first launched in 2012, the service has a nationwide patient acceptance rating of more than 99 percent. The company’s CEO reports to Forbes that the Glass reboot is not cause for concern, as Google will continue to supply Glass to enterprise customers.

According to Forbes, Augmedix was one of ten companies Google lists as certified Glass at Work partners, focused on Glass-based enterprise services. More than half of them list healthcare as a major focus.

Of course, privacy issues will be consummately important for smart glasses in healthcare scenarios – as patient privacy is rigorously protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and vigilance is of critical importance to all of us.

It’s not just about healthcare though, I think the smart glasses category has a lot to offer many fields that need quick and hands-free information, including things like rescue operations and engineering on a drilling platform.

So, where are digital glasses going? Suffice it to say, for now, it looks like away from the consumer market and into business ones.

Image courtesy of knowyourmobile

AVG

The Internet of Things must begin with privacy

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Earlier in January, thousands of attendees and exhibitors descended on Las Vegas for the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show (CES).

One of the most exciting and talked about trends was the mass market arrival of the Internet of Things, something that I have been talking about since August 2013.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a catch-all term for the growing number of Internet enabled devices in our lives. If you wear an activity tracker, have a smart Nest thermostat, or remote access CCTV in your home, these are all part of the IoT.

What we saw at CES was a potential glimpse into the future. We saw smart dog bowls, smart baby monitors and even Belty, a smart belt.

Belty

Image courtesy of stuff.tv

 

Apart from excitement, all smart devices have something in common, they create data. They generate data that helps us as users to take more steps each day, brush our teeth for the required time, not forget to water our plants etc.

All this data is very useful but it is also very real privacy concern. In fact, shortly after CES, the chairwoman of Federal Trade Commission Edith Ramirez warned that privacy and security should be a key consideration as we add more devices to the Internet of Things.

She outlined three major concerns brought about by the IoT:

  • ubiquitous data collection
  • the potential for unexpected uses of consumer data that could have adverse consequences
  • heightened security risks

 

I couldn’t agree more with Ramirez, as we have seen with voice recognition technologies, the connected world of the IoT has witnessed a land grab. Companies are developing smart devices as quickly as possible and putting them out into the market without proper consideration for what is safe or how data should be used responsibly.

The line between our connected lives and physical lives is more blurred with each passing year and we must change the way we view data and personal information.

I don’t believe that collecting data is a bad thing, in fact its data collection that allows many of the web’s most popular services to function at all. What I do insist on, however, is that data collection is transparent, easy to understand and most important of all, consensual.

People have come to learn that their data has value, and they should be the ones to decide who they share it with, and how it can be used.

AVG

The arrival of toy drones

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Drones have landed – as one of the hottest gifts over this past holiday season and one of the biggest hits at the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show this past week.

Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), as they are also known, are like model airplanes on steroids. They can hover, fly and often come equipped with cameras. They can belong to you or anyone else for under $100 dollars.

The cheap availability and growing capabilities of drones means that there are privacy and safety issues at stake.

We’ve already seen drones experience near misses with aircraft at major airports while unmanned flying cameras are an obvious threat to privacy.

It’s clear that drones are going to be around for a while and that legislation is needed to set reasonable and responsible limitations for recreational drone use.

However, regulation is still very much up in the air, if you’ll pardon the pun.

 

Who is taking action on drones?

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has issued a list of do’s and don’ts for flying safety regarding model aircraft for recreational use. These mostly focus on keeping them away from flying aircraft, airports and within sight line of the user. (See guidelines here.)

National Parks Service has banned drones from all National Parks, worried that the noise and proximity to wildlife would disturb nesting, migratory, and reproductive habits. The NPS also noted visitor safety was an issue.

Drone industry officials announced that they are teaming up with the government and model aircraft hobbyists to launch a safety campaign, which includes a website (www.knowbeforeyoufly.com) that includes safety tips and FAA regulations.

In the U.K, the Civilian Air Authority has already set protocols, mostly involving flying over congested areas and airspace, and the European Aviation Safety Agency is developing EU-wide safety standards which reportedly will be as high as those for manned aircraft.

Commercial use of drones has become a thorny subject and there is pending legislation in U.S. Congress that might even require commercial drone operators to have pilot licenses.

With all this legislation in the works, it’s clear there’s a lot more to this year’s hot toy story than first meets the eye. And you can bet there’s going to be a lot more to come…

Title image courtesy of firstsing

AVG

Thoughts from CES: The physical world is becoming digital

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As a long-time attendee of CES, I tend to look forward to it with both excitement and trepidation. As it gets bigger each year, it steadily becomes busier and more difficult to physically get around and take it all in.

This year, I walked away from the show thinking we finally have reached a point where smart digital tech doesn’t just sit within a specific market or category any more. Instead, it’s finally become ubiquitous and is now being embedded throughout our everyday lives.  It was evident at the show that we are truly in the “smart” and “Internet of Things” era.

IoT

Image courtesy of GigaOm

 

Shawn DuBravac, chief economist for the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), identified this phenomenon as the ‘digitization of physical space”, “permeation of logic” and the “Internet of Me”.

Regardless of what you call it, CES 2015 showed me that innovation in connected technology is now everywhere – from baby pacifiers to dog bowls, home appliances to, of course, the self-driving car.

As always, we must remember that  as fascinating as they are, many of the products at CES are in the prototype phase –and many will never reach the wider market. But nonetheless, it’s always interesting to observe and try to gauge what we may have in store a few years down the line.

This year I was fortunate enough to also be exhibiting at CES as part of the Lifelong Tech and Family Tech Summits. AVG exhibited many of our family-focused products (including our Location Labs, Privacy Fix, and Zen products) in the Sands Expo Hall.

We were surrounded by all things smart and wearable for health, fitness, education and families. It was a fascinating and highly trafficked place to be where the digitization of everything and the Internet of Things was on display in full force.

Where it will all go from here in the year ahead, will be, not doubt, rooted in practicality. For example, let’s take that baby pacifier I mentioned.

The Pacif-i, a “smart” baby pacifier designed by U.K.-based Blue Maestro was a big hit. This product connects to parents’ smartphones via Bluetooth, and alters them to situations such as as when their baby is running a fever. In this instance, smart devices are creating very useful and valuable information to help parents.

Then at the other end of the spectrum were many fun, novelty and me-too items (names I’ll withhold) whose value will need to be proven…

It’s an exciting new world that we’re embarking upon. But it also reminds us that our privacy and security is increasingly paramount. That’s why we at AVG are continually looking at the trends and what we can do to help you guard and defend your data, devices and “digital” selves.

 

Title image courtesy of gospelherald

AVG

The Privacy Fear Factor: How Tech Is Failing To Serve the 50+

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As Ann Karpf, the British journalist and sociologist reported in her January 4, 2015 New York Times Op-Ed piece on “The Liberation of Growing Old”: “Ageism has been described as prejudice against one’s future self. It tells us that age is our defining characteristic and that, as midnight strikes on a milestone birthday, we will become nothing but old — emptied of our passions, abilities and experience, infused instead with frailty and decline.”

Well said. But sadly, this is a construct that, while wrong, pretty much rings true when we look at how tech companies market to Boomers and Seniors – aka, those aged 50+ — at present.

Indeed, two in five Boomers and Seniors think tech companies patronize them according to our survey of 50+ as part of our most recent edition of the AVG Digital Diaries consumer research series.

However, the majority of 50+ that we surveyed do NOT consider themselves novice users. Most of us consider ourselves “average” tech users (76%); 10% think of ourselves as experts –and only 16% describe themselves as novice.

Digital Diaries Boomers

 

Earlier this week, I highlighted these findings at the Lifelong Tech Summit as part of the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

I was honored and delighted to address the assemblage on the topic because I believe the tech industry in general overlooks – if not neglects – the 50+ consumer segment.

Equally important, my talk on “The Privacy Fear Factor,” focused on what the tech industry needs to do to better serve the needs of the 50+ market – around the issues of data protection and online privacy. This has become an everyday issue and question of fundamental human rights for all of us at any age.

This is especially true for those 50+. We fiercely believe at AVG that regardless of age, people need to know that they don’t have to give up their privacy every time they go online.

But the nagging question remains: why are Boomers and Seniors being undervalued and/or patronized by our industry when they represent a $3 trillion opportunity (U.S. dollars in disposable income).

“why are Boomers and Seniors so undervalued when they represent a $3 trillion opportunity?”.

A basic tenet of marketing is that you have to first understand a market’s dynamics before you can address a market.  And therein lays the heart of the issue.

In my view, the industry needs an attitude adjustment regarding the 50+ market. And I look forward to continuing dialogue on this topic – and in addressing this important demographic.

I’ll close with more of Karpf ‘s eloquent take on aging:

“How to enable the growing numbers of old people to live comfortable, meaningful lives is a fundamental issue of equality, with benefits for all. If we make the world better for old people, we make it better for everyone, from stroller pushers to wheelchair-users.”

AVG

AVG talks about Privacy at CES Lifelong Tech Summit

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AMSTERDAM and SAN FRANCISCO – December 11, 2014 – AVG Technologies N.V. (NYSE: AVG), the online security company™ for 188 million active users, today announced it will speak at the Lifelong Tech and exhibit at the Family Tech Summits at the 2015 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) being held January 6-9, 2015 in Las Vegas.

Highlighting the company’s participation is AVG Chief Marketing Officer Judith Bitterli’s Tech Talk on Jan. 6 on “The Privacy Fear Factor,” a guide to essentials for online safety.

“Feeling safe, comfortable and confident online, especially in our increasingly connected and mobile world, can seem overwhelming if you don’t have the right tools in place,” said Bitterli, who regularly blogs on tech topics for Boomers at AVG Now. “The 50+ audience wants to be connected, engaged, informed and entertained. But privacy has been a major issue for them in fully utilizing the Internet – which has become an essential part of all of our lives. We must address the these issues so we can safely access the services we need — from health records to financial and social sites.”

As part of the presentation, Bitterli will share insights around Boomers’ tech usage and attitudes about privacy and protection issues, including findings from AVG’s new Digital Diaries Boomer research study.

The Lifelong Tech Summit (formerly the Silver Summit) looks at products and services that impact the lives of Boomers – which accounts for approximately 78 million US citizens (450 million worldwide) born between 1946 and 1964. This year’s Summit is designed to showcase the latest products and solutions for lifelong learning, enhancing and augmenting sensory experience, smart home control, healthy aging, and more. See more at: http://livingindigitaltimes.com/

 

What: ‘The Privacy Fear Factor’ presentation at Lifelong Tech Summit at CES

Who: AVG Technologies’ CMO Judith Bitterli

When: 1:30 p.m. January 6, 2015

Location: The Venetian, Level 2, Bellini 2006

 

AVG also will exhibit at the Family Tech Summit’s Cool Mom’s Showcase, being held Jan. 6-9 at CES Tech West, Sands Expo Level 2, Cool Products Pavilion #74935. This event is designed to highlight products that help families save time and energy so they can devote it to what’s important. AVG will showcase some of its key online security and privacy products for families, including “Magda and Mo”, the series of interactive online books that help children learn how to stay safe online. Location Labs by AVG, which was acquired by AVG in September 2014, will feature its Phone Controls service, which US customers can try for free through their tier 1 wireless carrier. Phone Controls lets parents see at a glance and limit how kids use phones, through real-time alerts and easy-to-read weekly email summaries on texting, calling and app downloads.

 

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About AVG Technologies (NYSE: AVG)

AVG is the online security company providing leading software and services to secure devices, data and people.  AVG has over 188 million active users, as of September 30, 2014, using AVG’s products and services including Internet security, performance optimization, and personal privacy and identity protection. By choosing AVG’s products, users become part of a trusted global community that engages directly with AVG to provide feedback and offer mutual support to other customers.

All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

www.avg.com

 

Contacts:

US

Jordan Byrnes

Waggener Edstrom

[email protected]

+1 (415) 547 7049

 

UK

Samantha Woodman

Waggener Edstrom for AVG

[email protected]

+ 44 (0)20 7632 3840