The True Gems of CES

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Why is the Most Overlooked Always the Most Important?

Amist the glitz and glamour, the stars and lights, the over-sized tv’s and the mini-computers lied one of the most overlooked, but most important part of CES, the International OEM section. Laced with manufacturers from Taiwan, China, Japan, and others this where I learned the most about the future of consumer electronics, because it is here that the future begins.

Consumer Electronics Is All About Brand Name Marketing

I knew this, but I always assumed that these companies “made their own” products. Sure, i knew they outsourced to Asia, but never did I truly realize until this past week how vast the practice of “just sticking your brand name” on an OEM product is for most consumer electronics “manufacturers.” I have reported in the past on how big names have simply stuck their name on an OEM product. This is not just an issue to the VoIP industry, it is across all consumer electronics industries. I can remember the last time I said, “Isn’t that the exact same product but with a different name” so many times.

Now I Know Why We Never Get the Features and Functionality We Want

Because we voice our concerns to the big brand names…and not to the folks actually making the technology! When it seems like everything we as consumers say goes in one ear of the big brand names and out the other, it really is. These big brand names know that they can stick their name on almost anything and we will buy it. We settle for good enough, rather than demanding great products.

A World of Technology Just Waiting to Be Branded

The International OEM section of CES was a true experience in what is next in both VoIP and consumer electronics. Over the next few months, expect to see an influx of cordless VoIP phones, mainly DECT based, with many coming for use with Skype. Look for greater variety in IP conference phones, with prices dropping as low as $160 for a business class solution. Wi-Fi and Dual-mode phones with camera’s and bluetooth capabilities from every big name manufacturer, IP PBX and IP Gateway appliances for more then half of what they are being sold for today. I don’t know who will release them, or what names they might have, but I have seen them all, and can’t wait to seem them again.