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Technology 'embraced by public' shock -- how about SlingCatcher?

The CES organisers provide the press with a useful overview of the state of the tech industry, but this year's seems to be more about continuing trends than new ones, judging by a BBC News report.

It says: "Mr Wargo, director of industry analysis for the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), said the industry would continue to grow faster than retail on average." Well, the idea that we'd spend less would have been pretty shocking....

"They are adopting technologies faster than ever. New technologies we haven't even seen yet are sure to be adopted faster than their previous generations."
Globally the industry is being driven by the shift to high definition and digital.
"Consumers are buying LCDs (flat panel TVs) instead of CRTs (cathode ray tube TVs). They are buying portable MP3 players rather than portable CD players.

We've seen the trend to faster adoption with CD, DVD, the internet and mobile phones, so that's not new either. However, the BBC story adds:

But one trend that could be about to slow is the shift to digital music players, such as iPods.
CEA research predicted that the market for MP3 players in the US would peak in 2007 at 41 million products as people look to replace existing players and as mobile phones with music playback become more successful.

OK, so this is not really a new prediction either, but it could play out nicely if Apple finally introduces its long-rumoured PodPhone/"iPhone" to compete with music-playing Walkman phones etc. Also:

research carried out by the CEA suggests that almost half of people want to watch their content on a PC on their TVs. "They want to make a bridge between a TV and a PC sitting perhaps in a home office."

No doubt Bill Gates will be pleased to hear that, since it was CES 2004 when he announced Windows Media Center extenders to do that, and the technology is built into the Xbox 360 games console. Again, the set-top box that Apple has code-named iTV could give that market a big kick. However, Sling Media's SlingCatcher (see this Reuters Interview) could also make an impact. Co-founder Blake Krikorian says:

With SlingCatcher you're able to wirelessly project anything you have on your laptop, any type of media, any Web site, or Web-based video and project it wirelessly at the push of a button onto your television set. I can go to any site, any video content, any formatted content and get it to play on my big screen TV. That's a huge difference between what we're doing and what others are doing.

Will CES bring us any really big new things? If so, what?

It's possible, but CEA is right in pointing out that consumers are now adopting technologies faster. They are also getting news faster and earlier, especially as the blogosphere now picks up on patent applications, prototypes and all sorts of associated rumours that rarerly if ever used to appear in the mainstream media. Companies can still produce surprises, but it gets harder every year.

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