Foose Industries

CES 2020 Review

This years CES was unlike prior years, not so much in the technology and products shown but in a shift in what consumers and business are pursing. While the show itself was great and felt more like the CES of the past in regards to the atmosphere of the show, not as many flashy presentations or over the top demonstrations in the parking lot, but there was alot of new and emerging “technologies” shown. Now I say “technologies” because one such technology is the Impossible burger, while not an electronic device it is consumer technology since consumers will eat [consume] it.

Mobile

I expect to see more foldable and compact devices this year as the mobile device, phone,tablet,etc remains at the core unchanged the chassis will change. This means more ruggedized and durable devices as well as more “comfortable” devices. One thing I have appreciated from Samsung is the pre installed screen protector on the Galaxy S10, while this is due to the special in screen fingerprint sensor it’s an added bonus to the device. While the primary mobile focus is on phones because of the smaller size, “foldables” are on the rise, with a foldable device you can fit more tech into a smaller package, only time will tell if this will be a viable product. Smaller laptops are also considered mobile as they enable a user to stay productive on the go, just about every company has a “mobile” laptop with samsung introducing newer high end Chromebooks.

Desktop Computers

In previous years it seemed like desktop computers were a thing of the past giving way to laptops and tablets. This year a few new desktops, all in one PCs and monitors were shown that show that desktops are still alive. One such desktop innovation that falls into the all in one category is the Dell Optiplex 7070 Ultra, this is a modular PC, like the internals of laptop, that offers multiple configurations and fits inside a dell monitor stand. This is good for “kiosk” desktops that will sit in libraries, doctor’s offices and even for front desks and offices.

https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/cty/pdp/spd/optiplex-7070-ultra?gacd=9646510-1029-5761040-0-0&dgc=st&&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIlJPU4ou-5wIVAmyGCh16hATzEAAYASAAEgKWgPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Automotive

While the automotive industry has been catching up in recent years, integration between your mobile devices and your car is even easier with NFC, Bluetooth 5.0 and wireless charging. As well as ease of use vehicles are getting smarter in regards to driving patterns and taking some of the work away from operating the vehicle on your trip keeping you rested and alert. Some of these technologies are notifications and alerts on vehicle status and information on your destination such as weather and traffic. By also using AI data such as travel habits your vehicle can suggest when to fuel up and even condition the interior before you even need to leave. Mercedes Benz showed off an out of this world concept car with the Vision AVTR, a partnership with James Cameron and Avatar. While the car itself is functional the concept is still far off but put into perspective a potential outcome of our current take of automotive vehicles.

Emerging Tech

A new emerging “Technology” is the impossible meats burgers, this year they were showcasing their impossible “pork” product. While most of the attention on it was on religious practices with pork and it’s impact their product overall has gotten better over the last year and a half and the free White Castle hamburgers they were handing out sure were tasty! Other than future food a few more merging trends are more AI and Machine learning integration into our phones and connected devices to make our everyday lives easier, while this comes with the argument of privacy invasion only time will tell on companies commitment to consumer privacy. While the tides of technology are always changing this year looks promising for new and emerging technologies as well as a pivot point in technology use in our daily lives.

Photo Highlights

Attending a presentation on 5G and automotive vehicles.

IF

CES 2020

This year I will be attending CES 2020, it’s one of the most exciting times of the year for me as I get a glimpse into the future with all the new and emerging technologies shown at CES. I’ve attended the last 5 CES shows and each time more and more has shown up at the show, it can be overwhelming at times but over the past few years I have developed a “plan” of sorts to get the most out of the show. I’ve heard before that some people come to the show to see what will be “big” next year and some come to get a head start on all the new technologies shown. No matter the reason you are attending I have put together some ways to see enough to get a good grasp on the show and the many exhibitors.

Demos

On thing that may distract you are of products that have minor improvements or are not paticularly relevant, such as the motorcycle demo put on by BMW. Now if you have time or just happen to be near when some of these exhibitions take place then by all means watch and take part. While CES has a lot to offer and the BIG companies have capitalized on that, Google, Samsung, Sony, etc, it’s still important to pay attention to smaller companies and or niche markets as I have seen more than a few of these show up year after year bigger and with a more refined product.

Giveaways

Google is famous for it’s CES giveaways and while not as big as they have done at other events such as Google I/O you can still walk away with some pretty sweet gear. Last year they gave out free Google Home, now Nest Hub, vouchers for anyone that rode their interactive ride, and their were free macaroons at the end :). The other major Google attraction is their “Gumball” machine, a giant Gumball machine located outside the main entrance to the central hall, this always has a ridiculously long line (upwards of 3 hours in some cases) and occasionally really great items such as a Pixel is dispensed but otherwise most participants walk away with a hat. Samsung has jumped on the bandwagon as well as GoPro with giveaways with GoPro doing a daily giveaway at 3 everyday, I have personally won a GoPro giveaway and it was worth it since it only takes about 20 minutes out of your day.

Food

While there are many options to eat inside the convention spaces, at the LVCC (Las Vegas Convention Center), a few exhibitors may have a treat for you. In years past Google has provided macaroons for rides of it’s exhibit and Logitech offered up a waffle truck, it’s always worth a look and usually free!

Bottom Line…

The bottom line is to remember your purpose at the show, if you are there for serious business, stick to that, if you are there for research and market insight, have fun but remember to look at enough to deliver a firm decision and accurate information. While I have outlined what I thinks works best for someone on business and someone there to just “observe” for future reference, I have been in the shoes of both and have always had fun and able to walk away with enough industry contacts and great memories!

Something about VPNs

VPNs have been the buzzword for the past few years not only in the consumer world but in the business world as well. While VPNs have been around for some time now, the term and use of a VPN has only recently made it’s way over to the consumer market. With many different companies advertising for their VPN on services such as YouTube, TV commercials and even on news papers, their popularity has spread like wild fire across social media and word of mouth however many are still clueless about the purpose of a VPN. To fully understand a demystify what exactly a VPN is or does we first need to go back in time to when VPNs were first used. VPNs were primarily used in the business world to “bridge” an external network with an internal one through a secure tunnel, many people who have a company issued laptop or mobile device will often use a VPN to connect to business resources. Today VPN are more accessible and used by consumers and business users alike. Below we will dive into the differences between a consumer and a business VPN.

Consumer Use

A typical consumer nowadays will use a VPN on a mobile device or home computer to avoid things such as ad tracking, content restrictions (usually media related), or simply to protect their privacy when accessing websites. While the privacy aspect is what most users jump on, it’s not actually as private as you think, all a VPN does as stated above is “tunnel” your connection to another network. So if you are accessing sensitive data through the tunnel, it may still be traced back to you if you are not encrypting your connection or being lazy with data and computer security. In most cases a consumer is better of without one as it can add complexity to your setup as well as frustration, our advice is if you are not trying to protect yourself from services such as ad trackers or are not sure exactly what a VPN is or the use of one, you are probably better off without one.

Business Use

A typical business user will use a VPN to access corporate resources, this will typically be through some sort of proprietary client software such as Cisco AnyConnect. In most cases this is setup and managed from a company IT department and all the user needs to do is login. While a business user has it easier since they do not have to shop around for a VPN provider they are limited by the VPN configuration. In some cases it may be a “Split Tunnel” VPN where they access the internet through their local connection but all corporate resources are through the VPN, which means that all web searches and downloads will be over their private or public (not good) internet connection, this may put them at risk if not practicing proper computer hygene.

final thoughts

To finish this topic and make it through our first blog post we will end with this, if you are consumer worried about privacy and understand the fundamentals of a VPN, shop around for a VPN provider, a quick google search will turn up more than a few. Be aware of each providers terms of use as some may not provide a truly private service. As for a business user, all offsite corporate activity should be done through a “Private” company managed VPN and each user should follow the company IT rules to maintain a secure environment. See, VPNs aren’t so scary after all?

Hello Blog,

Hello World! It’s good to finally have a blog presence after all this time. At Foose Industries we have been building, learning and innovating during our 5 years of existence and many, many projects and products in multiple areas of hardware and technology, we are finally ready to share some of that with the world through our business and tech blog. The purpose of this blog is to educate and inform both businesses and consumers on many topics related to technology and how that interacts with their business or their “business” as a consumer. One if the many challenges we have faced is dealing with uneducated clients and consumers when it comes to the technology they use when doing business. One of our new services which we are fully rolling out in the form of this blog is to give an inside look on technology and business so both parties can be educated and confident when making purchasing and operational decisions. Some topics we will be exploring in upcoming blog posts are VPNs and how they work for YOU, online payment processing explained and playing offense with smarthome and IoT technologies. We hope you find this blog helpful and informative no matter if you are a consumer or business affiliate!

Ian Foose
Founder, Foose Industries