Wireless Gets Vegas Focus

By Steve Smith -- TWICE, 3/22/2010

East Side, West Side and all around Times Square were events to hail the debut of 3D TV by Panasonic and Samsung here in the Big Apple in the past two weeks.

Many media types who attended will return to Las Vegas for a respite from all the hype from this new technology. Of course, the 3D TV promo blitz is far from over, no matter where you go this year. But there should be a slight lull this week, and it will be aptly filled by the International CTIA Wireless 2010 show that‘s being held in Vegas.

And while Times Square is still “the crossroads of the world,” as the saying goes, wireless devices are now the crossroads for handheld versions of audio and video entertainment, Web-browsing, social networking and good old-fashioned voice phone calls. The newest devices will be on display at CTIA’s show.

The variety of handheld devices — Android smartphones, eco-friendly phones, hybrid satellite phone, prototype handsets with embedded ATSC Mobile TV tuners, netbooks and e-readers — are as diverse as the features they sport and the services they provide.

There will also be a plethora of accessories for all of these products which, like many other CE categories, where many of the profits are.

Just take a look at p. 1 where our CTIA coverage begins by senior editor Joe Palenchar and managing editor John Laposky. As diverse as the products and services they provide are, for years the way cellphones and other wireless devices have been sold to consumers has been a closed loop.

That has begun to change, due to legislative efforts, handset-maker demands and the popularity of the devices. Carriers are opening up their distribution and more handsets are being sold by national retailers.

During a time when CE dealers and distributors of all stripes are looking to add categories they never thought they could before, plenty are turning to wireless products.

According to CTIA, the show will include a Retail Resource Pavilion that will show point-of-sale devices, kiosks, inventory-control solutions and “whatever helps retailers to sell phones,” as CTIA VP Robert Mesirow told TWICE in our March 8 issue.

While home entertainment — namely large flat-screen TVs in 2D, or, coming soon to a retailer near you, 3D, and being connected to a theater-quality audio system — is still the core of what the CE industry is about, the most ubiquitous group of devices made by this industry is wireless.

For example, those were the products everyone of a certain age was playing with — either to take pictures or videos or texting friends — when they attended the Black Eyed Peas concert for the debut of Samsung’s LED 3D TV in Times Square this month.

These devices are used more than TVs or PCs on an everyday basis, especially from those in younger demographics whose brand loyalties are just developing.

So if you’re a retailer looking to add a category (or categories) to your stores and build traffi c, if you haven’t looked at the possibilities of wireless, it might make sense if you do.