Samsung, LG Electronics, Panasonic and others touted a future in which homes, cars and pockets brim with technology that collaborates to make lives easier.

Google and Amazon are key players in the trend, with their rival Assistant and Alexa voice-commanded virtual aides being woven deeper into consumer electronics and vehicles. Samsung meanwhile is playing catch-up with its Bixby assistant.

“The biggest theme is the fight for the connected home between Google and Amazon,” Patrick Moorhead of Moor Insights & Strategy said during a day of back-to-back CES press briefings.

“The notion that there is this new layer that can replace apps and operating systems means the stakes are high.”

If voice-commanded assistants become the new norm for interacting with computers and the internet, being the virtual aide of choice could be a powerful and profitable position.

“Competition is heating up for the smart assistant ecosystem, and the question is who is going to be the smart assistant of choice in 2018,” Gartner analyst Brian Blau told AFP at CES.

Apple and Google have big leads, since their rival digital assistants are already on millions of smartphones and computers, according to Blau.

“That is why Amazon is being so aggressive; they need millions of more endpoints for Alexa in people’s hands,” Blau said.

“The loser, if any, is Cortana, because nobody is talking about them,” he added, referring to Microsoft’s digital assistant.

But, Moorhead countered, Microsoft is likely playing to its strength by angling to be the dominant digital assistant in workplaces and Cortana is already on some half a billion computers powered by Windows 10 software.

– LG robot snub –

Consumer electronics titan LG proclaimed this year a “tipping point” for smart homes during a press event that featured an ignoble on-stage fail.

A cute, table-top smart hub called CLOi went awry, with the voice-commanded, small snow-person shaped device quickly ignoring an LG executive.

“CLOi doesn’t like me evidently,” quipped LG US marketing vice president David VanderWaal.

“Even robots have bad days.”

Such moments are playfully referred to as “the curse of the live demo” in Silicon Valley.

LG is developing technology designed to enable its appliances, televisions and other devices adapt to users and collaborate to handle tasks.

The AI platform is “open” to utilizing software made by other companies, LG chief technology officer I.P. Park said.

“The world has become just too complex for just any single company to insist on a proprietary, closed solution,” Park said.

LG collaborators include Google and Alexa creator Amazon, according to the South Korea-based consumer electronics titan.

Google Assistant is being integrated into LG products including televisions, headphones and smart speakers.

“Our goal at Google is to help people get things done in a natural, seamless way,” Google Assistant vice president of engineering Scott Huffman said.

Interacting with computers by speaking has proven a hit, and the ability of virtual aids to converse with people is expected to improve quickly, according to researchers from the Consumer Technology Association behind the annual CES gathering.

A LG ThinQ speaker with Google Assistant will be available in the “coming months,” according to Huffman.

LG’s vision for its artificial intelligence platform includes enabling appliances, cars, air conditioners and other “everyday” devices to adapt to users’ individual preferences as well as collaborate on tasks.

“Our products will learn from users to provide intelligent services, not the other way around,” Park said.

“You won’t have to study instruction manuals any more.”

– Bixby branches out –

Samsung Electronics used its press event to extol the South Korean company’s strategy of making its broad array of offerings connected and enhancing them with digital brains of Bixby virtual assistant.

“Televisions, refrigerators and more will understand you and your preferences, and tailor an experience that is right for you,” said Samsung global consumer electronics president H.S. Kim.

A new SmartThings application to be released by mid-year will consolidate command of Samsung devices and be a “remote control for your connected life,” Kim said.

Samsung is investing in improving Bixby so that it “intuitively understands you and figures out what you need before you ask,” according to Kim.

Samsung televisions sold in the US will have Bixby to respond to spoken requests or control other home devices.

Bixby was also being built into a “family hub” smart system in Samsung refrigerators with large touch-screens on doors.

Panasonic announcements included that it is working with Amazon to build Alexa smart assistant into “infotainment” systems it sells to carmakers.

“Alexa can help customers with thousands of things in the car — navigation, music, audiobooks and more,” said Alexa automotive vice president Ned Curic.

“This is a big step toward bringing Alexa to customers wherever they might need her, whether they’re at home or on-the-go.”

Panasonic also collaborates with Google to build Assistant smarts into some of its products.

After adding @flightbot as a friend, people can ask the bot anything related to air travel booking. Share the dates, departure city and destination, and @flightbot will search for the flights with the best prices.

Customers can complete the transaction and make a secure payment all within the @flightbot chat. And the more people use the bot, the better it is at understanding them and the better it will be at communicating.

Simon Akeroyd, vice president, corporate strategy and business development, Amadeus Asia Pacific said that the flights people can see and buy on @flightbot are made available from a variety of travel agents.

“Consumers who use @flightbot will be able to choose from a pool of flights with the touch of a button all through their favourite messaging platform,” he said. “@flightbot is available 24/7, so people can search for and buy flights whenever inspiration for travel strikes.”

Akeroyd said @flightbot was created as part of the Amadeus commitment to innovation in travel in Asia-Pacific. When people interact with @flightbot, they are getting direct access to Amadeus content and technology.

The result is a quick, convenient, smart form of flight research and booking that is available around the clock.

In Thailand, Line has more than 33 million users spending an average of 70 minutes a day on the platform, making it a natural place for Amadeus to begin the @flightbot pilot project.

“Many people in Asia are deeply engaged with messaging platforms on mobile devices and so we believe that @flightbot is a very useful tool for travellers and travel agents,” said Akeroyd.

“But we are still in pilot mode, so do share any feedback. We are excited to see @flightbot reach its full potential to bring travel agents and travellers in Thailand all the benefits of technology.”

The Japanese auto giant’s president Akio Toyoda unveiled the new initiative at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, seeking to get ahead of rivals offering single-use autonomous transporters.

The “e-Palette” vehicle platform features a boxy electric-powered minibus designed to handle deliveries or even bring retail services to consumers, but can also be used for ridesharing and other purposes.

“It is a flexible platform that can be adapted to a range of services,” Toyoda said, including ridesharing, retail, medical services or entertainment.

The media demonstration showed how the vehicle could deliver packages or even enable consumers to try on shoes or apparel.

The new initiative is part of an effort to transform Toyota from an automaker to a multifaceted “mobility” company, Toyoda said.

Partners in the project, which is set to be deployed “in the early 2020s,” include Amazon, Uber, Pizza Hut and China-based Didi. Rival Japanese automaker Mazda will also participate in development.

The company said it hopes to showcase the technology at the 2020 Olympics in Japan.

Internet search giant Baidu Inc said on Tuesday that it is working with Access Services, a US-based public paratransit services provider to launch a self-driving pilot project in Los Angeles by the end of this year, as the tech behemoth accelerated its expansion in overseas markets.

The project is set to provide short route self-driving vehicle services for persons with disabilities and senior citizen communities, said the company at the Consumer Electronics Show 2018 in Las Vegas.

Meanwhile, Baidu and Singapore technology conglomerate Asia Mobility Industries unveiled a joint venture and a newly established $200 million fund to promote the commercialization of Baidu’s autonomous driving technologies in Southeast Asia.

The fund aims to upgrade existing transportation infrastructure and further smart mobility research and development regionally. In addition, strategic partners in this region are also expected to participate in Apollo, Baidu’s open autonomous driving platform.

The tech giant also announced Apollo 2.0 for simple urban road conditions, strengthened tie-ups with its 90 partners including Microsoft Corp, Udacity and TomTom, which will integrate its global HD mapping service into the Apollo platform.

“Apollo is from China, but is becoming increasingly global and in the future it will cooperate with even more overseas regions,” said Zhang Yaqin, president of Baidu.

It launched the Apollo Global Institute, in a bid to further promote the growth of global autonomous driving talent by leveraging Baidu’s technology centres in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Silicon Valley and Seattle.

China expects smart cars with partial or fully autonomous functions to account for 50 per cent of new vehicles sold in the country by 2020, the National Development and Reform Commission, China’s top economic planner, said on Friday.

The government will accelerate the drafting of regulations for public road tests of self-driving and revise the current road safety regulations when conditions are mature.

Beijing released the country’s first guideline on road tests of autonomous vehicles last December.

“Baidu is expanding its global alliance with an aim to make Apollo ultimately a globally compatible platform with different cars from different manufacturers,” said Karen Chan, an equity analyst at Jefferies Hong Kong.

The company has been heavily investing in self-driving technologies. It said it would mass-produce driverless buses for designated areas by the end of July with Chinese bus manufacturer Xiamen King Long United Automotive Industry Co.

It also received permission from authorities in California to test its autonomous driving technologies in the state in 2016, and opened its second United States R&D facility in California in October.

In its first year, the fund expects to invest up to $200 million in start-ups and open innovation partnerships with technology entrepreneurs focused on new mobility, including vehicle electrification, autonomous systems, connectivity and artificial intelligence.

With further annual investments, Alliance Ventures is set to become the largest corporate venture capital fund in the automotive industry over the period of Alliance 2022, the strategic midterm plan launched last year by Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi.

Carlos Ghosn, chairman and chief executive officer of Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi, said that with the open innovation approach, they will invest and collaborate with start-up companies and technology entrepreneurs, who will benefit from the global scale of the alliance. This new fund reflects the collaborative spirit and entrepreneurial mind-set at the heart of the alliance, he said.

The new fund is unique because it offers potential partners access to the global scale and scope of Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi, which sold more than 10 million vehicles in 2017 through 10 separate brands with a presence in all major automotive markets.

Alliance Ventures will invest in start-ups to bring new technologies and businesses to the alliance while ensuring a fair financial return. The fund will make strategic investments at all start-up stages and will incubate both new automotive entrepreneurs and forge new partnerships, Ghosn said.

Around 3,900 exhibitors from across the world are expected to show off their innovative products to more than 170,000 visitors at the event this year.

From smart home appliances to robots, from 3D printing to driverless vehicles, breakthrough technologies of all aspects in the consumer electronics industry will be introduced to the world through the show.

The event will continue through Friday.

Let’s sneak a peek at the show.

The Bellus3D Inc’s Face Camera Pro performs a three-dimensional (3D) scan of an attendee’s face during the CES Unveiled event in Las Vegas on Jan 7, 2018. [Photo/VCG]

The Toyota Motor Corp’s e-Palette concept vehicle is displayed during the company’s press conference at the CES in Las Vegas, on Jan 8, 2018. [Photo/VCG]

A Magik augmented reality toothbrush for children by Kolibree is displayed during CES Unveiled in Las Vegas, on January 7, 2018. [Photo/VCG]

Debbie Cohen-Abravanel, CMO at FoldiMate, takes folded laundry from a FoldiMate automatic laundry folding machine, during CES Unveiled in Las Vegas, Jan 7, 2018. [Photo/VCG]

A woman demonstrates the features of a Care OS smart health and beauty hub in a mirror, during CES Unveiled in Las Vegas, on January 7, 2018. [Photo/VCG]

Jay Yi (L) and Steven Kim demonstrate a Mars ear-to-ear translator developed by Orfeo Soundworks Inc during the CES in Las Vegas, Jan 7, 2018. [Photo/VCG]

Melomind, a pair of headset that comes with four electroencephalographic sensors to track activity of human’s brain, is displayed during a press event at CES in Las Vegas, Jan 7, 2018. [Photo/VCG]

John Cummins, sales and marketing senior vice-president for DisplayLink, demonstrates the company’s DisplayLink XR reference design with a wireless virtual reality game during CES Unveiled in Las Vegas, Jan 7, 2018. [Photo/VCG]

Buddy, an entertainment and assistant robot developed by Blue Frog Robotics, interacts with an attendee during CES Unveiled in Las Vegas, Jan 7, 2018. [Photo/VCG]

A R-PUR anti-pollution mask, which can filter out particles as small as pm 0.4 microns, is displayed during CES Unveiled in Las Vegas, Jan 7, 2018. [Photo/VCG]

E-vone smart shoes with falling alert are displayed at CES Unveiled in Las Vegas, Jan 7, 2018. [Photo/VCG]

Byton’s CEO Carsten Breitfeld speaks during the announcement of a smart intuitive vehicle concept car at the CES in Las Vegas, Jan 7, 2018. [Photo/VCG]

A Catspad smart pet assistant is displayed at CES Unveiled in Las Vegas, Jan 7, 2018. [Photo/VCG]

Jen-Hsun Huang, president and chief executive officer of Nvidia Corp, holds a Nvidia Titan V supercomputer made for developers as he speaks during an event at the CES in Las Vegas, Jan 7, 2018. [Photo/VCG]

A GDU O2 3-axis gimbal, 4K video compact folding drone and controller are displayed at CES Unveiled Las Vegas, on Jan 7, 2018. [Photo/VCG]

The LG Electronics Inc Cloi Serving Robot, from left, Porter Robot, and Shopping Cart Robot are unveiled during the company’s press conference at the CES in Las Vegas, on Jan 8, 2018. [Photo/VCG]

Samsung debuts a 146-inch modular TV called “The Wall” at the CES in Las Vegas, Jan 7, 2018. [Photo/VCG]

LG Electronics is developing technology designed to enable its appliances, televisions and other devices adapt to users and collaborate to handle tasks.

The AI platform is “open” to utilizing software made by other companies, LG chief technology officer I.P. Park said during a press event on the eve of the official opening of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

“The world has become just too complex for just any single company to insist on a proprietary, closed solution,” Park said.

LG collaborators include Google and Alexa creator Amazon, according to the South Korea-based consumer electronics titan.

“2018 will be the tipping point for the smart home and, more important, for the smart connected lifestyle,” LG US marketing vice president David Vanderwaal said.

Google Assistant is being integrated into LG products including televisions, headphones and smart speakers, Park said.

“Our goal at Google is to help people get things done in a natural, seamless way,” Google Assistant vice president of engineering Scott Huffman said.

Interacting with computers by speaking has proven a hit, and the ability of virtual aids to converse with people is expected to improve quickly, according to researchers from the Consumer Technology Association behind the annual CES gathering.

A LG ThinQ speaker with Google Assistant will be available “in coming months,” according to Huffman.

Robotic room service

LG’s vision for its artificial intelligence platform includes enabling appliances, cars, air conditioners and other “everyday” devices to adapt to users’ individual preferences as well as collaborate on tasks.

“Our products will learn from users to provide intelligent services, not the other way around,” Park said.

“You won’t have to study instruction manuals any more.”

An on stage-demo of the cute, table-top smart hub device called CLOi went awry though, with the voice-commanded device quickly ignoring the words of an LG executive.

“CLOi doesn’t like me evidently,”quipped LG US marketing vice president David VanderWaal.

“Even robots have bad days.”

Such moments are playfully referred to as “the curse of the live demo” in Silicon Valley.

LG is working on more and smarter robots, showing off concept models crafted to serve as hotel porters, deliver room service meals, or function as shopping carts complete with check-out capabilities.

Panasonic announcements on the eve of CES included that it is working with Amazon to build Alexa smart assistant into “infotainment” systems it sells to car makers.

Panasonic planned to deliver Alexa voice command capabilities in cars, with some available even without internet connectivity.

The Alexa Onboard technology integrated into Panasonic Skip Gen technology will bring voice functionality for in-car users, and for the first time, offer certain select Alexa capabilities without an Internet connection.

“Alexa can help customers with thousands of things in the car – navigation, music, audiobooks and more,” said Alexa automotive vice president Ned Curic.

“This is a big step toward bringing Alexa to customers wherever they might need her, whether they’re at home or on-the-go.”

Panasonic also collaborates with Google to build Assistant smarts into some of its products.

Fight for homes

“The biggest theme is the fight for the connected home between Google and Amazon,” Patrick Moorhead of Moor Insights & Strategy said during a day of back-to-back CES press briefings.

“The notion that there is this new layer that can replace apps and operating systems means the stakes are high.”

If voice-commanded assistants become the new norm for interacting with computers and the internet, being the virtual aide of choice could be a powerful and profitable position.

“Competition is heating up for the smart assistant ecosystem, and the question is who is going to be the smart assistant of choice in 2018,” Gartner analyst Brian Blau told AFP at CES.

Apple and Google have big leads in the race, since their rival digital assistants are already on millions of smartphones and computers, according to Blau.

“That is why Amazon is being so aggressive; they need millions of more endpoints for Cortana in people’s hands,” Blau said.

“The loser, if any, is Cortana because nobody is talking about them,” he added, referring to Microsoft’s digital assistant.

But, Moorhead countered, Microsoft is likely playing to its strength by angling to be the dominant digital assistant in workplaces and Cortana is already on some half a billion computers powered by Windows 10 software.

“The industry is making strides, but we are a long way away from having everything in your house work together,” Moorhead said.

Wang, 82, is an academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering. He is known in the academic field as the “King of Explosives” for his research into compounds that have important civilian and military applications. His inventions have improved the launch range of Chinese missiles and cannons by more than 20 percent.

Hou, 88, also an academician at the CAE, is the founder of China’s modern field of virology. He laid the foundation for China’s molecular virus research, wrote numerous textbooks, created China’s first genetically engineered drugs — highly potent medicines that can be mass-produced — saving millions of lives and billions for the country’s economy.

The nation’s top science award comes with a prize of 5 million yuan ($769,000). Twenty-nine scientists have received the award since it was established in 2000.

Seven foreign scientists won the state award for international cooperation and they received certificates from the top leaders at the ceremony.

Wang, addressing the ceremony, said that in his report to the Party’s 19th National Congress, Xi has made visionary remarks on building an innovative country and a strong power in science and technology.

“General Secretary Xi presented Academician Hou Yunde and me the certificates in person, showing that the Party and country pay great attention to scientific works, and we are deeply moved and motivated,” Wang said.

The scientists should carry out their historical mission, make contributions to the country, cultivate world-class scientific talent and produce top-class scientific outcomes, he added.

Premier Li Keqiang said at the ceremony that the country should implement the plans of the Party’s 19th National Congress, make its guide Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and carry out an innovation-driven development strategy.

The government will support innovation by small and medium-sized enterprises and encourage the application of advances in science and technology, Li said.

China considers the development of fundamental sciences such as mathematics to be of great importance, Li said. The government will advance institutional reform to ensure that scientists are able to gain both fame and real benefits from their outstanding works.

The premier also pledged to enhance international cooperation, speed up the formation of international joint research centers and build a global platform for innovation.

Companies across a wide range of industries using IT are struggling to secure talented workers, while shopping and services are increasingly going online and the use of artificial intelligence (AI) is expanding. If the issue is not addressed promptly, it may have a negative impact on the government’s growth strategy.

“We cannot debug our programs because of a labor shortage,” lamented an engineer for a leading electronics maker who has been working on a project to develop an AI-equipped product. The engineer said the development of the product has not progressed well and the start of its sales has been delayed by more than a year.

On the other hand, for IT engineers themselves, the job market is bright. “All companies are facing a shortage of engineers. We can select any company we want,” a 31-year old engineer said.

According to an estimate by the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry, the shortage of IT workers will reach about 370,000 in 2020 and 790,000 in 2030.

The shortage became evident around 2015, but the situation has been exacerbated recently as the development of new services utilizing IT is expanding across a variety of industries, from the manufacturing sector to financial businesses to the distribution industry.

As an increasing number of people go online to shop, many companies are putting efforts into creating websites designed for e-commerce and apps for mobile shopping.

In the convenience store industry, the use of IT is accelerating, including with the introduction of unmanned check-out counters. An executive of the operator of a leading convenience store chain expressed a sense of crisis. “We cannot hope for growth unless we utilize everything we can, including AI, the IoT [internet of things] and robots.”

Securing workers early

Major companies are trying every possible means to secure workers.

Fujitsu Ltd. plans to hold a seminar next month for university students who are interested in IT. The company apparently aims at securing talented prospective employees who have experience in app development and other IT fields.

Toyota Motor Corp. distributed “help wanted” ads until mid-November around the Roppongi Hills complex, where there is a concentration of IT companies. The firm also tries to attract IT workers through its recruiting website, which is headlined, “Those who believe they have no ties with cars — welcome to Toyota.” The automaker needs experts in AI and image recognition amid competition over the development of automated driving systems.

Fast Retailing Co., which runs the Uniqlo stores, has been strengthening its mid-career recruitment of IT workers to discover consumer tastes by analyzing big data, including the movements of visitors at its stores.

“Companies like major banks, which had no interest in recruiting IT engineers, are now hiring more and more from IT companies,” an expert said.

According to Recruit Career Co., which helps people looking to change jobs, there were about two job openings per job-seeking IT engineer five years ago, but now there are about four. At a time when there are 1.9 openings per job-seeker in the overall labor market, the shortage of IT engineers is noteworthy.

Alarm bells

The government’s growth strategy calls for enhanced corporate productivity through AI analysis of data obtained from the IoT.

But the current human resources situation could put the brakes on realizing this strategy.

An executive of an IT company sounded the alarm. “There have been calls for the need to foster human resources in the IT field, but measures for this issue have barely progressed,” the executive said.

“If it’s not addressed, we will have to recruit local IT engineers from our overseas offices.

5G on the rise

5G will take centre stage at this year’s CES since at some point this year; 5G will actually be launched. From lab to the real world, this technology is expected to rev up the internet usage drastically. As tested before, 5G will be bringing low latency wireless data at a cheaper rate with wider coverage than 3G/4G. In fact, there are several high voltage sessions on CES this year which will be attended by top bosses of Nokia, Ericsson, Qualcomm and many other technology companies.

Bigger, brighter, sharper

LG one of the biggest display manufacturers has already made the news with a 65-inch rollable OLED TV! Yes, this almost physics defying marvel is just tip of the iceberg. Sony, Samsung, TCL, Sharp, Panasonic has already announced OLED series with jaw dropping price-tag. This is on top of the parade of 4K HDR TVs that will be making the CES 2018. The usual gimmicks will be there too: 8K display, transparent TVs and prototypes.

Smart home solution

Expect this year CES summoned the very best in home automation. Smart home solutions will be one of the key attractions globally in 2018. It is expected more than 1 million homes/residents will be adopting the smart home solution. To cater to that market, Amazon, Google, and other top dogs are planning to showcase their prized new innovative products for the world in this year’s CES 2018. Several other home appliance makers are also bringing new product this year.

It’s all about VR

The immersive experience is going to rule the entertainment industry of tomorrow. Hence a significant focus this year is on VR headsets, haptics, motion-tracking, directional sound and other relevant software. Carl Zeiss, Innex, Kinmo, Kodak, Orbbec, Royole, Sphero and many other immersive tech giants are expected to display their top techs to the masses. And there are going to be several sessions on the tech as well. VR from the regular vendors at a much cheaper price-tag is expected to announcedas well.

Better, faster, cheaper

Intel and AMD are already gearing up for CES. Intel CEO Brian Krzanich will deliver the show’s opening keynote address on Monday.  The keynote will focus on next-gen tech, including AI, 5G connectivity, self-driving cars and VR. AMD’s Ryzen Threadripper 1950X processor actually got best innovation award of CES this year. It supports 16 cores and 32 threads, delivers superior performance which built around AMD’s powerful “Zen” core architecture. These processor are not only better, faster and cheaper compared to the value you pay for but also much future-proof.