Event Report – CE Week NYC

A few weeks ago, around the end of June, the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) rolled into NYC for an event called CE Week. While the main function of this week-long event is to give manufacturers a chance to meet with the members of the press and showcase their new wares, it also serves as a time when industry pundits can speak to other interested and influencial members of the industry. The short version is that this is NYC’s version of CES.

While this year’s CE Week didn’t seem as exciting as the previous year, there were definitely some notable trends and interesting products on show for the rest of the year.  Easily the biggest trend in the products that we saw was portable wireless audio. Bluetooth speakers were cheaper than a dime-a-dozen, with seemingly every other manufacturer offering some way for consumers to have the soundtrack to their lives everywhere they go. And speaking of soundtracks, headphones were another really hot trend this year. We were happy to see that circumaural (large, DJ-style) headphones seemed to be making a show-of-force at the show. We’ve always favored that style of headphones as they are much less likely to damage your hearing than earplugs and they just flat out look cooler.

Not everything was bass and beats at the show and we’re going to prove that right now by running through some of the vendors that we spoke to. Here’s a preview of what to look for between now and the holiday season.

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