Alcoa Consumer Electronics

Guess who came to Vegas?

Whether it's a down year, an up year, or in between, CES is a circus in the most positive sense: something spectacular seems to going on at every minute. Everything from the latest rock-band gaming equipment to yo-yo earbuds is on display.

This year, in the midst of it all, one of the show's more interesting announcements came not from a gadget manufacturer, but from GreenPeace, on the ground in Las Vegas. It's as if they've extended their planet-saving activism from the open ocean into the world's living rooms, where consumers sit and watch whales on big-screen TVs.

So what was GreenPeace doing in Vegas? Announcing a list of this year's greenest gadgets.

"We're on the hunt for a truly green product that is free from toxic chemicals and excels in energy efficiency and durability," said Casey Harrell, Greenpeace International toxics campaigner. "We're pleased to say that the electronics industry has taken encouraging strides towards increasing the green features on some gadgets over the past year but none stand out in all environmental categories. The race for the green winner is still on."

GreenPeace ranked TVs, laptops, monitors, desktop PCs and cell phones on a variety of criteria that included energy efficiency, clean manufacturing, materials and lifecycle logistics. Here's a link to last year's results. This year's will be posted soon.

At the top of the GreenPeace agenda is getting toxic chemicals such as brominated flame retardants (BFR) and PVC plastics out of consumer electronics. Hand in hand with this goal is improving the recycling rate. Far too many products end up in landfills in third-world countries, according to GreenPeace.

Jason's show wrapup

There are a number of interesting trends for flat panel televisions this year.  While in 2008 the "thin is in" style emerged, in the 2009 show, LG, Samsung, Sharp and others touted very slim, very attractive LCD and plasma televisions.  Thicknesses around 1 inch had to be seen to be believed. OLED TVs, which Sony showed off last year, are followed by OLED displays by LG and Samsung this year. True aesthetic design--colors and metallics--are also a major trend.
 
As for handsets, there is a variety of designs and surfaces.  This year, shiny casings and interconnected, multi-purpose functionality ruled.
 
All-in-all, an interesting show.  Design and advanced technology continue to be consumer electronics companies guiding lights.

...posted by Jason Chen, Alcoa CE Team

Less plastic, more metal in 2009

Two years ago at CES, the world was awed by the flatness, large size, and picture quality of LCD and Plasma displays. But display OEMs seemed to all share a trait in common: their stellar displays were all housed in a rather unremarkable sheath of black plastic. While the picture quality was spectacular, little attention, if any, was given to the design enclosure. Last year, however, OEMs like Samsung and LG introduced yet even thinner and larger displays, and there was a noticeable change in these (and other) OEMs' approach to design, replacing the black frame with innovative uses of color and glass. Still, there was something missing: anything metallic.

Well, Happy New Year! In 2009, not just one, but many OEMs have have introduced aluminum and perhaps other metals into their display frames. We are seeing a broad industry trend to use real metals in display frames and enclosures of notebook PCs and mobile phones as well. OEMs seem to particularly rely on metal as a design accent and "ribbon" around the periphery of the enclosure. Some OEMs, like Sharp, Panasonic, Toshiba, and Sony are showcasing stunning and innovative uses of aluminum within their display frames.

Beyond TVs, we are seeing other OEMs in both mobile phones and notebook PCs get creative with the use of metals and aluminum in their display enclosures. ASUS continues to introduce impressively designed notebooks and netbooks into the market. And RIM, which had a product portfolio last year almost entirely of plastic phones, has introduced multiple models this year that incorporate metals and/or aluminum

The universal emphasis is on design, fashion, and slim, lightweight products. But we've noticed something decidely different in this years' products -- less plastic and more metal.

Posted by Dave Farnsworth, Brigt Innovation, Alcoa CES team

Green is in

While attendance compared to previous years is visibly down, the vibrancy of the market is borne out in the long lines and crowds in place as well as the full-scale exhibition booths by many companies, including Nokia and Panasonic. Nokia's booth seems to be as focused on the full user experience, i.e. wireless communities, web surfing, networking with other devices, digital integration into daily life. Also notable, HP's and Asus' fashion forward laptops and PCs, touting color, texture, and eye-pleasing design

"Green" design is on display as never before, with emphasis on recycle ability and life-cycle factors, including energy usage and environmentally friendly materials. LEDs as low energy components are also a rising factor in design.

Posted by Jason Chen, Alcoa CES team

Notes from the show floor

It's obvious that attendance is down vs. past shows due to the economy. Industry reports claim 10% reduction in exhibits.

• No real new "gotta have" products this year. Emphasis definitely on "greener", "thinner", "smaller"' and "faster".


• Emphasis on all kinds of products that use less power and are recyclable. Alcoa can certainly help in this regard.


• 3D technology seems to be on the comeback. There more companies with 3D gadgets and the infamous 3D glasses. (Aluminum frames would sure look good!)


• Touchscreen mobile phones were everywhere. Big crowds at RIM (Blackberry) booth. Every mobile phone manufacturer wants to make a touch screen phone...Hot...Hot


• Comedian Drew Carey was touting the benefits of his I-phone and Apple products during guest appearance at CES show.

Posted by Jim Stepter, Alcoa CES team

ASUS lowers the bar -- and it couldn't be better

Last year Taiwan-based ASUSTek Computer wowed the CES with their cute, tiny, affordable pastel-colored Eee PC netbooks. This year, everybody's doing cute netbooks. ASUS is moving on to something new. It's either an aluminum PC that's 90% keyboard; or an aluminum keyboard with an embedded PC and screen. Either way, writers ought to love a light, rugged ultraportable machine that lets you type fast and accurately on the go. Click here for a review and more pictures.

The Big Apple

I'm sneaking a peek at the blog action around MacWorld Expo. Apple has intro'd a 17-inch MacBook Pro for those of us who need a portable big-screen TV (and who doesn't?). For the case, Apple has used the rugged, light, recyclable unibody design of its smaller MacBooks, carved from a single chunk of aluminum.

Meanwhile, for those of us who a) need something that fits into a backpack; b) don't have $2799 to spend; or c) are of the PC persuasion, HP's new aluminum netbook, the 10.1-inch, 2.6-pound HP Mini 2140 will float your boat for just $499. The HP book, of course, is debuting at CES and will be available later this month.

Both products look great, but the breakthrough has to be the HP's low price tag. A new high for sustainable aluminum consumer electronics.