CES Tech Talk

What’s a beauty company doing at CES, the most powerful tech event in the world? Find out from the expert, L’Oréal’s augmented beauty and tech leader, Guive Balooch. He explains how the best beauty outcomes are far more than skin deep. Advanced engineering and chemistry underpin L’Oréal products so that consumers of all types can look and feel their best. From biotech and synthetic biology to AI and augmented reality, L’Oréal is helping individuals customize how they show themselves to the world. In this episode of CES Tech Talk, you’ll discover that:

• L'Oréal was founded 110 years ago by a chemist. Today, it’s the largest beauty company in the world with 35 well-known brands.
• As the dominant player in beauty-sector accessibility, L’Oréal has applied AI to deliver HAPTA and Brow Magic as counters to limited mobility; these devices, respectively, allow users to expertly apply lipstick and shape eye brows.
• With six years of AI experience, L’Oréal is now poised to explore generative AI as it continues to develop the future of beauty through science and technology.
• Moving to the metaverse, L’Oréal recently launched a Microsoft Teams collaboration with its Maybelline brand to explore virtual makeup during conference calls. No physical product needed.

First announced at CES 2022, the Samsung Gaming Hub has taken gaming to greater heights in the cloud. Today, it’s a 3000-plus game platform where consoles and controllers no longer separate players from their their favorite interactive adventures. Now with partners including Blacknut and its 700-game library, Samsung has enjoyed a 13-fold increase in the hub’s user base since its launch. In this episode of CES Tech Talk, experts from Samsung, Blacknut and CTA discuss how new audiences are playing games from anywhere, on any device, without worrying about hardware or storage. Listen to Samsung’s Mike Lucero, Blacknut’s Daphné Parot and CTA’s Brian Comiskey as they explore:

• Gaming’s evolution from a strictly entertainment activity to one that powers deeper social connections
• The merits of the “virtual console” for creating an interface that’s comfortable for, and accessible to, new players looking for alternatives to traditional consoles and controllers
• Samsung streaming partners, like Blacknut, that enable lightning-fast access to games that can be accessed instantaneously
• Advantages the platform provides to producers and content creators seeking new audiences
• The untapped potential of generative AI in reshaping the gaming industry

The TV streaming business is booming, but its future is in question. With two strikes in the broadcast content world, and forecasts of streaming spends north of $45 billion, what’s really happening behind the scenes of America’s top entertainment medium? Untangling the opposing forces behind our favorite shows are two experts on industry intel and research: Andrew Wallenstein, Variety’s Intelligence Platform lead, and Jessica Boothe, CTA research director. They discuss the factors that are shaping streaming experiences, among them the cost to consumers. Episode topics include:

• Prospects of growth – good, or not so much - in streaming services
• The content-quantity sweet spot for the streaming consumer
• Meghan Markle and the revenue potential of old shows that are new to you
• Ads, sports content and deciphering what audiences want
• Emerging trends in Millennial and Gen Z content consumption

It’s coming your way, and to the highway. It’s an autonomous vehicle (AV) platform that will change the driving experience as we know it. AV tech company Mobileye is completing a platform that dramatically simplifies transitioning regular cars to operate autonomously. Hear from Mobileye SVP Nimrod Nehushtan as he discusses how far the tech has come in making autonomous driving reliable and feasible. Companies like Volkswagen and Porsche have aligned with Mobileye and the AV-driving future. Should you? Find out. 

In this episode, you’ll: 

• Get a drivers-seat view of the Mobileye platform as its road tested  

• Find out what’s in the platform, and how it can be integrated into essentially any car  

• Better appreciate the technical sophistication involved in bringing safe autonomous driving to consumers 

Disproving the assumption that spaceflight is only for the wealthy, this episode of CES Tech Talk tells the story of spaceflight experiences for the general public. Imagine seeing the world from the heavens, free of borders and boundaries, then returning to Earth with a renewed appreciation for our shared global ecosystem. Watch to learn how two companies, Space Perspectives and Base Ventures, are making this a more accessible reality. In this episode, you’ll: 

• Discover new heights in the travel experience with Space Perspective's unique approach to space tourism  

• Learn how space travel has the potential to alter quality of life through new adventures  

• Better appreciate the vital role diverse voices play in sparking innovation, underscored by the Base Ventures dedication to empowering underrepresented communities to become tomorrow’s leaders 

For this entrepreneur, the American Dream came true in Eureka Park at CES. The year was 2020 and Shark Tank scouts were combing the floor, as they’ve done for about a decade, searching for exciting strokes of tech genius. When they met Robbie Cabral, they were blown away. This episode of CES Tech Talk explores how Robbie and his padlock innovation, the fingerprint-activated BenjiLock, made their way to the Shark Tank studio, earning a highly lucrative deal with the show’s “Mr. Wonderful” shark, Kevin O’Leary. Today, the biometric BenjiLock is sold through Hampton Products International, and can be purchased across retail’s top outlets including Walmart, Best Buy, Lowe’s, Ace Hardware and Amazon. Learn what Supervising Casting Producer Mindy Zemrak saw in Robbie, how BenjiLock stood out, and strategies Eureka Park exhibitors can apply as they contend for the Shark Tank spotlight. Could you be next? Find out what it takes, and what to expect at CES 2024.

AI is everywhere, and has been at work for years in our social media feeds, navigation apps and streaming platforms. Now, it’s increasingly helping businesses improve customer service, manage supply chains and more. As generative AI through ChatGPT, DALL-E and many others is grabbing headlines, investors are taking notice. Here to explain how AI works and what it means to consumers, as well as to tech indices, are Sara Mehle, Nasdaq index research strategist, and Brian Comiskey, CTA director of thematic programs. In less than 32 minutes, they break the tech down for general audiences and investors: AI at its core is simply a digital utility. It’s a tool that’s only as smart as the people programming its operations and setting its boundaries.

With Warner Bros. Discovery, and its 28 networks that span digital media, attaining detailed data on ad impact demands a sort of alchemy. This media behemoth is compiling and applying data ingeniously across its properties to effectively connect advertisers with their target audiences. Andrea Zapata, head of ad sales research at Warner Bros. Discovery, breaks down strategies that get results in this episode of CES Tech Talk. Get the full story about ad data collection done right.

From music to TV and film, Variety is all over what’s happening in the entertainment industry. Three years into the company’s Variety Intelligence Platform (or VIP, as it’s known to insiders), which goes beyond headlines to alert media businesses of developments in their industries, Variety has accumulated deep insight into what makes media platforms and products succeed. Variety’s Andrew Wallenstein discusses the media business in this episode of CES Tech Talk, observing that the question on everyone’s mind is, “Who will be left standing?” In this intensely competitive business, Andrew offers predictions on specific platforms’ futures. Find out what he foresees for the metaverse, virtual reality applications, industry mergers and more.

With the largest podcast network in the U.S. and Canada, SXM Media has a lot to offer listeners – and brands seeking to target audiences with extreme precision. The company has mastered advertising technology, or ad tech, employing it to steer advertising to better target audiences that creators seek while informing listeners in ways that entertain. SXM Media, by the way, knows how to advertise with impact. It’s the combined sales organization of Sirius XM Holdings, Inc., which includes the Pandora and Stitcher platforms, and their audiences totaling some 150 million listeners. So, what does SXM Media do in advertising that others don’t? SXM Media ad SVP Lizzie Widhelm shares deep insights gleaned from 17 years in the audio-entertainment space. She also brings first-person experience from her role as creator of the popular Lady Space podcast.