Blogs

The New Language of Electronics

by on ‎01-24-2012 03:44 PM

Smart, seamless, connected. 1080p vs. 4k. Ultrabook, netbook, eBook, tablet.  What on Earth? Pass me a thesaurus. Please speak in plain ole English! Have you ever felt that way? Guess what? Many of us do, and in this electronics age (which seems to evolve daily right before our eyes), it can sometimes seem a bit overwhelming.


No worries, QVC’s Electronics team has come to the rescue. We just got home from the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas where we spent a week studying, taking notes and exploring products from around the world so you can get the best the industry has to offer.


CES is an international extravaganza for the electronics industry. Inventors, investors, retailers and manufacturers all converge for a week of showcasing and knowledge-sharing in the heart of Las Vegas glitz and glamour. It’s truly information and visual overload.


Just to give you a glimpse, CES covers 1.8 million (yes, million) square feet of space…that’s equivalent to 37 football fields! There are more than 3,000 booths, plus meeting rooms and expo halls. It’s really like Disneyland for techno geeks.


This year, QVC sent a team of about 15 folks to seek out the latest and greatest products to bring to you on air and online at QVC.com. Ultimately, our goal was to become your one-stop shop for all things electronics, combining QVC's 25-year legacy of trust with today’s top-tier electronics brands.


But what does that mean for you and me as consumers? So glad you asked. It means we get a better understanding of how these things work for us and how they make our day-to-day lives easier and more streamlined. Electronics are available everywhere. What QVC does so well is explain how to use them and why we need them.


As I made my way through the week, an "umbrella" theme for the show became more and more apparent. The idea of "smart" anything: smartphone, Smart TV, Smart House. "Smart" technology is very reminiscent of the old George Jetson cartoon (we still don’t have Rosie yet…bummer). It’s all about a Connected Home—being able to access and control all your devices from one outlet (smartphone or tablet or computer) and the ability to have any/all of your information and entertainment on demand, both WHEN and WHERE you want it. Sounds pretty cool, huh?


Imagine this—you get halfway to work and think, "Did I close the garage door?" Instead of driving home to check or calling a neighbor, you could pull up that info on a phone, tablet or computer. Forget to DVR your favorite show? No worries, you can program your device remotely. Same idea for cooking. This is all about seamless integration, which is a fancy way of saying better communication between us and all our devices and everyone speaking the same language. It’s all about the freedom to connect through all of your devices. You may have heard me use the term "Life Connect" on air…this is what I’m talking about.


Over the next weeks and months, you'll see some great new products and solutions to help you through life. I’ll be there with you on Electronics Made Easy with Albany and on Facebook (www.facebook.com/albanyirvin) answering your questions. We’ll muddle through it together, and when I don’t know the answer, I’ll find out for you. Can’t wait to see what kind of quirky, cool things we come up with!


—Albany Irvin