What I did on my Winter Vacation: CES 2018 with the Coldwell Banker Blue Crew

Coldwell Banker Blue Crew member, Roger Pettingell, recap’s his top CES 2018 moments

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The following is a guest post by Roger Pettingell from Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate in Longboat Key, FL

For the second year in a row, I attended the Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in Las Vegas.  Last year I was on my own, like a deer in the high tech headlights.  This time I had guides and Blue Crew compatriots, and it was much more fun!

CES can be very overwhelming.  There are over 2.6 million net square feet of exhibitor space, featuring many of the world’s biggest tech companies as well as innovative startups.  Over 180,000 people attended from all over the world.  During the convention, Vegas is full!

There are so many things which caught my attention; here are a few special ones:

1. Coldwell Banker sponsored the Smart Home Marketplace at CES, and many familiar vendors were there.  What struck me this year was the integration of the various products with voice-controlled systems like Google Home and Amazon Alexa.  The benefit to our real estate customers will be a vast choice of products to choose from with easy to use controls.  Last year, a consumer would need to flip from app to app to maintain their smart home.  Now, simply say, “Google, turn on the lights, change the temperature, lock the door and play Ed Sheeran!”
2. Drones were everywhere!  Last year, I saw two or three booths exhibiting drones; this year there were probably 50.  DGI, , had the biggest selection and is used by most Realtors whom I know.  One of the exciting parts of going to the show was the advantage of seeing upcoming products which are being released.  DGI introduced both a new OSMO MOBILE (handheld camera stabilizer) as well as a new mid-level drone.
3. The Big Players like Google, Sony, Intel, and LG were there to impress – and they did.  Google was literally everywhere, from their Google Playground featuring over 300 Google-connected products to on-site representatives at partner booths.  Big televisions were replaced this year by enormous televisions and 4G is heading toward 8G.  Intel raved about 5G, the ultrafast data platform coming in 2020; you can hardly expect to ride in a driverless car without instant fast data transmission.
4. There were some fun tech items, which you may or may never purchase but were cool to see.  I have to say, I was quite impressed by the clothing folding machine which automatically folds all your laundry ($1,000), the electronic cat liter box which can be cleaned via an app, the ping-pong playing robot and the Tennibot, a robot which can automatically pick up all your tennis balls!

FoldiMate, robotic folding machine

Litter Robot, self cleaning cat litter box

Tennibot, autonomous tennis ball collector

I arrived back home in Florida intellectually pumped and physically exhausted (especially my feet) but I can’t wait till CES 2019!

If you’re already affiliated with Coldwell Banker and want to learn more about our Smart Home initiative, visit CB Exchange and search “Smart Home.”

If you would like to know what Coldwell Banker agents have access to, head to coldwellbanker.com/join and explore the possibilities of moving your business to Coldwell Banker.

Athena Snow

Senior Manager, Public Relations & Giving for Coldwell Banker. Grew up in Sarasota and attended college at Western Carolina University. Athena wanted to wake up in that city that doesn’t sleep so headed to Madison Avenue to start her marketing career. She has been with this awesome brand for more than 15 years and can be found generating buzz about CB in every way possible. Athena helps to grow the brand’s position as the most storied real estate company within the industry and has led many high-profile endeavors; she was at the forefront of the brand’s pioneering smart home campaign, raised $6 million in two years to build 130 Habitat for Humanity homes, and led the Homes for Dogs program in partnership with Adopt-a-Pet.com that resulted in tens-of-thousands of dogs finding their furever home. She currently leads the CB Supports St. Jude program, which encourages the Coldwell Banker network’s 96,000+ real estate agents to make donations to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital for every real estate transaction they represent. In her spare time, you can find her either digging up a new area in her yard for another flower bed or planning her next travel adventure. She's the proud mom of three cats Jolene, Ziggy and Lucy.