What to Think, Ep. 35: Everything you need to know about CES 2015

Gary Shapiro is the chief executive of the Consumer Electronics Association, which hosts the annual electronics extravaganza in Las Vegas called International CES.

With CES starting next week, GamesBeat lead writer Dean Takahashi and I check in with Shapiro to learn about some of the highlights of the show — and what the electronics industry has in store for 2015, from new tablets, phones, and TVs to 3D printers, drones, and even tech that can help save the world.

Shapiro says it will be the biggest CES ever, with the most attendees, the most exhibitors, and the most square footage of exhibit space. One of the areas we’re most intrigued by is Eureka Park, the show’s startup zone, which will feature 375 smaller companies, up from 220 last year.

Shapiro authored the New York Times bestsellers “Ninja Innovation: The Ten Killer Strategies of the World’s Most Successful Businesses” (Harper Collins, 2013) and “The Comeback: How Innovation Will Restore the American Dream” (Beaufort, 2011). So we also took the opportunity to ask him about the state of the tech economy in the U.S., and how he feels things will look in 2015.

We’ll have a lot more stories from CES in the next few days: Don’t miss our complete coverage of CES 2015.

Plus, we discuss 3 of the most popular VentureBeat stories from 2014:

• What’s up with The Pirate Bay
• How to get hired by Google, and
• Our early, prescient coverage of the iPhone 6.

All this and more is in our latest weekly episode. Check it out!

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Enjoy the show!