CES 2011: Measuring a World Without Wires

This post is part of a series covering CES 2011. Read other posts here. ------- The Consumer Electronics Show is the biggest spectacle in the world of tech. Although the event is held in January, the technologies announced at the show set the pace for the year — and sometimes the next several years. But CES 2011 is not an event to be held at face value. While giant 3D TVs are grabbing the attention of show-goers, the real technical revolution is occurring over the air. About a decade ago the proliferation of cell phones made it possible for individuals to cut their landlines and depend instead on a device that could go anywhere. Today's mobile devices are much more than landlines ever were. They are now our advisors, our navigators, our entertainment and they still make our phone calls. Now, fourth generation (4G) wireless technologies are poised to accelerate these devices to speeds as fast as your home broadband — and in many cases faster. As Marko pointed out in the Friday Morning Buzz, coverage of mobile devices constitutes 54.5% of the press coming out of CES, and 4G is a big part of the reason why. But if you're still thinking that you've heard this all before, consider this: The average speed of broadband in U.S. homes is under 5Mbps — Verizon's LTE wireless hits about 20Mbps. Speeds like these will change the way you interact with the Internet and the way the Internet interacts with the world. In short, it's the mobile revolution that you've been waiting for and Webtrends Mobile Analytics are ready and waiting to measure it.