Cloud at CES

CES, the consumer electronics show which is just about wrapping up in Las Vegas, has been full of new and improved technologies, from curved TVs, new wearable and connected devices from cars to fridges.

Cloud isn’t usually talked about much at CES, as it is primarily a consumer hardware show, however the trend towards connected devices means that cloud services are often built straight in to devices, allowing hardware to be ‘smart’.

One of the big cloud-based announcements was from Sony who announced PlayStation Now, their video streaming service which will bring movies, TV shows and even PlayStation games directly to TVs, tablets and other devices without any extra hardware needed.

Sony are beta testing PlayStation Now in the US in January, and aiming to launch in the middle of 2014. This is the first major news about a cloud streaming service from Sony since their acquisition of Gaikai last year.

That technology uses dedicated servers and advanced compression techniques to deliver video and games played on a server remotely, with minimal lag. The demise of OnLive, a similar service will be a warning that the user experience must be first rate in order to win consumers over.

If Sony can make PlayStation Now a commercial success, it will be a boost to the cloud industry as competitors will rush to improve their cloud services for end users.

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