So - Who Won The Innovation Competitions? S11 Ep41

In this weeks show, Phil McKinney and Kym McNicholas talk about the winners of the technology and innovation competitions held at CES along with an eclectic set of companies and innovations they believe could be winners in 2016.

They discuss:

Extreme Tech Challenge - one of the largest innovation competitions with more than 3,000 entrants each year, uses CES to select the final three that get a personal invite to Sir Richard Banson's private island for a week of coaching and mentoring. The winners were:Bloom Technologies, Giroptic and Sphero. Richard Branson sent in a video message to the event at CES and said he was so impressed with all 10 finalists that he wanted all of them to come to Necker Island.

At Eureka Park, Kym came across a number of interesting companies including:

• UnaliWear: Wearables for seniors: UnaliWear's Kanega watch provides discreet support for falls, medication reminders, and a guard against wandering in a classically-styled watch with a speech interface rather than buttons. It doesn't require a smart phone. www.UnaliWear.com

• Ashley Chloe Wearable wireless headphones: Ashley Chloe caters to fashion-forward individuals who crave digital wearables designed expressly for their modern lifestyle. The Helix Cuff, its flagship product, bridges the gap between high fashion and functional form in the wearable and headphones market. The product has won the CES Innovation Awards 2016 in the Wearable Technologies category. http://www.ashleychloe.com

• PhoneSoap Mobile Phone and Tablet Sanitizer and Charger: Using UV light technology, PhoneSoap products kill 99.9% of bacteria and viruses. Each sanitizing device is also equipped with USB ports so the phone or tablet can charged while being sanitized. www.phonesoap.com

• Somabar Robotic countertop bartender: The world’s smartest bartender. Somabar integrates Wi-Fi connectivity, onboard sensors, electronic ingredient tagging and automated cleaning making bartending as easy as pressing a button. The Somabar app lets users share and create cocktails with anyone on the globe in seconds. http://www.somabarkickstarter.com/

Phil hosted an annual Pitch-It event where 10 startups come in a pitch to a room of 40 CEO's and CTO's or large companies looking to close a sale. A few of the companies that I found interesting included:

• Pypestream: Is a mobile messaging platform, enabling businesses to connect with Millenials ad GenZ's in real-time using custom chat application. Some  are calling te "WhatsApp" for businesses. https://pypestream.com

• Arcadia Data: Arcadia's platform enables the creation of real-time queries on very large unstructured data sets. Think of it as a big data tool that every organization can take advantage of. http://arcadiadata.com

• RTI Studios: Based on military technology, RTI produced panaormaic 360 degree video capture and distribution using a single camera that produces high quality real-tim stream without seams or distortions. http://www.rtistudios.com

.. and more.

In one case, you could look at CES as one big massive set of innovation competitions. Each company at the worlds largest consumer electronics trade-show is competing to win the minds and wallets of their customers.