Policy implications of new administration discussed at tech expo
2025 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week threw a bit of a curveball to Fred Jacobs, president and founder of Jacobs Media.
There are the usual gadgets and gadgets on display at CES with all the hype and glitz, including a robot vacuum cleaner that picks up dirty socks and a guitar without strings. Jacobs says the breathtaking technology and impressive visual theatrics often leave him scratching his head and wondering “How did they do that?”
However, this year the big tech show has something different, he says.
“Political overtones about how the next administration and Congress could influence the tech market are widespread. What could be the impact of President Trump and his close alliance with Elon Musk? There is a lot of speculation about all of this. Who will be the winners and losers? Nobody really knows,” Jacobs says.
Jacobs says he’s never seen a political turning point that could impact technology like the results of the 2024 election cycle. “There’s a lot of talk on the radio about the impact that all the political changes and of the impact of the new administration,” he said.
Changes are also coming in the area of next-generation vehicles, Jacobs says. One underlying trend discovered at CES concerns more sophisticated in-car head-up displays. In fact, Hyundai has a full windshield head-up display.
“It’s the windshield screen print if you will. They have been playing with new glass display case of different types in recent years and it feels like it is becoming a bigger deal. That means radio will have to be ready for that,” Jacobs said.
One company to watch is Quu, he says, which provides tools for radio stations to deploy visual content, including metadata on in-car dashboards.
(Related: “Quu Refines Its Visual Message Offerings”)
“We will see how Quu’s technology translates into a larger heads-up display. The cool thing is that the radio has the potential to look better than most audio and entertainment sources in the car,” Jacobs said.
The tech company is exhibiting at the Xperi show at CES, which is in the West Hall, booth 5840. Quu announced earlier this week that it had hired Alan Jurison, the former senior director of operations at iHeartRadio, to focus on special projects and innovation. .
CES runs until Friday at the Las Vegas Convention Center and various locations around the city. There are 12 official venues covering more than 2.5 million square feet of exhibition space.