Huge tech show’s ‘little cousin’ coming to Tel Aviv

The electronics that you are going to buy next year — and possibly the year after — goes on display every January in Las Vegas, at the annual Consumer Electronics Show. With Israeli technology playing a strong role in many different industries, the organization that runs CES has decided that Israel deserves a mini-version of the show — the better to recruit more participants for the real thing.

With the rise of the device in all of its forms — laptop computers, tablets, smartphones, or other Internet-connected device — CES has become the world’s top venue for the display of technology, ranging from the world’s biggest tech companies showing off their latest inventions to the cheapest of the Far East’s commodity copycat manufacturers.

About 350 Israeli Internet technology companies, hardware designers, networking technology companies, and others, both start-ups and “veteran” companies, have made their way to CES. But Israel has a lot more to offer, according to the CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association and a CES sponsor, Gary Shapiro, and the best way to bring more Israelis to the main CES event, he said, is to hold a mini-CES event in Israel.

“Israel is a leading and important player in global high tech,” Shapiro said in a video message for Israelis, “and we are proud to bring the CES to this hot technology market.” Visitors, Shapiro said, “will be exposed to a great deal of the latest information about the global electronics industry in general, and about Israel’s share in this industry, and will see innovative and breakthrough technologies.”

With the show, called CES Unveiled, Israel joins some very select company; there are CES Unveiled events only in three other cities — London, Paris, and New York. The CES Unveiled Israel show will take place in the Tel Aviv Hilton on October 7, and Shapiro promised a good time for all, including product introductions and revelations, as well as other goodies. “As a top tech influencer,” Shapiro tells Israelis, “you should attend CES Unveiled, and consider attending CES Las Vegas.”