An Insider's View of CES

Rajeev Kapur
Source: Sonic Emotion
Rajeev Kapur

The following is a guest commentary for CNBC.com.

CES is always the real kick-off to the new year for me. Since my team is spread out across the globe, the show serves as an annual vehicle for us to gather, build relationships and focus on our goals for the coming year.

This year, however, we did something new for Sonic Emotion, a developer of 3D sound entertainment for consumer electronics and professional applications. We have always set up on the main show floor, but in 2013 we decided to move to a suite at the LVH (the former Las Vegas Hilton now known as the Las Vegas Hotel). The reason for this decision centered around three factors:

For a sound company, and a 3D sound company at that, the show floor is loud and the ability to do the best demo possible is challenging. A suite better represents how consumers would use our technology in their living rooms.

Before we made the decision to move, we spoke with our partners and they were all for it, especially when they realized that they could take a break from the show in our suite, grab a drink and something to eat and most importantly rest their tired feet. For us, the situation creates a more captive audience.

Through our partners --such as Onkyo, Toshiba, TCL, and Texas Instruments -- Sonic Emotion Absolute 3D™sound technology will have a presence on the CES floor anyway, and we have the ability to use our partners' booths for meetings that promote each of our brands.

Sonic Emotion has debuted products at other international trade shows but no matter which trade show we attend, we always recognize that planning is key and a good showing is critical to success for a young company like ours. (We formed in 2002.)

We stay far away from PowerPoint presentations and, instead, use creativity to let our technology speak for itself.This year, for example, we created a viral video about "sound disease" (not a real ailment, just a way to show consumers and brands that they shouldn't settle for substandard audio) – and have nurses walking around CES writing prescriptions for the condition. This allows us to offer something fun and unique to garner interest from attendees and encourage them to "cure" their sound disease with our Sonic Emotion products.

I am a gadget and tech geek; no show would be complete for me if I didn't get a chance to walk the floor. Here is what I am looking forward to seeing:

The new OLED TVs from LG. I've been a big fan of OLED since I saw the technology in Microsoft's house of the future a few years ago. It's absolutely amazing – while a bit expensive at first, in the next two to three years I expect OLED to be standard issue.

A friend of mine turned me onto a small Hungarian start up called Leonar3do. They are a 3D augmented reality company that has a very unique view of the world. If the company's YouTube videos are any indication, then they could be a staple at CES for years to come.

I am a gamer, and the team at Steel Series never disappoints. In addition to their normal gaming peripherals, expect the company to come out with peripherals aimed directly at the tablet market.

Perhaps my favorite place to get my geek on is at the Last Gadget Standing shootout. This year is no exception. I am looking forward to seeing the multitude of products, including the Looxcie, a wear and share camera; the Misfit Shine, the Fit Bit and the NikeFuel Band activity trackers; and the Viper SmartStart, which is essentially your car in the cloud.

Here's to a great show and an even better 2013 for everyone.

Rajeev Kapur is the CEO of Sonic Emotion.

CNBC and YPO (Young Presidents' Organization) have formed an editorial partnership, consisting of regional "Chief Executive Networks" in the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific. These "Chief Executives Networks" are made up of a sample of YPO's global network of 20,000 top executives from 120 countries who are on the front lines of the economy. The opinions of "Chief Executive Network" members are solely their own and do not reflect the opinions of YPO or CNBC.