Latitude

Greetings, fellow CES-ers!

January is fast approaching, so we’re hotly anticipating (much moreso than new socks and cookie-binge consequences) the 2010 International CES.

We’re looking forward to previewing the latest and greatest tech offerings, forming new connections with people as enthusiastic about tech as we are, and sharing our broader notions about tech (and human-centered) trends vaulting the dazzling expo floor gadgetry at CES.

Latitude’s Idea Generation Contest

This year, we’re trying something brand new.

We’re launching an on-site, team-based idea generation contest to critique a selection of this year’s smartphone offerings – but, more importantly, we’re asking teams to propose concepts for improving upon the devices they review (with regard to hardware, software/UI, apps integration, or all of the above).

In short, we want you to tell us how this year’s leading devices could be tweaked to create maximal value, functionality, and enjoyment for users – and we want you to get creative in the process.

Individual contributions and team collaboration will take place via social networking platforms. (Latitude will host an offline meet-up to facilitate networking amongst participants if interest is expressed.)

After CES, we’ll put each team’s concepts to a panel of unbiased voters, and the winning team will receive an evenly divisible cash prize (in addition to the payment for participating).

The Nitty-Gritty

The activity is limited to 15 people (4-5 individuals per team), so we’re accepting participants on a first-come, first-served basis. If you opt to recruit your own crack team of product analysts, feel free to reach out to your CES-bound friends. Otherwise, if you’re going to CES with networking in mind, leave team selection up to chance.

If you’re planning to attend CES this year and would like to interact with and analyze cutting-edge technology–then share your thoughts in a group innovation setting–we’ll be offering $100 to each participant for their time and thoughtful contributions.

Please email innovation@latd.com to request participation and to receive additional information.

The three teams up for innovation are (tentatively):

Team BlackBerry / Research In Motion

Team Nokia

Team WildCard

This contest is generated and moderated by Latitude Research‘s Ian Schulte, Director of Technology and Business Development, and Dan Hemmerly-Brown, CTO.

Header image courtesy of smoovey’s flickr, (cc) some rights reserved.