The technology calendar begins each year with the CES in Las Vegas. There is no time to relax at work after the holiday season; CES is one of the largest and busiest trade shows in the world, with thousands of things to do and see in a matter of days, and all spread across one of the most tourist cities in the world. About 200,000 visitors from more than 160 countries are expected to venture into Las Vegas in January. More than 4,500 exhibitors will occupy about 3 million square feet of exhibition space on the show floor as well as at multiple conferences taking place. Hundreds of restaurants, hotel suites and ballrooms will be converted into more show space.
CES is not easy to cover, but Gadgets 360 will bring you all the news, as well as exclusive photos, videos and hands-on impressions of the biggest products that will be unveiled. Once the show starts you can expect big trends to emerge, as we see what everyone is doing.
The 2020 edition of the CES exhibition officially starts on January 7 and lasts for four days, but much more is going on. January 5 and 6 is Media Day, when companies hold big press conferences to announce their strategies and showcase their headlining products to the world’s media for the first time.
LG’s Rollball TV was undoubtedly one of the showpieces of CES 2019
Companies that have confirmed that they will host the press conference include LG, Panasonic, Qualcomm, AMD, Intel, TCL, Sony and OnePlus. Some of the names you might be surprised to see at CES are Hyundai, Toyota and the meat pioneer Impossible Foods. HDMI and UHD standard companies will also host their own events Samsung has upgraded its press conference this year to a full-fledged keynote speech and is expected to have a huge turnout.
Here is what we want to see at CES 2020:
Smartphones at CES 2020
OnePlus has teased a “concept phone” called Concept One, which will undoubtedly be a big draw. This marks the company’s CES debut, and given the importance of CES, the OnePlus Concept One could be a great device. It can be flexible or foldable, or it can display some completely new designs. With Qualcomm’s upcoming Snapdragon 865 processor, it also has the potential to feature 5G.
Samsung, Sony and others will probably showcase models targeting the US market and that means 5G will be a big buzz. Since the 5G network is already going live worldwide, there will be a demand for a new wave of devices.
We can expect a lot of flexible and foldable screens, whether in the form of ideas or launching actual products.
Apple does not appear at CES, but Jane Harvath, the company’s senior director of global privacy, will address a CES roundtable session, marking the company’s official participation more than 25 years later.
TV and home electronics at CES 2020
CES and TVs go hand-in-hand – this is where we first saw the launch of 4K, 3D, HDR, OLED and many more specific features. It will be difficult to match LG’s rollable TVs from last year, but we expect to see technology in mainstream TVs that people can actually buy. We also get to see some 8K models, 100-inch-plus screen sizes and better styles. Smart connectivity can be an important selling point and many companies will promote their own AI ecosystem.
In addition to ordinary TVs, refrigerators, ovens and vacuum cleaners, we can expect to see many more IoT and voice assistant-enabled devices, including home robots. Integration with Netflix, Spotify, Disney +, and many more such US-centric services will be important.
Google Assistant-enabled smart home product at CES 2019
Audio products at CES 2020
True wireless earphones were one of the hottest product categories of 2019 and many companies will undoubtedly adopt the concept on their own. High-end noise-canceling headphones are also gaining in popularity. Outside of the show floor, hundreds of high-end audiophile brands use CES to personally showcase and showcase their latest gear.
PC and gaming at CES 2020
AMD may unveil its next-generation laptop APU based on Zen2 architecture to follow last year’s announcements. Intel may not have a new CPU, but we would like an update to the 10nm production plan. The company’s interest extends to Big Data, AI, the automotive sector and more, so we can expect a lot of news. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon initiative may have news about its Windows. Dell, Lenovo, HP, and MSI are expected to have a presence among laptop manufacturers. LG has already teased the latest generation of its ultra-light Gram laptops for a CES launch.
Nvidia could focus less on PC gaming this year and more on its AI and workstation products. Cloud services including Google Stadia should showcase and we can get a better idea of how the ecosystem is building around them. Let’s hope for some previews or teasers from Sony and Microsoft about their next generation consoles.
Trends of CES 2020
In addition to general gadgets and appliances, CES will host dozens of exhibitors related to specialized categories, including healthcare and fitness, beauty, education, self-driving cars, VR and AR, smart sensors, e-commerce and even government policy. The exhibition, which controversially excluded an adult toy maker, has officially taken over the department and is committed to improving diversity and representation for women and minorities.
The big overall trends will include 5G, autonomous vehicles, privacy, health, AI, digital content and smart cities. A special mini-exhibition called Unveiled is also held for a few hours on January 5 to allow small companies and startups to engage with the media and not get lost in the crowd. Eureka Park, the startup area, is expected to host 1,200 exhibitors from around the world.
Stay tuned for Gadgets 360, as we’ll be bringing you all the latest CES 2020 news and videos from January 5th.