It is that time of the year when all the brands are gearing up to battle each other in various niches of electronics in Las Vegas, Nevada. We are talking about the Consumer Electronics Show - the world’s biggest electronic technology convention tradeshow.
CES takes place annually in January. It is going to happen from 5-8th January in 2017. The registrations for the event have started and with only 2 more weeks to go for the main event at Vegas, the talk surrounding CES is really starting to heat up. All the tech giants like LG, Samsung and Ford gather in the city to present their latest gadgets and gizmos, with many of them already building up the anticipation with regular hints and teasers about their offerings.
Note: CES comes straight after Christmas and New Year, meaning that the majority of companies must already have announced their latest flagship products at least three months prior to the event. This makes CES a hotbed for launching or displaying spin-off products.
With less than 10 days for CES 2017, our expectations are going crazy and we are sure that you feel the same way. So get your fingers crossed as you go through the speculated releases listed below under the respective electronic category.
Product Categories And Expected Releases
Television
TV is the king at CES and this coming year will be no different. The manufacturers we are most optimistic for are:
Samsung: The latest news going around is that tech giant Samsung is preparing to launch an exceptional class of televisions- dubbed ‘QLED,’ at the event. QLED- Quantum dot LEDs, are not a new technology and was given the term by QD Vision, now a subsidiary of Samsung. But this will be the first time it will be properly available for consumers if Samsung gives its current TV lineup an overhaul and push QLED forward. A report on ETNews also stated that Samsung has trademarked three new devices: the HDR 1500, Real Black and Q HDR.
Sony: The biggest news surrounding Sony for CES 2017 is its much-awaited OLED televisions. Till date, the company has never before released an OLED television. This is due to the fact that LG is the main manufacturer of OLED panels for TVs, and of course, has the leverage of prioritizing its own television models first. But emerging reports suggest that Sony has agreed to a deal with LG which will allow the Japanese tech firm to produce and manufacture its own line of OLED TVs.
For those of you who are not aware, OLED screens are an expensive but extremely popular type of display that is used regularly in tablets, smartphones, monitor screens and televisions. Compared to the traditional LED-backlit LCD screens, the pixels present in OLED create their own light which finishes the requirement for a separate backlight. This paves the way for improved battery life and second, as pixels can be turned on or off individually, the black areas will be darker than anything ever seen before on a backlit television.
NVIDIA: We think Nvidia is possibly going to launch two brand new Shield TV models. For now, what we know about the design of the Shield TV models is that it will come in 2 sizes. Previously, the news surrounding Nvidia was that it will be rebooting its range of Shield TV top box- with MIMO antennas and 802.11ac Wi-Fi support to strengthen and increase wireless speeds. We also have a feeling that 4K and HDR support will be integrated too.
Mobile Phone
Fan boys from all over the world would be looking forward to the press conferences of their favorite companies and getting their mouths wet for the upcoming mobile phone flagships. Manufacturers have generally remained tightlipped regarding this category and it remains to be seen what is waiting for us come January. However, the leading news in this category involve:
LG: The LG company is pumped up to debut its new LG G Pad 3 10.1 and has given a confirmation of at least 5 new smartphones for the month of January. The smartphone that has intrigued us most is the successor of the Stylus 2- the LG Stylus 3, and there’s going to be a new addition to the range of LG X too. It is also a major possibility that the brand will launch its first ever 4K HDR monitor.
Asus: The next big news for now is Asus releasing its debut ZenFone at the CES event, with the rumor mill favoring a 5.5-inch Full HD display equipped with a Snapdragon 625, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of internal storage, a dual-camera and a powerful 4,850mAh battery. The specifications are still being speculated, but what we know for sure is that the ZenFone is confirmed, with a dedicated ‘Zennovation’ event taking place on 4th of January as a segment of CES.
Other Notables: As aforementioned, it was very difficult to get anything from manufacturers regarding the upcoming innovations in mobile phones. The ‘Apple Of China’, Xiaomi, has confirmed its attendance at CES 2017, but has given us nothing to occupy ourselves with what it will offer. All we know is that there will be a new product that will launch globally. There are also hints reflecting that we may also be treated to a surprise from Blackberry and TCL. Let’s get the waiting game on.
Desktop, Laptop And Parts
Well this is another category where the speed of upgraded versions is both mind boggling and mouthwatering.
Lenovo: Lenovo will launch a fresh ThinkPad X1 Carbon for the year 2017, and CES seems to be the platform for announcing and showcasing this state of the art laptop.
NVIDIA: Another rumor that has garnered a lot of speculation is that we may see debut laptops from Nvidia, running its GeForce GTX 1050 and 1050 Ti graphics cards at the CES 2017.
Besides this, we aren’t sure what Nvidia will actually announce. At this point it is hard to say, but off-hand it can be anything ranging from a new GeForce graphics cards to new processors to advancements in AI technology. There is also a probability that we will see supplementary devices of the Shield hand-held console.
The most exciting prospect perhaps is the details on the latest Volta GPU architecture from Nvidia, a sixth-generation technology concept which will follow up 2016’s Pascal. This is in tune with rival company AMD’s plans to display its latest Zen ‘Summit Ridge’ CPUs at the event.
Samsung: While television is where Samsung will garner most of its media attention from, it is worth mentioning that the company’s 850 Pro 4TB solid state drive (SSD) is also all set to release, having been confirmed through the company’s press materials for the conference in 2017. The product is just an evolved version of the 850 Evo 4TB drive which was launched sometime around July in the past year and like all Pro versions, its features include faster and higher write and read speeds than the original Evo. It will also be more durable. You can expect that it won’t come with an inexpensive price tag. The 4TB Samsung 850 Evo costs approximately £1,300, so you can be sure that the Pro version is going to cost even more.
The Korean giant is also unveiling the Kaby Lake Notebook 9 at CES.
Other Notables: Gigabyte, MSI and Asus are all working on unveiling notebooks for gaming with the 10-series GPUs. This means that finally we will get to see gaming laptops which will offer Full HD performance through a 10-series card, all under £1,000.
Car
The relationship between cars and technology has been growing exponentially, with many new players in the industry coming to upset the big boys and make a space for themselves. The CES provides them with a great opportunity to showcase their products and to possibly enjoy a slice of the e-Car industry.
Faraday Future: Faraday Future caused a sensation at CES 2016 with the launch of its high-performance electric concept car. The great news is that the brand is now apparently working and preparing for producing a car to be shown off at CES 2017, developing from the FFZERO1 concept. A cryptic tweet posted by the company gave hints that it will “unveil the future” at the tradeshow, which is confirmed going to be a vehicle.
When Faraday Future had displayed its FFZERO1 proudly in 2016, the car boasted 1000 horsepower, augmented capabilities and a naught to 60 speed in under three seconds. The parent company said that the production of the vehicle would be ready in two years, and promised that the automobile “combines extreme technology, industry leading range, and holistic design” and will be a premium electric car.
BMW: The luxury car brand BMW is confirmed going to give fans and consumers a sneak peek of its revolutionary ‘floating’ HoloActive Touch virtual car interface, whereas Sony announced publicly that is CES press conference 2017 will happen at 5pm PST on 5th of January at the Convention Center at Las Vegas.
Streaming Services
This is one space where there is decreasing interest from most of the participants at CES. Netflix has gained a fair share of market monopoly in the country at the moment and seems to continue this trend.
Netflix: Considering the limitations of its services, it is unclear what Netflix can offer at CES 2017. The current rumors suggest that the company is finally ready for providing its viewers offline viewing mode for content, which has been one of the most requested features by users, and one that has been denied for a long time now. It is incredible just how long Netflix ignored and denied suggestions for offline viewing, but the company has softened to the idea recently. Sources say that Netflix has the feature ready to be rolled out and CES is a fantastic platform for unveiling this feature to the public. CES 2017 is the perfect opportunity and fans are sure to go head over heels for it.
There are no other major contenders that can change the game in this category at the moment. However, we are definitely all up for surprises.
Sportswear
Tech-Sportswear is in fashion and CES 2017 is expected to be a platform where it is expected to boom more from.
Under Armor: New hardware is expected to be launched by Under Armor in early 2017, and it is unclear at the moment whether CES 2017 will be the Launchpad for this new product. Under Armor’s debut HealthBox contraptions were released at CES 2016, so sequels and follow-up products are expected a year later in January 2017.
Nike: The teams at Nike have been all hush hush regarding their upcoming products. We expect a line of wearable fitness trackers and smart shoes to be launched at CES 2017.
Virtual Reality:
There are about 75 different exhibitors for this category at the CES in this coming year. This means that we can expect some spicy tech for sure.
This year has seen the release of blockbuster VR headsets including the HTC Vive , Oculus Rift and PlayStation VR , and all the more cheaper alternatives, for example, Google Daydream View .
Since the equipment is there, the enormous stride expect at this CES will be to guarantee there is sufficient VR substance to keep shoppers connected with - and empower similarity crosswise over various stages. While the gaming business is as of now working diligently on this, and film and TV organizations are beginning to warm up to this new platform of entertainment, application engineers have to now get up to speed. So expect several top notch VR software making news soon!
Conclusion
This is it for our round up of the news and highlights of CES 2017. With so many great launches expected from all our favorite companies, the event is sure to amaze. There are going to be releases and announcements from many other companies as well, so watch this space come the event as we will bring you all the latest updates. With the year 2017 set to mark the golden jubilee of the CES event, we expect the organizers and the manufacturers to provide the consumers with a befitting experience.