CES

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2017 is here and various tech companies have been hinting their upcoming launches. It’s the 50^th anniversary of the event, and it’s going to be big as usual! The event will take place from 5^th to 8^th January, and we’re expecting cars to play a huge role as manufacturers take a techier approach. We’re also expecting the development of virtual reality and new content for VR as well as autonomous vehicle systems.

Here’s more of what we’re looking forward to:

• TV

LG’s new Super UHD range of 4K TVs with Nano Cell technology (Source: Pocket-lint)

 CES is the chosen platform for television and home appliance manufacturers and TV’s will be big at CES 2017, with a focus on 4K, OLED and High Dynamic Range (HDR). HDR is one of the most discussed TV concepts this year, so it will likely be featuring a lot at CES.

LG is the first TV company to unveil their new range of screens for CES 2017, and the company has focused on LCD this year. Companies are steering away from the emphasis on 3D and curved screens in past events, and will be introducing screen quality enhancements. Cheaper 4K resolution will also be introduced to make it more accessible.

• Voice control

Amazon Echo (Source: CNET)

Voice control has been big recently with Amazon’s launch of Echo, their smart speaker, with competition from Google’s new assistant Cortana, and a revamp of Siri by Apple. Alexa, the voice assistant in Echo, and Cortana are both expected to appear in third-party hardware in upcoming months, as the companies take a less forced approach of promoting their voice assistants. The concept of home kits has also become popular with Alexa and Apple’s HomeKit; electricity, thermostat and car manufacturers have included Echo into their devices so users can control them with voice.

A pre-show tease from Nissan hinted that Cortana is coming to Nissan connected car dashboards. This has already been explored by Apple Carplay and Google’s Android Auto, so we’re excited to see Microsoft’s entry into the market.

• Cars

The start-up company Faraday Future teased the launch of a self-driving electric car at CES. The car can accelerate from 0 to 60mph in the space of just 2.39 seconds. This means it will have a faster acceleration than any electric car launching at the event. Teslas’s Model S took 2.5 seconds in comparison, for the same acceleration. The FF91 by Faraday Future also features self-parking, a 378 mile range and all-round screens in the cabin. As if that wasn’t impressive enough, the supercar has 10 high-definition cameras, 13 long and short range radars and a total of 12 ultrasonic sensors.

• Smartphones

ASUS ZenFone AR (Source: Android Police)

Mobiles are usually not a big part of CES as manufacturers choose to launch them at MWC or at their own events, however there is some news of smartphone launches at CES 2017. ASUS is rumoured to debut the new ZenFone AR at CES 2017, expected to be a 5.5 inch Full HD device with Snapdragon 625, 4GB RAM, 64GB storage and 4850mAh battery. Qualcomm revealed details of the newest smartphone launch by ASUS before the CES event, stating that it will support Daydream apps including Street View, YouTube, Netflix, HBO, and Hulu, as well as games like Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Need for Speed, Gunjack 2, and Lego BrickHeadz.

• Virtual Reality

(Source: The Verge)

Virtual reality was huge at CES 2016, and there were a number of companies releasing consumer VR headsets. The concept is still popular and it will feature hugely at CES 2017. A new headset has been introduced by Fove, which can be controlled with your eyes. We’re unsure if Oculus, owned by Facebook or HTC Vive will feature at CES 2017 with new updates on the technology.

We’re expecting new experimental VR concepts such as hand controls and all-in-one formats. We’re expecting Qualcomm and Intel to hold talks about the future of VR at the show, and how the tech will shift from an industry approach to a customer focus.

For more information on CES 2017, past CES events and other tech news check out www.laptopoutletblog.co.uk.

CES (Consumer Electronics Show) is the world’s biggest meeting of technology innovators and enthusiasts. It’s the platform for multiple companies to present their latest innovations, and hold presentations and booths around the city. CES is held in Las Vegas and this year will be the 50^th anniversary of the show, so we’re excited to see what will be showcased.  

When and where is it?

The show is held from the 5^th to the 8^th of January in Las Vegas. However, most of the breaking news is expected within the first day.

Expect the big press conferences and announcements on the 3^rd & 4^th of January.

Who will be there?

Here’s a list of the companies which are expected to attend:

• Casio
• BMW
• Bosch
• Honor
• HTC
• Huawei
• Intel
• Faraday Future
• LG
• Lenovo
• Nissan
• Nvidia
• Panasonic
• Samsung
• Sony
• Qualcomm
• Toyota
• Volkswagen
• Xiaomi

Notably, the big tech companies Apple and Google are not attending CES as they prefer to hold their own launch events. Samsung hasn’t announced what they will be launching at the event yet, and Sony is expected to announce a new 4K Xperia smartphone as well as the company’s first OLED TVs.

What to expect?

TV’s will be big at CES 2017, with a focus on 4K, OLED and High Dynamic Range (HDR). HDR is one of the most discussed TV concepts this year, so it will likely be featuring a lot at CES. We could even see company’s going beyond 4K with 8K screens. Some outrageous concepts are expected, which is what CES is all about.

Yann Lafargue, Netflix’ manager of corporate communications told Techradar the following about HDR:

“HDR is a new standard for home entertainment. It’s a big leap forward in colour, contrast, and brightness, as significant as the addition of surround sound, or the introduction of HD and 4K. It offers a new set of tools we can use to make bright and colourful scenes really pop, and at the same time, bring out more detail in dark scenes”.

CES has turned into a bit of a car show over the years, so we are expecting big showcases from car makers. The VR world is set to expand this year, with an expected focus on content which is currently limited, as well as cheaper VR sets. Although CES isn’t the biggest platform for smartphone announcements, we may see some announced this year from the likes of Sony and others. Drones were big at CES 2016 so we could see some exciting developments in that area this year.

We’ll keep you up to date with the launches at CES 2017. Keep up with the latest launches and tech news at www.laptopoutletblog.co.uk