The biggest consumer tech show of the year lands in Las Vegas this week to celebrate the next great innovations that we should look forward to in the coming months. While many will have just received tech presents just a couple of weeks ago for Christmas, CES 2017 looks to whet the appetite of those already looking for the next best thing.
The show brings together tech from next-gen TVs to futuristic cars, mobile devices and virtual reality.
Officially the CES 2017 show runs from the 5th of January through the 8th of January, but pre-show announcements are often made on the 3rd and 4th.
2016 saw significant advancements made in the world of virtual reality and the birth of the first truly successful augmented reality game. It also saw the idea of the connected car really take off, with plenty of deals between tech companies and car manufacturers being done.
CES 2017 gives the world a glimpse of the tech to come in the year and CBR has a look at what some of the most anticipated releases will be.
Check out how to follow the show here.
HTC Vive 2
Rumours have been flying around the Internet since December about the possible launch of version two of the HTC Vive.
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The first generation proved to be one of the best virtual reality headsets around, and while it is only a few months old, a second generation is rumoured to be showcased at CES.
Expected improvements are rumoured to be the removal of wires by adding a wireless transmitter and the addition of 4K displays for crystal clear image quality.
An improved refresh rate is also expected to up the specs from 90Hz to 120Hz.
Although these are rumours, they are backed up by HTC offering £100/$100 off the HTC Vive headset in post-Christmas sales, perhaps because a new version is coming soon.
Lenovo’s VR headset
This may not have been highly anticipated, but, this is a big release to come out of the show.
Coming in at around £325, this VR headset prototype is expected to be released later this year and is one of several Windows 10 headsets that are being created to work on Microsoft’s Windows Holographic Platform.
What this means is that it’ll be able to run Windows Store applications.
With two front-facing cameras that will provide room-scale VR experiences it offers two 1440 x 1440 OLED panels for displays, giving it a higher resolution than most of its competition.
It’s also expected to weigh a lot less than the likes of the HTC Vive, coming in at 350 grams instead of 550 grams for HTC’s product.
Samsung AI
In October last year Samsung acquired a company called Viv. Viv has developed an open artificial intelligence platform that gives third-party developers the ability to use and build conversational assistants, in addition to integrating a natural language-based interface into applications and services.
While CES doesn’t tend to be the number one place for mobile phone makers to reveal handsets, they typically hold them back for Mobile World Congress, it is still a good opportunity for them to show off some upcoming capabilities.
A new virtual assistant or just better voice controls may well be showcased by Samsung as it looks to recover from the whole exploding phone debacle.
Ford
Autonomous cars were in the news frequently throughout 2016 and it’s very likely that they will be in 2017 as well.
Ford’s latest input into the field is a Fusion Hybrid that used the company’s autonomous vehicle platform, but with greater processing power and new computer hardware.
The company says that its new LiDAR sensor design will give the vehicle a more targeted field of vision so it will now only use two sensors instead of the four that were previously in use.
Faraday Future
If you like your cars then you’ll probably have heard of Faraday Future. If not: the American start-up is focused on the development of intelligent electric vehicles and some of the concept designs for its cars are incredible.
The company is yet to actually create a production car but CES 2017 is to be the year it does. Nothing has been revealed other than a teaser image so far.
Robots
The success of programmes such as Westworld in 2016 has brought robots back into the hearts and mind of many a tech fan and CES is likely to show off a few innovations in the area.
Along with the likes of LG releasing an Amazon Echo-like assistant, there will be robots like Kuri.
Kuri is basically a home companion, a bit like an Amazon Echo – but with wheels.
Kuri, created by Mayfield Robotics, is capable of managing a smart home, taking cat videos with its built in 1080p camera, and doing things like playing music.
The little bot is one of many that will be on display at the show.
Sandfox smartwatch
The smartwatch market hasn’t really matched the levels of adoption that were expected of it but the upcoming Sandfox smartwatch could change that.
The product will be one of the main standout pieces on display due to its design, software and features.
Created by Mikevision Technologies, the watch features numerous capabilities including a built-in AI called Silvia.
The company revealed a brief video ahead of its launch.
Fridgecam
We’ve heard about smart fridges for a while but this addition will give you a smart fridge without having to go out and buy one.
Created by British company Smarter, this wireless fridge camera lets people see inside their fridge without opening it.
The camera takes a snapshot of the fridge each time the door is shut and then uploads them to its companion smartphone app.
That means the user can look at the app while they are at work and see if they need to pop to the shops before they get home.
Asus ZenFone
Asus is expected to reveal the Asus ZenFone AR at the conference, according to a blog post by Qualcomm that was later removed.
The phone is expected to bring Google Tango and be the first phone that’s ready to use with Google Daydream.
Keep on the lookout for this to be a big debut combination of AR and VR in a phone. Asus is holding a press conference it is calling ‘Zenovation’.
