More than 3,000 tech companies and innovators, including manufacturers, developers and suppliers of consumer technology hardware, content, technology delivery systems and more are headed to Las Vegas for CES 2017 that will start this week.
The 50th CES will officially start from 5th January and will end on 8th January. It is at CES, we can expect to see some futuristic gadgets. So, what new tech and gadgets can we anticipate at CES 2017? Well, pre-show news, whispers and rumors say we will see the glimpse of future technology at CES this year. Let’s look at some of them in this post.
VR and Augmented Reality
2016 was a great year for VR and AR. We saw products like HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and PlayStation VR. These VR headsets showed the real potential of a VR, the jump from simple VR like Google Cardboard was applaudable. Read about VR technology here.
There are rumors that we will get to see a wireless HTC Vive at CES 2017. The Chinese company Huawei is also said to release it’s VR sets at CES.
If we do see some VR headsets at CES, we will be seeing some real innovation. We might see VR that can be controlled with our body parts like eyes, feet. For example, FOVE, a VR headset that was crowdfunded at Kickstarter with eyes tracking abilities, will be introduced at CES 2017.
Beside VR, AR (Augmented Reality) could also gain some hype at CES 2017. Although AR has been an industry focused tech till now, we could see some companies using Google’s Project Tango to bring AR to normal consumers– technologies like Microsoft Hololens, for example.
Drones and Self-Driving Cars
Drones have gained a lot of popularity as a consumer electronics in recent years. Although DJI is still the protagonist of the drone show, we could see some more advanced drones like indoor optimized drones, high-speed drones and drones that can go underwater from other companies at CES 2017.
Similarly, Intel might also be pushing its Aero Compute Board, a board to make your own drone.
Talking about cars, CES 2017 might be a great platform to show autonomous cars to the consumers. After Tesla revolutionized the electric cars, a lot of large Automakers are now working on self-driving cars. However, at this CES, we will just be seeing the demo of the possibilities. We will have to wait for future CESs to see a practical and fully autonomous cars.
Moreover, as self-driving requires a constant Internet connection for checking road signals and conditions, we might see chip manufacturers pushing 5G technology at CES 2017. Overall, CES 2017 will act as a floor for software and hardware companies working towards making fully autonomous cars.
Mobiles
CES 2017 won’t be so special if you are looking forwards to seeing new phones because phone companies usually wait until World Mobile Congress to launch their best products. However, that being said, most of the smartphones companies will be present at CES 2017 for small announcements. Xiaomi is attending the event for the first time so we could expect the Chinese manufacturer highlighting some of its smartphones at the show.
PCs
CES 2017 is said to bring back life to Personal Computers (smartphones have been overshadowing them in recent years)- the Microsoft Surface Studio has shown us that PC are still in the game.
At CES 2017, we might see AMD challenging Intel with the release of AMD Ryzen. Also, Intel will be throwing it’s quad-core Kaby Lake processors in its defense (we saw dual-core Kaby Lake processors in the market last year). This CES will be a battle of processors and GPUs.
Read more about Intel processor guide here
Furthermore, with PC compatible VR headsets, both VR and PC might see a rise with this CES. This is a good news for PC gamers as they could get their VR-ready PCs and laptops under $1000. Also, we might see more on Project Christine- the Razer’s modular PC tower at CES 2017.
Advanced Wearables
We have seen wearables in the past. Do you think they are good? Well, you will be surprised to hear that we will be seeing more than wrist wearables at CES 2017. The wearables at CES 2017 will not only be able to count steps and track heart rates (like the wearables we know now) but also be able to take the readings of other body organs.
This might sound like a science fiction but an Israeli company will be introducing the Tytohome, an FDA-approved device, that can take readings of your heart, lungs, throat, skin, abdomen and other organs’ and send it to your doctor. This means you don’t need to wait in line to see your doctor. This device will revolutionize the Telemedicine.
Additionally, there will be wearables that will charge with your body heat. We will also see some wearables with built-in airbags to prevent from fall injuries. Moreover, another interesting wearable we will see is a scarf that will act as a mask. Yes, an air-filtering internet-connected scarf from Wair that has cooling fans, and has an app to monitor your breath!
Besides the health wearables, we might see tech in our clothing too- the world’s first vibrating tight cut jeans might be announced at CES 2017. This jean will allow wearers find directions without having to look at the mobile screen.
TVs
TVs has been the most featured gadget since the very beginning of CES and the norm is going to continue at CES 2017 as well.
We will see four main rivals, Panasonic, LG, Sony and Samsung, battling to show off their technology. LG, Panasonic and Sony will showcase their OLED displays while Samsung will be promoting its QLED (quantum dot) technology. Besides these four companies, we will also see countless other manufacturers.
Most importantly, this CES will be a display of HDR (High Dynamic Range) technology- HDR10, Dolby and BBC’s LHG. The HDR has been in the market for a couple of years. HDR10 technology has gained more popularity than Dolby Vision in the market, but we will have to wait and see which HDR technology wins at CES 2017.
Internet of Things and Smart Homes
Well, Internet of Things (IoT) is a hot topic. Many manufacturers are working on making all your devices connected to each other by adding sensors and Wifi to almost all the electronic devices. These devices will be used to make your home Smart!
At CES 2017, we will see many smart gadgets, from Fridgecam- a device that checks the stock on your fridge and notifies you to Air Quality sensors for your home and smart thermostats. Additionally, we might also see Google’s Android Things platform for home devices at CES 2017.
The good thing about these smart devices is that you don’t need an expert to install them. You can just buy them at the market and use it without any professional’s guidance. However, the major concern regarding these kinds of devices is security. Because IoT has been an easy target for attackers and had been used for DDoS attack frequently. At CES, we will see how companies will cope with the vulnerabilities.
Other Exciting Gadgets at CES 2017
BliTab- a “iPad” for blinds. This tablet will produce small physical bubbles like Braille above the touchscreen.
Olly Robot- a robot that adapts to the personality of the users.
Unibot- a modular robot that changes its function depending on which modules are connected to it.
ZTE Hawkeye is a crowdsourced project where the idea and design of the phone come directly from the consumers. There have been many opinions on how the phone should be designed but the most upvotes were given to eye tracking for smartphone control and an adhesive back. Eye Tracking has currently been the feature focus which tracks the eye movement from its high-resolution front-facing camera and converts that movement into software commands that represent standard gesture motions. According to ZTE, you should be able to completely use the phone based on eye movement when it’ s complete. Also, to go with the eye tracking mechanism, ZTE has developed a special Adhesive Case which makes it stick to most of the common surfaces making it easy to read the eye gestures. ZTE hasn’t explained what makes this possible, for now, they are just calling it “Black Magic.”
