CES 2016: What To Expect At The Consumer Electronics Show
The largest electronics and technology show in the world, International CES 2016, begins in a few days. On January 4, 2016 in Las Vegas, the consumers will be swarming the strip to see the newest and greatest feats in the technological world.
BBC reports that the exhibition space for CES 2016 will take up 2.4 million square feet or 223,000 square miles, up.2 million square feet from the previous year.
Thousands of businesses will be demonstrating their wares, with the trend going from hardware and more into services.
BBC reported comments from Accenture’s John Curran.
“Say goodbye to cool, say hello to practical.”
“Many of the larger companies now put less emphasis on CES as a launch pad for major hardware. So, they will focus instead on showing off new services to help garner excitement for existing products.”
“But for the smaller businesses this is as big a venue as they are going to be able to find and is an excellent opportunity to catch the eye of journalists and key buyers from the retailers.”
Car Tech
According to Mashable, CES 2016 will be a car show unlike any previous CES year. The self-driving cars have come out from behind closed doors and affordable electric cars will be unveiled as well.
Several automakers are planning on some new reveals, including the Chevy Bolt, an electric car that is both affordable and long range (200 plus miles.) It is interesting that the Bolt is being shown initially at CES 2106 and not the Detroit Auto Show, which occurs a week later.
Many self-driving systems will be displayed as well. A major reveal to watch for will be Monday night, when the Chinese company Faraday Future displays their new concept car which is targeted at the Tesla.
TV Tech
HDR will be the word of the day at CES 2016. HDR refers to high dynamic range, meaning that the TV can display more shades of brightness and millions more shades of color, which allows more detail to be seen, reports BBC.
Amazon has already started streaming some HDR shows, and Netflix is getting on the bandwagon as well. The new televisions that come out will likely be labeled with a new specification as to whether they will support the future HDR coded content.
Virtual Reality Tech
Virtual Reality is beginning to hit its stride this year, with the unveiling of the anxiously awaited virtual reality headset for consumers, Oculus Rift. Mashable reported Oculus CEO Bending Iribe’s onstage comments.
“Gamers have been dreaming of this. We’ve all been dreaming of this for decades.”
Many other companies will be displaying their headsets and other virtual reality technology as well.
Drones
Another thing to look out for is GoPro’s new camera drone called Karma. It may be able to display 360-degree views and carry collision avoidance technology.
Whether Karma will be unveiled at CES 2016, we won’t know until next week. But the company has promised that Karma would be released this year. GoPro’s CEO Nicholas Woodman will be speaking at a dinner event at CES 2016, but sources are unclear about whether he will offer a sneak peak or not.
Even if he doesn’t, there are many other companies from different countries that will be displaying their flying drone technology. Belgium is offering Fleye – a drone shaped like a ball that secures its blades behind plastic to avoid injuries. South Korea is bringing Unify – a drone that can navigate indoor environments due its 3D recognition technology. Israel has PowerUp FPV which turns a paper airplane into a controllable one that will stream views back to the user via a virtual reality headset.
No matter what your interest, the CES 2016 will have something to catch and keep your attention.
[Photo Via AP Images]
