Previews of CES 2016

Dec 15, 2015

CES 2016: Windows 10, VR and autonomous vehicles will take centre stage

CES 2016 is almost upon us, and The INQUIRER will be heading to Las Vegas at the beginning of January to see what the big - and not-so-big - names in technology have in store. 

 

CES kicks off on 6 January and is preceded by a press day on 5 January, a day during which The INQUIRER will be frantically running from conference to conference, from hotel to hotel, all the while slowly starving to death and wishing we'd packed some comfier shoes. 

With the show now mere weeks away, we've rounded up everything we think you can expect to see come out of this year's show.  

 

 

Autonomous vehicles
With driverless cars slowly starting to become a reality, expect this to be a hot topic at next year's CES.

Nvidia has dropped the biggest hint yet that autonomous vehicles will be on the agenda, inviting us to take a look at its next-gen CPU technology that will power the computer vision found inside these cars. It said: "A key technology at the heart of autonomous driving is computer vision. That doesn’t just mean having a lot of cameras on the car, it means having high performance and energy efficient processors that can analyse the video coming from these cameras."

It's not just driverless vehicles we'll likely be seeing at CES. The show has expanded its car-related show floor exhibits by 25 percent compared to last year, with firms including Audi, BMW, Chrysler, GM, Ford, Hyundai, Mercedes, Toyota and Volkswagen set to exhibit.

A mysterious outfit called Faraday Future, which is tipped to be involved in Apple's mooted vehicle plans, has also said it will showcase a Tesla-rivalling concept car in Las Vegas. 

Robotics
CES has gone big on robotics for 2016, and is offering companies in the field 71 percent more space compared to the previous year to showcase their technological innovations. 23 exhibitors will showcase robotic technologies that are transforming the way we learn, do business and monitor health, for example, with firms signed up including Future Robot, Ozobot and Ninebot. 

Drones will also play a big part, with CES also housing the Unmanned Systems Marketplace where more than 20 companies, including DJI and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), will show off the next wave of drones.

Smartphones

CES isn't known for being home to many smartphone launches, but with the likes of LG, Huawei and Sony scheduling launches for the Vegas tech show, there likely will be some new smartphones on offer. What's more, some rumours are pointing towards Samsung unveiling the Galaxy S7 at CES, but we'd take this rumour with a pinch of salt.  

 

 

 

VR 
Virtual reality (VR) is set to have a bumper CES next year. The Consumer Technology Association (CTA) has revealed that the Gaming and VR Marketplace will be 77 percent bigger than it was in 2015, with more than 40 exhibitors set to showcase their augmented reality tech, including Oculus VR, Virtuix and Sphero. We'd be surprised if Sony didn't take the opportunity to show what's next for its PlayStation VR headset, too. 

Windows 10

Naturally, big-name vendors likely will showcase their next-generation Windows 10 machines at CES in January. Lenovo is promising to show off dozens of new products in Las Vegas, and the likes of ASUS, Panasonic and Samsung also have press conferences lined up in the calendar.  

 

 

 

Wearable technology
At this year's CES, the Venetian hotel will house a whole area dedicated to wearable technology. Of course we don't yet know exactly what to expect, but with Pebble having debuted new smartwatches at the press conference for two years' running, we'll gladly eat our hat if they don't unveil another next year.

We could also be seeing some new devices out of the likes of Huawei, LG and Samsung as they look to step up their games in order to take on the Apple Watch.

 

Source: Inquirer