The world's largest consumer electronics trade show opens
its doors on 7 January, less than a month away, and although we don't expect
there to be any truly groundbreaking technology launches, there will still be
plenty of cool kit unveiled for the very first time.
Pocket-lint will be attending the convention in Las Vegas
and bringing you all the news and hands-on from the show floor, but what
exactly do we expect to see there? What rumours have been circulating already?
And which random celebrities will be turning up on booths pretending to know
something about the gadgets and gizmos they're endorsing? Read on to find out
the answers to at least two of these questions...
Steam Machines and SteamOS
As 2014 will be the year Steam jumps from the virtual to the
physical world we’ll definitely see at least one machine on show at CES. Units
have already been dealt out by Valve for 300 lucky gamers to test the beta
builds, but one of the first commercial Steam Machines to be outed, from
iBuyPower, will be appearing at CES.
The company claims that its machines will run an early build
of Steam OS, but hasn't revealed any technical specifications other than the
fact that they will play Steam games at 1080p in 60 frames per second.
Check back in January for our hands-on review from the
event.
Bluetooth development
CSR, the company behind Bluetooth, recently released the
world’s first Bluetooth dev kit for under $100. It told us that this would be
on show at CES along with other innovations that will make the wireless
connection technology more involved in our lives than ever before. We can’t
give away any more details except to say that this will be one of the
highlights of CES this January.
Check back for full hands-on details at the start of CES
2014. We promise you it will be worth it.
Flexible OLEDS
Samsung and LG should both be showing off their next
generation of curved OLED screens. A step up from last year, these ones won’t
only be curved but will also be flexible. This should mean the screen can bend
to create the best viewing angle wherever you’re sitting. How that will work
for groups isn’t clear.
Glasses-free 3D and 4,000 nits bright screens
Dolby has already invited us to see this kit in action.
It's announced that it's working on screen technology to
bring glasses-free 3D and a 4,000-nits super clear colour display to production
level. It will be showing off the glasses-free 3D screen, which James Cameron
himself is raving about, so it should be impressive. So far, most glasses-free
3D efforts have fallen short.
Dolby is also working
on a 4,000-nits display that will
offer colours clearer than previously seen on screen. We’re hoping this makes
an appearance also.
Samsung Galaxy Gear 2
The wearable world is about to explode in 2014 and
smartwatches will be lighting the fuse. The first generation Galaxy Gear has
proven surprisingly popular even though Samsung itself admitted this was just
to test the waters.
The new Galaxy Gear 2 should feature its own built-in GPS -
this would be brilliant coupled with that 4GB on-board memory. With the watch
running apps and music you could leave your phone at home when out on a run.
LG 4K monitors
In a first for LG it will be showing off Real 4K monitors.
That’s a display with a 31-inch IPS screen and a 4096 x 2160 resolution. There
should also be UltraWide monitors and ColourPrime screens for True Colour Pro
clarity.
Asus smartphone and Chromebook launch
We already know Asus plans to launch a phone at CES 2014 as
well as its first Chromebooks. But specifics are still at the rumour stage. A
leaked roadmap of the Asus plan for 2014 points towards a 5-inch MeMOPhone
handset.
An Asus executive told investors an 11.6-inch Chromebook
model for $199 and 13.3-inch model for $249 will be made available in early
2014. We also expect to see some form of wearable kit from Asus as it has
confirmed it will be showing off the gadgets at Computex before which we’re
hoping to get an early preview.
Sony Xperia Z1 Mini
Last year Sony unveiled the Xperia Z1 at CES. This year
should be the turn of its smaller Z1 Mini sibling. Expected to be called the
Sony Xperia Z1S, it will be much like the Z1F that’s already out in Asia.
Unlike other mini smartphones it won’t take a cut in specs but will deliver
everything its larger sibling does but with a smaller form factor. That means a
Snapdragon quad-core processor, 20-megapixel camera, and waterproof body.
Of course Sony may decide to save this for MWC, but we can
hope.
Garmin lifestyle
This one is a bit of a mystery. We've received an invitation
from Garmin to see its first step into lifestyle gadgets. But it says nothing
more. We considered its fitness kit to be lifestyle related but if that's not
the case, and considering wearable popularity, this is likely going to be some
sort of smart bracelet - a bit like the fitness trackers we've seen from Nike,
Fitbit and Jawbone.
Curved 21:9 OLED TVs at 105-inches
LG and Samsung have announced similar 105-inch curved ultra
HDTVs ahead of the Consumer Electronics Show in January, a major step up from
the 55-inch televisions announced earlier this year.
LG is calling its 105-inch monster, named the 105UB9
technically, the largest curved TV ever made. It boasts a 21:9 aspect ratio and
11 million pixel (5120x2160) screen resolution "that enables users to
access viewing information on the side of the screen without blocking any of
the ongoing action."
Samsung followed with an announcement not long after LG on
Thursday. Its 105-inch "Curved UHD TV" will boast an 11 million pixel
(5120X2160) screen resolution with a 21:9 aspect ratio, like LG's version.
"The 105 incher adopts ‘Quadmatic Picture Engine’ which delivers all
content in UHD-level picture quality no matter what the source is,"
Samsung says.
WebOS for TVs
The first effect of LG's purchase of WebOS from HP will be
shown at the Consumer Electronics Show in January.
LG researcher Hong Sung-pyo announced at a semiconductor
event in Seoul, Korea on Thursday the company will show its first webOS-based
television set during the trade show next month. It will run a 2.2GHz dual-core
processor with 1.5GB of RAM, according to Sung-pyo, though it's not clear what
design, screen size, or resolution the television will pack.
The company has remained relatively quiet about its webOS
plans. However, LG did reveal in February that webOS will integrate into LG's
main TV products, shipping in "82 countries with multiple screen sizes and
price points." The OS' redesign was also called "a gamechanger."
And there's more...
That's your lot for now. We'll also be updating this feature
as and when more gossip of new technologies emerges.
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