Onlookers gaze at a 4K television set from Sony at CES. Jim Merithew/WIRED
The International CES is the once-yearly gathering place for all things, companies, and people tech. From semiconductor chips to tablets to connected cars, the Consumer Electronics Show sets the stage for the coming year in consumer technology in terms of patterns, products, and innovations.
Over the years we’ve seen trends like 3-D, e-readers, ultrabooks, and Windows Phones take root at the show. And like a shooting star blasting through the atmosphere, we’ve also watched several of them fizzle once the show ends and consumers decide what’s actually going to be popular.
With actual consumer purchasing power more in mind than in previous years, the stars of this year’s show are largely familiar. CES will be dominated by technologies we’ve seen before, things like 4K and connected home systems, except now they’re more efficient, more robust, and, best of all, they’re actually affordable. Here’s what we expect.
Wearables 2.0
Last year, we were awash in a sea of wearables. Everyone wanted to have one (and they did). What resulted was basically a lot of the same thing. Wrist-worn bands of slightly varying shapes, colors, and sizes that track movement, steps, calories burned, and sleep. While we’re sure to see more of these next year, we expect more differentiation. Wearables will be smarter, more refined, and more uniquely styled.
Now that basic fitness tracking can be accomplished relatively easily, companies can start making all that data useful and actionable. They can start quantifying more useful types of biometric data, like heart rate patterns and blood oxygen levels, and rather than relay that to you through largely meaningless graphs, they can offer real world advice. For example, based on your daily habits, they can start suggesting subtle changes to help you sleep better and be more active.
The hardware itself will get better too, with more advanced chips, greater battery life, and more form factors to choose from. Companies are realizing that not everyone wants to wear a plastic black band on their wrist, so they’re offering more colors and more styles at a wider variety of price points, so you can have an appropriate wearable whether you’re going for a jog or having cocktails at a swanky bar. The goal is that you can find the exact wearable (or wearables) that are right for you. The result may still be an overwhelming buffet of options, though.
Connected Home
Your home is the new battleground for companies trying to connect everything inside.
In addition to wireless hub-based systems like Logitech’s Harmony line or products operating over Zigbee or Z-Wave, many new lightbulbs, TVs, speakers, and appliances will connect directly over Wi-Fi or Bluetooth LE. This offers an easier entry point for those looking to smarten up their homes, but at a lower cost. Like last year, Bluetooth speakers and home audio systems will be big among the connected home offerings as companies try to emulate the success of Sonos.
4K Goes Mainstream
We’ve been ogling beautifully detailed 4K displays for several years now, but due to their steep five-figure price tags, they’ve remained unattainable as an actual household addition for most of us. This year, 4K technology has finally matured enough that you might be able to afford it. Yes!
Also referred to as Ultra HD, 4K means that a display has, or a camera records in, 3840 x 2160 or 4096 x 2160 pixel resolution. That’s so many pixels you don’t begin to appreciate it unless they’re on a screen 80-inches or larger, or if you’re sitting super close to a traditionally proportioned set.
We’ll be seeing 4K TVs and displays, yes, but also 4K camcorders, action cameras, and camera modes, from just about everyone who can possibly make them: Sony, Sharp, LG, Samsung, Hisense, and Panasonic.
A Quantum-Dot Epidemic
The name may sound like some sort of science fiction pox, but quantum-dots are going to give your LCD an OLED-like color gamut. In fact, with the exception of LG, quantum-dots could be entirely replacing OLEDs for many manufacturers because of their stellar performance and cheap manufacturing cost (LG is still betting on its OLED displays).
Quantum-dot LCD displays work by inserting a layer nanoparticles between a display’s backlight and color filters. This results in an extra precise, extra wide color range. The Kindle Fire HDX tablets and Sony’s Triluminos TV sets already employ quantum-dot technology to critical visual acclaim, but CES will reveal numerous other quantum-dot display-wielding products.
Virtual Reality Gets Real
Virtual reality’s been a pipe dream for decades, emerging and receding in waves of hype and failed attempts. Then the Oculus Rift showed us how it’s done at CES 2013 and CES 2014 before being acquired by Facebook earlier this year.
But Oculus isn’t alone. There’s growing momentum around Samsung’s $99 Gear VR platform, too. And in addition to seeing new software that takes advantage of these virtual reality setups, we’ll surely be seeing new hardware from other companies hoping to get in on the hype, too. It could be the dawn of a new age of entertainment, but the technology is so young, we hope the excitement and app development isn’t premature.
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