Since 1998, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) has been held in the Las Vegas Convention Center, Nevada, kickstarting the year with a slew of the most exciting products, announcements and launches. This year’s event starts on Tuesday 9 January and ends on Friday 12 January 2018.
We expect to see a few major product launches, which will be unveiled to more than 170,000 people visiting the show. There are also bound to be thousands more watching it online via webcasts and live streams.
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What trends can we expect from CES 2018?
1. AR, VR and mixed reality
Microsoft’s HoloLens, HTC’s Vive and Oculus’ Rift made a lot of headway in 2017. The headsets also opened up a lot of new avenues for third-party developers. Now that many consumers have access to AR, VR and mixed reality headsets, we can only assume they’ll be even bigger in 2018 – and what’s the best way to showcase the latest and greatest to the masses? At CES 2018, of course. Expect to see more – pun intended.
2. Biometric technology
People are becoming increasingly wary with their personal data, leading to a rise in biometric security. Apple’s recent iPhone X features Face ID, a 3D face-scanning technology used to unlock the phone. Synaptics, a world-renowned biometric company, has also announced its new in-display fingerprint reader. So don’t be surprised to see biometrics at the forefront of most technologies at CES – from smartphones to fridges.
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3. Car technology
Cars are always getting smarter and, with the announcement of the Tesla Roadster, we’re expecting to see some seriously impressive car technology showcased at CES this year.
4. Faster chips
Qualcomm recently announced the Snapdragon 845 chipset, which might feature in the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ and LG G7. These chips might be showcased in Las Vegas and feature in new product launches.
5. Smart home innovation
At IFA 2017, we saw a host of different home-orientated products, from automated fridges that bring you beer to smart wireless speakers that connect to your home network. This year saw the UK launch of Google’s smart speaker and the total refresh of Amazon’s Echo range, so we expect to see a lot more Google Assistant- and Amazon Alexa-enabled products at CES 2018.
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6. The year of robots
This year, the AI voice assistant became ubiquitous in people’s homes – and with robots becoming ever more capable, could 2018 be the year they go mainstream? From manufacturing plants to techy pet toys, robots are everywhere and as AI chips make an appearance in consumer-grade products, we expect to see a larger focus on robotics at CES 2018.