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Last year’s CES in Las Vegas, Nevada, marked the last time that many of us would be talking face to face, exchanging invisible respiratory droplets, handling the same germ devices and enjoying food and drinks in windowless restaurants.
This year, due to the ongoing pandemic, the annual CES takes place entirely on our computer screens. The first totally remote staging of the consumer technology industry sustaining event begins on Monday, January 11th.
Experiencing CES from afar presents some obvious challenges for those of us reporting on the program. We can’t stroll the expo hall’s nearly 3 million square feet of space or really try the new products on display. But we will do our best to give you our expert analysis from this year’s Tech Fest, based on a lot of virtual briefings and our collective tens of years covering CES in the past. Then activate Zoom, attach your virtual reality headsets and get ready to follow.
Let’s decrease
On the other hand, if you would like to check out CES this year, there is no need to spend money on registration, airfare or accommodation fees. You can watch all the ads and activities in your pajamas.
But there is no doubt that this year’s CES has been reduced. The Consumer Technology Association, which hosts CES, says that about 1,800 exhibitors will be part of this year’s show. That is less than half of the 4,400 exhibitors who presented technology last year. CTA also pointed out that, as it is a completely digital event, “the show will be accessible to audiences from around the world”, but it did not mean how many people actually signed up for this year’s virtual CES. Last year, about 170,000 people attended in person.
Some tech companies are choosing to leave CES this year or are posting product news on their own schedule. Amazon will not have an official presence, although you can probably expect to see your Alexa voice assistant appearing in hundreds of products. Google, which at recent CESes has installed massive Googley facilities in Las Vegas, says it will host partner meetings, but on the other hand is leaving the show. Microsoft President Brad Smith will deliver a speech on technology as a weapon and tool – an especially relevant topic – but most of the Microsoft-related news at CES will come from its PC-manufacturing partners. Facebook and its Oculus division will also not participate. Instead, the company decided to tease its next “smart glasses” on a blog earlier this week. And most of the focus on Facebook now, anyway, is its role in disrupting American democracy.
Samsung and LG Electronics will hold virtual press conferences and give talks on their new monitors and appliances. But it’s important to note that Samsung is launching its annual Galaxy phone on January 14th –during CES, but not really a part of the CES. We will also be looking forward to Monday’s press conferences with Intel and Sony. And some of the main highlights include lectures by the chief executives of General Motors, Verizon and AMD.
Look but don’t touch
So, what new technology go see you practically next week? There are interesting things happening on TV, said Parker Hall of WIRED. The most impressive TV we saw before the conference is a new 110-inch MicroLED model from Samsung. (MicroLED is a relatively new display technology that uses tiny, non-organic LEDs, three per pixel, and should offer perfect contrast). More TV makers are also launching 8K screens, including Samsung, LG and Sony, as well as low-cost set makers like TCL and Vizio. And that may seem like a small thing, but many new TVs will be launched this year with updated HDMI 2.1 ports – so that the new PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X game consoles can run at their full 120 Hz potential on the screens.
Some TV manufacturers may postpone their ads until spring, when most new TVs start to hit the market. It is difficult to garner the same kind of enthusiasm for monitors when you cannot display an impressive OLED waterfall in person. And 8K monitors come with the same caveat that 4K did just a few years ago: it will take some time for 8K content to become widely available.
CES generally presents a good opportunity to check out new laptop technology, even though we don’t see some of them being sold until the fall. (It turns out that laptops are essential gadgets when you’re doing everything from keeping a job to educating your kids at home during a pandemic.) You often hear “the PC is dead, the PC is not dead,” says Patrick Moorhead, founder and principal analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy. “But I’m seeing a lot of action on computing devices, especially around ACPC – the always-on personal computer.” This means that we can finally start seeing more PCs with ARM with cellular capabilities, so that if we can be “on the move” again in the future, we will always have a data connection.
Scott Gilbertson of WIRED says that this is also “the year of the AMD laptop”. From Chromebooks to high-end gaming machines, manufacturers are offering AMD models along with the usual options with Intel technology. AMD’s C-series Ryzen 3000 chips – specifically optimized for Chromebooks – are coming in new models later this year from Acer and other PC makers. Scott also says that support for Wi-Fi 6 and better-looking screens with higher refresh rates will become standard on laptops in 2021, to keep up with the demands of modern games. And the entire WIRED Gear team is hopeful that laptop webcams will look much better in 2021. It’s an improvement that should have been done a long time ago.
Call the future
Most major smartphone manufacturers will hold separate ad events sometime in 2021, as they have been doing for at least a decade. But some of the mobile ads made during or around CES point to lasting trends.
This year, we are likely to see almost all phone manufacturers offering a 5G phone for less than $ 400, said WIRED senior associate editor Julian Chokkattu. Qualcomm has just announced 5G support on its Snapdragon 480 chip for low-cost phones. The result is that Qualcomm can now offer 5G across its range of processors for phones, instead of just the most sophisticated chips. Of course, wireless operators will continue the conversation about building 5G networks – expect to hear more about it during the speech by Verizon’s CEO, Hans Vestberg, on Monday night. Although Moorhead says he shouldn’t expect any “balance-me-around-the-room ads” around 5G.
Also arriving at the end of this year on smartphones, even if not announced at CES: more foldable and scrollable screens; high-end Android phones running on the fast Snapdragon 888 chip; support for the new Wi-Fi 6E standard; higher screen refresh rates; and, following Apple’s suggestion, fewer phones come with charging adapters in the box.
Alone at home
If there is another trend that emerged in full force during the Covid-19 pandemic and is likely to last in 2021, it is our obsession with our homes – working from them, working on them and renovating them. Or, as senior editor Adrienne So says, “companies are betting that we want to keep our carpets vacuumed, our abs toned and our asses fresh.” (We can even see a commercialized version of a bathroom that analyzes your poop.)
Companies like Samsung, Roborock and Eufy will be unveiling robot vacuum cleaners with attractive designs and new cleaning technologies at CES this year. Bathroom accessories will be “smarter” – yes, more appliances with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chips built into them.
On the connected fitness side, most wearable manufacturers are skipping CES this year, says Adrienne. But that means it could be a year in which hardware innovation takes a back seat, with more emphasis on smart training and recovery apps, AI running coaches and personalized training services, all running on the phone or smartwatch you’ve already run. It has.
And, of course, where there is a serious health crisis, there is always a stab at technological solving: WIRED contributor Boone Ashworth says he is getting a lot of arguments for high-tech cleaning appliances. Think of portable air fresheners, antimicrobial screen protectors and non-touch disinfection stations that disinfect while displaying ads. Some of them will be more legitimate than others, but it is safe to bet that for many of us, even after the end of the pandemic, disinfecting things can be a persistent obsession.
We will not be able to really capture the vibration of this year’s CES – the oddities, the news, the size and scale of the screens, the elegance of the concept cars. Not to mention that the pandemic has had a devastating impact on the Las Vegas tourism and hospitality industry, and the cancellation of massive events like the CES will only add to the trauma. But CTA says this year’s CES is not intended to replace or recreate a face-to-face business fair and that the organization “hopes to return to our home, Las Vegas, in 2022 and beyond.” I never thought I would write this, but I’m also looking forward to returning to CES in Las Vegas.
Julian Chokkattu of WIRED, Adrienne So, Parker Hall, Scott Gilbertson and Boone Ashworth contributed to this report.
This story originally appeared on wired.com.