CES 2019: What to expect?
2018 is coming to an end and it is almost time for CES 2019. From LG’s second generation CineBeam 4K projector, to Samsung’s foldable displays, tech giants have been announcing their new products that expected to debut at next year’s CES. We are expecting a blast of new products on January 8th which we will cover in detail come the show. For now, here are the most important products we are expecting.
As usual, the show will be held in Las Vegas between the 8th and 11th of January. It is expected that the show will attract over 180,000 people from over 155 countries. These will represent many in the tech industry and trade, as well as journalists and media, of whom 6,500 will be present, covering over 4,500 exhibits. Aside from Apple, any tech giant who you can think of will be present. The show will feature products from companies specialized in smartphones, cars, virtual and augmented reality and gaming, smart home, smart cities, health and wellness, sleep, sports, voice control and a lot more. Without further ado, let’s dig into it.
What will be announced at CES 2019?
As is the case with every year, there are certain trends that will dominate the next CES. One of the most prominent ones will be voice control, as we will certainly see the existing lines of smart speakers improve with software and hardware updates, as well as new speakers rolling out with more features, many of which will be equipped with screens to make interaction with the device easier. Voice control is also likely to be introduced to more and more products such as soundbars and smart TVs. Reports of Google Assistant integration coming to Samsung TVs have been circulating, and Toshiba has an upcoming lineup of OLED, 4K HDR TV with far-field microphones for voice control, which will have Alexa built in.
We can also say that last year was the year of smart headphones, with many Google Assistant and Alexa enabled headphones coming out, and we expect that to continue and for these to get better. Until now, headphones have been mostly reliant on smartphones for their smart functionality. What we want to see at CES 2019 are headphones which respond to a wake-word. It is unlikely that we’ll see that, this time around but we will certainly see advances in that direction.
Foldable displays are also likely to steal the upcoming show, with the two main products being the Samsung Galaxy X and LG’s foldable. This will not be limited to smartphones, but will likely seep into other products such as laptops, tablets and even TVs, in the future. It’ll be interesting to see how operating systems in both smartphones and laptops will adapt.
Below are the details of what we are expecting by company.
Samsung’s CES 2019:
It is probable that there will be a CES 2019 launch for the newly announced Samsung Galaxy Home, featuring Samsungs in-house smart assistant Bixby, which is set to compete with the Google Home, Apple’s HomePod and Amazon’s Alexa. What is uncertain is whether Samsung will release their highly anticipated Galaxy X foldable phone. It is unclear whether we will get a glimpse of that and we will probably have to wait for Mobile World Congress for the full launch, but the company might announce the Galaxy S10, which will not be foldable and will probably feature an infinity-O display, 5G and triple or quad camera setup.
On the notebooks front, Samsung is looking to announce the two new versions Samsung Notebook 9 Pen 2-in-1 laptop. The device is scheduled to be released in 2019 without a specific date and there are no details about the pricing, but they will overall be an update of the 13.3-inch and 15 inch models of 2017.
Samsung will also probably refresh some of its TV-lineup, which will probably include more advanced QLED technology. This will not include the recent 85-inch Q900R 8K QLED TV. But a recent patent filing tells us that Samsung is working on a transparent TV, which will probably be in its preliminary stages so it will not go on sale anytime soon, but it is still an interesting direction for the future.
What is certain is that Samsung will upgrade its Frame designer screens and Serif TV with QLED technology. The new displays will debut at CES 2019 and will be part of a lifestyle TV exhibition in Samsung’s booth. It has also been reported that the new Samsung TV’s will support Bixby and Google Assistant.
LG’s CES 2019:
Similar to Samsung, LG will have TV’s at their booth at CES 2019. The company has already announced the second generation of its Alpha 9 TV processor that will support the coming year of TVs. There were very little details on its specifics, so we will have to wait for the show to know. LG has also been developing new rollable displays. At last CES, they were behind closed doors. There is a chance that we will see these on the show’s floor this year, and they might actually go on sale in 2019.
For the gamers and productivity geeks of us, LG will present two ultra monitors, with one at a huge 49-inches and the other -geared for gamers- having a 144Hz refresh rate. Accompanying the TV lineup, the company will be showcasing their new Dolby Atmos soundbars, which will have Google Assistant built in.
There have been reports that they new foldable phone from LG will be unveiled at CES 2019 during their keynote, but it even if it is unveiled, it will probably not be available on the show floor. The LG G8 is set to be released in March, so we won’t hear much about that.
Nvidia’s CES 2019:
The new GeForce RTX Mobility graphics cards are rumored to be released during CES 2019. These include the RTX 2070 and 2070 Max-Q as well as the RTX 2060, 2050 TI and 2050. More in the laptop graphics area, Nvidia is reported to be releasing their MX250, which has appeared in one of HP’s laptops. The HP Zahn 66 Pro 14 G2 Notebook PC was said to feature the MX250 graphics card, but the information was not verified.
Asus’s CES 2019:
According to AndroidHeadlines, Asus will be announcing a new high-end Chrome OS tablet at CES 2019. Asus’s current lineup of Chromebooks does not feature high end specifications. The Chromebooks C223, C423 and C523 all have intel Celeron processors, low RAM and a 12-inch, 13-inch or 15-inch Full HD displays. All of these devices are standard laptops that do not feature a 360-degree convertible hinge. By introducing this new tablet, Asus is stepping up its competition. The new device will compete with devices such as the Pixel Slate and Apple’s iPad Pro. Unfortunately, little details are available about the specifications of the tablet, so we will have to wait for January to hear about it.
Intel’s CES 2019:
CES 2019 might be the time that Intel decides to enter the discrete graphics cards market, according to reports from TweakTown. Nvidia might be facing some serious competition if the reports are true. Intel is also said to be working on a 10-core, 20-thread CPU with the code-name Comet Lake. This is an important step for Intel as it will outpace AMD in terms of CPU cores
AMD’s CES 2019:
AMD has been clear that it will showcase its new third generation Ryzen processors and new graphics products at CES 2019. This will most probably include some entry-level Ryzen 3 processors, such as the 3300, 3300X and 3300G, some mid-range Ryzen 5 processors such as the 3600 lineup, and two different Ryzen 7 processors, the 3700 and 3700X. Aside from that, AMD might also launch some new mobile processors such as the 2.1GHz AMD Ryzen 3 3300U CPU and Ryzen 5 3500U. On the graphics front, it is expected that AMD will release a new Radeon graphics card with 7nm Vega II GPUs.
Sony’s CES 2019:
The company might rush to release its first 5G enabled phone to be the first in the market, as its smartphone lineup has been struggling and could use a step ahead of the competition at CES 2019. So we could see the first 5G Xperia very soon. Moreover, it was reported that CES 2019 will see Sony launching their 5.9-inch XA3 and 5.7-inch Xperia L3 budget phones. The company might also release some more smart speakers, some with screens to catch up with the competition.
Wireless Charging at CES 2019:
The world is going wireless and so is charging, and this means CES will be full of new wireless charging products, especially from Aircharge. We will certainly see a 10W Fast Wireless Charger, a 10W Fast Dual Charger and a PS4 DualShock 4 Wireless adapter.Both chargers will give us fast wireless charging that is compatible with both Androids and iPhones.
Spotify’s CES 2019:
Although Spotify is primarily a software company, we might see it releasing a new voice command interface device to compete with Amazon’s Echo and Google Home. It will certainly be an ambitious move from Spotify to try and take on the big tech giants, but its voice interface will likely be geared towards music.
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