The annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas is, in many ways, a means to take the pulse of consumer tech and where all the big companies are going with their next line of products or what start-ups are hoping to get their first taste of a large audience.
With Christmas behind us, all eyes now turn to the next big thing in drones, phones, and smart homes. Unlike in the past, CES is now so big that there is rarely one standout product. The sheer vastness of CES means there’s a lot of hyperbole, and in some cases pure nonsense, so it can be difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff. Here we’ve chosen the five biggest trends to keep an eye on at CES this week.
1. Virtual Reality Headsets Everywhere You Look
Call it déjà vu but it feels like it was around this time last year that 2015 was proclaimed as the year of virtual reality. Predictions weren’t exactly wrong but 2016 is likely to be far more important because this is the year that Oculus will finally release its first commercial products.
At CES several companies will be attempting to pull some of the spotlight in their direction. HTC will be holding a demo for its (delayed) VR headset built in partnership with Valve while images of the Vive headset have leaked online. Sony will be out in full force at the convention too but will it give us an update on its own VR efforts? Meanwhile start-ups like WakingApp will be displaying its VR content creation tool.
2. Drones Taking to the Skies in a Big Way
They’re going nowhere. Drones are here to stay. The FAA introduced its drone registration program just ahead of Christmas to meet the wave of festive UAV gifts that would take to the skies and it’s mostly been painless—at least for now. Drones are getting more and more popular and the market is only getting bigger.
The main focus this year will be GoPro who have been scheduled to launch a drone of its own, Karma, this year. CES is certainly a big enough stage to launch it. Qualcomm is also expected to release some details around the Snapdragon chip it is developing for drones. Elsewhere start-ups will be flaunting their wares, like Belgium’s Fleye and its safety rotors, which are encased in a protective shell to avoid injuries.
3. The Smart Home Pushing On
