Hosted by the Consumer Electronics Association in Las Vegas, CES 2013 will open to press and exhibitors from every facet of the electronics industry, and TechRadar will be there.
We’ll descend upon the gambling capital of the world for four days of basking in the glow of the latest computers, televisions, cameras, phones and more.
- Read more: 10 best gadgets and tech at CES 2012
With plenty of winners and losers, last year’s CES 2012 was big news for many reasons.
First, the show floor opened on Jan. 9, a week later than usual. LG and Sony unveiled 55-inch Ultra High-Definition TVs, then the largest in the world. Intel gave us a glimpse of the touch enabled Ultrabooks we’ve been seeing everywhere lately.
Samsung announces major new product
Hold onto your oversized souvenir drink – Samsung has an earth shattering announcement planned for CES.
At least that’s what the South Korean company would have us believe in a teaser video it recently posted.
A Red Ridge tablet from Intel
A recent filing at the U.S. Federal Communications Commission revealed an intriguing device illustrated with a label that read “Red Ridge.”
Red Ridge is Intel’s Medfield-based tablet platform, and while that news is certainly noteworthy, what makes us think a tablet could show at CES is that the device tested was reportedly a “production unit.”
That means we could see a commercial model in a month’s time – or just about when CES’ doors open.
- Read more about the Red Ridge tablet’s FCC appearance.
A 110-inch 4K LED TV
Westinghouse isn’t being shy about it’s ambitions to present the “world’s largest” 4K LED TV at CES. The company said as much in a press note.
While it won’t be the biggest TV out there (Panasonic’s 152-incher takes that crown) it will be interesting to see how the company prices this puppy.
Though it beats out Samsung’s 85-inch behemoth in size, because it’s a lesser manufacturer, we could actually see a price tag that the non-Jay Z’s of the world can afford. Either way, it’ll make watching football really engrossing.
- Read more about Westinghouse’s TV ambitions.
HTC might unveil a new phone or two
Mere months ago HTC released two killer devices into the marketplace, the Droid DNA and the HTC One X+. Apparently that wasn’t enough for the Taiwanese manufacturer. If a couple of recent rumors are true, HTC has a couple more smartphones up its sleeve.
The first rumbling came back in June when a possible line-up of HTC Windows Phone 8 devices was leaked, the headliner being the 4.7-inch HTC Zenith. Then another WP8 device, the HTC Titan III registered on our radar thanks to a survey on Xbox Live. Now just a few days ago we caught wind of the HTC M7, which the rumors peg as a possible 5-inch flagship device.
If these leaks have any merit, big handsets would seem to be a running theme for HTC. After the iPhone went over 4-inches, everyone seems to be upsizing. Maybe this is HTC’s new angle after it bowed out of the US tablet market?
Galaxy S4 with Full HD Super AMOLED display
As the major hardware manufacturer taking up CES real estate, it’s no surprise Samsung should (so far) dominate the rumor mill.
This one has a Full HD Super AMOLED display arriving at the show, but that’s not all: chances are we’ll see such a screen housed inside the Galaxy S4.
A Samsung source reported that the display’s resolution will reach 1920 x 1080 and a staggering 441 ppi, but the real point of interest is in the ultra-thin and energy efficient AMOLED technology.
Fingers crossed Samsung decides to bring a SIV with such a screen as its CES carry on.
The debut of Ultra High-Definition television
It took a while but CRT televisions have finally become the stuff of garage sales and trips to grandma’s house, and 3D screens have just started to crack the home market. Now everyone’s lovely flatscreen is about to become a little bit obsolete, thanks Ultra High-Definition.
- What you need to know: Ultra High-Definition television
After a brief flirtation with 4K high-definition, the CEA settled on the name Ultra HD. However, Sony, always one to buck a naming trend (remember Blu-Ray vs. HD-DVD?) has said it will stick with numbered moniker, calling its pixel-dense displays 4K Ultra High-Definition (4K UHD).
Still, everyone seems to be in agreement over the spec requirements set by the CEA, defining what it takes to be called Ultra HD. According to the group, Ultra means at least 8 million pixels, with a minimum resolution of 3840 x 2160, and an aspect ratio of at least 16 x 9.
Nvidia trumps out Tegra 4
Nvidia’s Tegra 3 has done quite for itself this year, jumping into phones like HTC’s One X+ and tablets such as Google’s Nexus 7 and Microsoft’s Surface.
That doesn’t mean Nvidia doesn’t have its eyes to the horizon, and we believe the company will introduce its Tegra 4 processor come CES.
Word of the T40 (the new Tegra’s model number) got going in April, with a report pointing to early 2013 as the time the Tegra 3′s successor would ascend the throne.
At the time, it sounded like the Tegra 4 would fit four new Cortex A15 ARM chips, taking it way past the A9 Cortex chip summit.
Speeds of 1.8GHz are probably going to be average for the new processor, while by the middle/end of the year, 2.0 should be its cruising GHz.
If we’re lucky, we might even see an Android or Windows 8 tablet poke about with the Tegra 4 inside.
Microsoft’s show no more
The Consumer Electronics Show has long been Microsoft’s chance to shine. The software giant has always given flashy presentations, usually involving celebrities. Shaq, Conan O’Brien, Ryan Seacrest, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and more have all appeared to help co-founder Bill Gates and current CEO Steve Ballmer show of the company’s latest tech.
- Read more: Microsoft’s last keynote at CES 2012
Sadly, CES 2013 will be the first year where Microsoft won’t be giving one of its signature keynote presentations. It gave the world plenty of notice, saying in December 2011 that CES 2012 would be its last. Steve Ballmer’s last presentation at the Las Vegas trade show focused on Metro, the new Live Tile-based interface for Windows 8.
Companies have moved quickly to fill the space left by Microsoft’s exodus. Qualcomm has nabbed the open keynote slot. The telecommunications mogul will be giving its Born Mobile keynote on Monday, January 7th. Meanwhile, satellite provider Dish and appliance manufacturer Hisense snapped up Microsoft’s booth space in under an hour.
However, Venturebeat has quoted CEA president Gary Shapiro as saying, “Microsoft will have something” at CES 2013. While it’s unknown what that something will be, there are plenty of possibilities. More Windows Phone 8 devices? A Microsoft Surface Pro running Windows 8? Its all in the realm of possibility.
Via Venturebeat
LG unveils Smart TV platform underpinned by HP’s webOS
While we expect LG to march out a bevvy of phones and TVs, including some we haven’t seen before, what’s really piquing our interest heading into the new year is word that it may launch a Smart TV service based on webOS.
Automotive electronics
The CEA estimates that factory-installed automotive technology will generate $8.7 billion dollars in 2013, so it’s no wonder seven major car companies will be on the show floor.
Audi, Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, Hyundai, Kia and Subaru will be joined more than 100 auto tech companies displaying the latest in-car tech. This is a record setting presence for the automotive industry at CES.
