NBC Bay Area reporter Jonathan Bloom is in Las Vegas where he will be checking out the latest tech trends at the Consumer Electronics Show.
Watch this space for more from Jonathan @BloomTV.
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That shiny 4K TV you just got? Already obsolete.
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This year, 8K TVs will be among the innovations taking center stage at CES in Las Vegas, the biggest annual event in the consumer electronics world.
With an estimated 2.5 million square feet of exhibit space and nearly 4,000 companies showing off their goods, CES (which used to be called the Consumer Electronics Show) is where the biggest makers of TVs, cars and computer chips come to announce their latest advances, and smaller companies come to debut their new products — including some that might not ever make it to market.
TVs are expected to get bigger, laptops are expected to get smaller, and cars are expected to get smarter. Many of these devices will talk to each other over next-generation 5G cellular networks, and we can expect to hear announcements from the major wireless carriers about how they’ll begin rolling out 5G data speeds to consumers.
U.S. & World
In a classic case of “what’s old is new again,” there’s an awful lot of buzz about foldable phones leading up to CES 2019 — though they’ll do a lot more than your old flip phone from 2005. In this case, the technology is foldable color displays, and we could see them show up in futuristic laptop and tablet designs — products that may or may not ultimately be mass-produced for consumers.
In the past, CES has served as the center of the self-driving car world. This year, things are expected to be quiet in that department, after an Uber self-driving vehicle struck and killed a pedestrian in March, slowing the pace of innovation across the industry. Car makers appear focused on innovation for human-driven cars, including all-electric concept vehicles.
We’ll be covering CES in Las Vegas starting on Sunday evening, so watch this space for updates on all the announcements!
FRIDAY:
5G Cellular Could Change How You Drive:It’s called Cellular V2X — which means “vehicle to everything.” Automakers and cell phone chipmakers are teaming up to get cars “talking” to each other — which could help prevent crashes whether the drivers are humans or robots.
THURSDAY:
Google’s Amusement Park Ride at CES: In the battle of the smart voice assistants, Google’s CES marketing stunt outdid them all: a full-fledged indoor amusement park ride, complete with rain and fog effects, that takes riders through a chaotic day in the life of a dad chasing after Grandma’s birthday cake with the help of the Google Assistant.
WEDNESDAY:
Do you like beer? Now, you can brew your own right on your kitchen counter — even if you’re not a certified brewmaster. LG’s HomeBrew sits on your counter, with two stainless steel tanks and a shiny beer tap, and takes care of all the details. You add the ingredients, it makes the beer — and cleans itself when it’s done.
TUESDAY:
CES tech show kicks off in Las Vegas: From a flying taxi to a virtual roller coaster, the tech world’s biggest yearly event shows a peek at what life could be like in the not-so-distant future.
MONDAY:
The biggest tech event of the year has arrived. We got early looks at some of the biggest exhibits at CES, and talked with experts about the trends that might change lives and living rooms in the coming year.
SUNDAY:
A cordless hair dryer you can use in your Uber, a robot that will fold your clothes, and a kitchen sink you can talk to — CES 2019 is off to a start!
