What to Expect at CES 2020

The Consumer Electronics Show has always been about making us feel that much closer to the future, about showing us cutting-edge consumer technology that’s either right around the corner or so conceptual it barely feels like it even exists yet. But something about the year 2020 just makes this year’s CES seem even more impressive. CES 2020 sounds like the show where every attendee walks away with a home cloning kit. We don’t expect that to actually happen.

Here’s what we do expect to happen at CES 2020.

Phones, Phones, Phones

Smartphones are the gravitational center of the modern consumer technology world, and they have been for some time. All of these companies are pouring most of their energy into squeezing out the few remaining innovations for largely identical pocket supercomputers. Today, before the show, Samsung revealed new budget versions of its flagship phones with the Galaxy S10 Lite and Note 10 Lite. And considering that $1,000 phones are just the norm now, a move toward affordability is a trend we’d love to see continue. It’s certain more useful than folding displays.

5G

The next-generation of mobile wireless networks is obviously a big deal for new phones. But the way folks are talking about 5G, that may be thinking too small. 5G is being tested for everything from smart tires to lagless remote brain surgery. And CES is the perfect showcase for even wackier applications of the tech.

Next-Gen Game Consoles

The next generation of video game consoles from Sony and Microsoft, the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, launch this holiday. Solid facts on both boxes remain scarce. And we don’t expect to learn much more about the games lineup until E3 this summer. But plenty of CES vendors will still look to get on the next-gen console train early, even without all of the details.

Cybertrucks

Elon Musk’s Cybertruck, ripped straight out of an N64 game, snuck in at the last minute to become one of 2019’s most hilarious tech stories. But just because we’re laughing at this thing now doesn’t mean we should ignore its future potential influence. Autonomous electric vehicles are always an easy CES prediction. So we’re going a step further and saying these new cars will get more angular than ever.

Streaming

A new era of the streaming wars has already begun. Disney+ offers a massive library of the “friendly” giant’s back catalog (a catalog that’s also randomly losing movies as old licensing deals get worked out). Apple and CBS have put out their answers to Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video. This year HBO Max and NBC Peacock will do the same. Streaming TV services are a massive, tech-based chunk of the future of entertainment, so you better believe they’ll have a presence at CES.

VR, Still

Virtual reality being a thing again has always been the perfect flashy phenomenon for CES, to the point now where strapping a headset to your face to get transported into another world is an expected, almost boring part of the show. We were just about say that maybe interest in VR is on the downswing. And that could still be true. But then Valve announced a VR-exclusive Half-Life revival coming in March, so don’t count out headsets just yet.



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