I know! It feels like just yesterday that the Futurelooks crew packed up our gear and made our way to Las Vegas for the 2010 International Consumer Electronics Show. Believe it or not, an entire year has come and gone, so it’s time to head on over to Sin City once more to see what the technology world has to offer us.
While we certainly can’t know all the secret announcements and unveilings that are bound to happen at the annual trade show, we have caught wind of at least a few that are well worth investigating. So, what can we expect at this year’s CES? Let’s have a look.
Say Hello to Windows 8 (for Tablets Too)
We just had a look at the new Windows Phone 7 smartphone platform, but the boys and girls in Redmond have been busy at work on another project too: Windows 8.
There are at least two very significant developments on this front. First, it’s rumored that Microsoft will be showcasing its new Windows 8 operating system for desktop and notebook PCs. This, as you can imagine, is the follow-up to Windows 7 and the rumors are that the new platform will offer more of a focus on gaming: an area where Apple has made some headway into with the availability of VALVE’s STEAM for OSX.
What Microsoft wants you to do is play on your Xbox, but they don’t want you to ignore the gaming capabilities of your computer either. By bringing Xbox and PC closer together, along with Windows Phone 7, Microsoft is hoping to tighten up their gaming ecosystem.
The second part? There’s word that Microsoft is working on a special build of Windows that will work with ARM-based tablet devices. As you’ve likely heard, tablets running on Windows 7 haven’t exactly been well received. The OS just isn’t built for the tablet environment. A tablet-centric Windows 8 Tablet Edition might be the golden ticket for MS.
Intel Demos Sandy Bridge All Over the Place
For weeks now, companies like GIGABYTE and ASUS have been leaking their Sandy Bridge goodness all over the web. Now it’s all official.
As the successor to the Nehalem architecture, Sandy Bridge is set to be announced on the day before the Consumer Electronics Show. However, INTEL changed their mind last minute and the reviews are now all over the web. Needless to say, the press are extremely impressed with both the mobile and desktop platforms. This “disruptive technology” is sure to turn heads once it starts to hit retail.
At launch, Intel will stick to dual-core and quad-core processors for Sandy Bridge, but six-core and eight-core processors are in the works too. Intel will have a huge presence at the show and you can fully expect many of its manufacturing partners to be showing off their Sandy Bridge-happy motherboards and notebooks.
Expect our review of the desktop variant soon and we’ll be sure to find out what AMD’s answer will be once we hit Las Vegas. Word has it that AMD is bring back “FX” and it’s going to be a good fight along with their new mobile platforms based on the Fusion APU.
NVIDIA Tegra 2 Invades Tablets and Smartphones
Qualcomm has been getting a lot of attention with its Snapdragon line of mobile processors. Others are getting chunks of the market too, but NVIDIA is ready to really make its splash with NVIDIA Tegra 2. This is thanks largely to some of the big partners coming out with Tegra 2-based hardware.
For instance, the LG Optimus 2X smartphone will be powered by the dual-core NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor, boasting the ability to not only play, but also record 1080p full HD video. The great thing about Tegra 2 is that while it is mobile-friendly (read: lower power consumption), it really cranks up the graphics capabilities.
That’s why it’s not at all surprising that Tegra 2 will be a major player in both smartphones and tablet devices. Who knows? It might even breathe some new life into netbooks too.
Motorola Xoom Plays Nice with Android Honeycomb
You know one other reason why NVIDIA Tegra 2 is going to be so important? It’s reportedly going to be a part of the reference design for Google Android 3.0 Honeycomb, the first tablet-centric version of Android. And one of the first devices to show off Honeycomb? The rumored Motorola Xoom… or is it XOOM?
A teaser video was posted on YouTube a short while ago, showing the evolution of tablets and how the upcoming Motorola tablet will trump them all. They’re “buzzing” with excitement about this device and in the video, they make direct pokes at both the iPad and the Samsung Galaxy Tab.
We may have seen some of the first Android tablets at Computex, but the market is really coming to fruition now. Archos has already gone ahead and launched their Android tablets and we’re even seeing price point TV manufacturers like VIZIO and Westinghouse get into the game. Needless to say, the tablet market is about to get interesting with Android.
Should the iPad Beware of the HP PalmPad?
So, Research in Motion didn’t actually buy Palm. HP did and the biggest motivation had to be getting its corporate hands on webOS. The Palm Pre 2 is out and about, but webOS is also set to make a splash with tablets too.
Let’s face it. The HP Slate hasn’t exactly been a big success for the company, despite what their PR department might lead you to believe. The much more consumer-centric Palm webOS could be a real winner in the tablet arena and the HP PalmPad will be the first tablet to use webOS 2.5.1 as its platform.
All kinds of rumors are swirling around the PalmPad, including possible mentions of NVIDIA Tegra 2, dual cameras, various screen sizes, and various storage capacities. Capacitive multitouch is a must too, of course. Hopefully we get our chance to go hands on to give you an idea of whether or not it’ll meet expectations.
Gaming with the Sony PlayStation Phone (XPERIA Play)
Seriously, this rumor has been years in the making, but it looks like Sony might be ready to launch the first real PlayStation Phone. The kicker is that recent reports are saying Sony won’t be marketing it as a PSPhone, because they don’t want to confuse consumers.
From what I hear, the PSPhone will instead be marketed as the Sony Ericsson XPERIA Play, joining the XPERIA family of smartphones. It’ll run on Google Android, but will likely have a custom skin and dedicated access to the PlayStation Network for mobile game downloads. It’s rumored to have slide-out controls, as depicted above, as well as the prerequisite touchscreen.
The XPERIA Play has a good chance of showing up at CES, but a true Sony PSP2 probably will not. With the iPhone’s big lead in mobile gaming, this new product had better be awesome to get any traction. We’ve already seen Panasonic fail at introducing a new portable gaming device in 2010.
Ditching the Glasses for 3D HDTV
At CES 2010, all of the major television manufacturers were going around showing off their shiny new 3D HDTVs. They told us that we’d be blown away and, while 3DTV has indeed made it to retail, it hasn’t exactly gone mainstream.
Why? Well, it’s not just a matter of expense or the slowly growing library of content. For me, I don’t want to bother with the glasses. If you have guests over, then you have to give them glasses too and 3D glasses aren’t exactly cheap. That’s why there are rumors that guys like Samsung and Sony will be showcasing some glasses-free 3DTV tech.
We’ve seen glasses-free 3D with the Nintendo 3DS, but that’s an entirely different beast from the massive HDTV in your living room. CES has seen some early glasses-free 3D HDTV sets in years past, but this year could represent a real push.
Personally, our experience with anything wearable for extended TV viewing has been less than stellar. So we’re quite interested to see how this glass free experience will be in the flesh.
Minority Report for the Apple iPad
Speaking of moving into the future, your Apple iPad could soon be getting some KINECT-like gesture controls. The interesting thing is that this tech is coming neither from Microsoft nor Apple; it’s coming from some firm called Elliptic Labs from Norway.
The “gesture control system” should be demonstrated at CES 2011, allowing you to interact with your Apple tablet without ever physically touching the screen. You can swipe to the left and right by waving your hands, not unlike the experience that we saw Tom Cruise enjoy in Minority Report. You know, without the holograms and such.
There is a preview video posted on YouTube, but I’d really want to see the real thing in action and not just some computer animation. If it really does work though, you could be seeing your own minority report shortly.
What Do You Want Us to See?
The Consumer Electronics Show is positively massive. From gadgets to computers, home theater to car audio, it really runs the gamut when it comes to the world of technology. That’s why we need your help!
Let us know if there’s something specific you want us to check out. We’ll be providing all kinds of coverage through the Futurelooks Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube channels, as well as on the main site. If we’re in the neighbourhood, we’d be happy to swing by to check out something for our readers.
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