CES 2015: Preview and Predictions

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

Once again, I'm preparing to head to Las Vegas for the annual CES show. I'm trying to set priorities regarding who to visit and what to see. It's impossible to see everything, especially now that this gigantic show has spread out with exhibits not only filling the Las Vegas Convention Center, but also now areas at Sands, The Venetian, and Madalay Bay. 

Looking back over the last five years of CES and analyzing predictions and items featured by the large exhibitors, you'd likely assume the 2015 show would feature more advanced 3D TVs, as they were predicted to take over the market...wrong!

Last year seemed to promise the end of the PC era and the beginning of a majority using touch interface tablets...again, wrong! In fact, after experimenting with tablets and Net/Chrome books, many companies and individuals are upgrading or replacing their older PCs at a rapid rate. I received several invitations to see new PC components and keyboards. The PC era is far from over--it's actually seeing a bit of a rebirth.

As for displays, the prediction was that the age of the so-called Hi-Def 1080p monitors at an end. That prediction seems correct, but while 4K is becoming main stream, it seems as though the next geneneration of 5K or higher resolution monitors and TVs is almost upon us. The question is: What graphics hardware will power them? My guess is that NVIDIA and AMD will tell us this week.

What do I expect to see and, more importantly, what will we see that will actually be mainstream in two or three years (unlike the 3D TV and an all tablet world)? 

Here are my guesses:

1. We'll see a great deal of hype about the Internet of Things, but I predict that cost and the pain of implementation will prevent this from becoming fully mainstream except in certain areas like fitness.
2. We'll see a slew of smart watches, not only at CES, but later in the year from Apple and others. The talk is that everyone will want or will have a wearable device. My prediction is that unless they do far more than become a remote display or control for your smartphone they will be far from mainstream. The exception, again, being health- or fitness-related wearables.
   
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