Kodak's first Android smartphone
It looks like the unveiling of the Panasonic Lumix CM1
camera/smartphone hybrid could start a trend with Kodak confirming
plans to show off its first Android-based smartphone at this year's
show. Putting camera features at the heart of the handset, the Kodak
cameraphone will come with pre-loaded bspoke image capture, management
and sharing features, while users will also be able to print photos
instantly.
That’s not all from Kodak at CES either. The iconic
imaging company also plans to show off a range of headphones, an action
camera and even a smart baby monitor.
LG goes big with Art Slim and Quantum Dot TVs
Historically,
CES is a show that’s been about TVs and the Korean manufacturer is not
going to buck the trend in 2015 with plans to show off new LCD displays
it’s calling Art Slim. Set to be some of the slimmest and lightest
panels available, the screens will be offered in 55-inch and 65-inch
models.
These super-slim screens will sit alongside LG’s line of
4K TVs packing quantum dot LCD technology. The new range will offer a
wider colour palette and superior colour saturation in a similar way to
Sony’s Triluminous display technology.
Read More:
Quantum Dot explained 
Xiaomi breaks out
Of
all the exciting smartphone news that we’re expecting from CES 2015 -
and bear in mind that most of the bigger announcements tend to happen
later in the year, is that Xiaomi will use the event to launch phones in
the West.
We’ve been waiting for this for some time now. Xiaomi
is the third biggest smartphone manufacturer in the world, but that’s
thanks to its massive success in its native China.
However,
Xiaomi has always had bigger plans than mere domestic dominance. Why
else do you think the company hired Hugo Barra - the former Google Vice
President and Android spokesman?
Xiaomi should bring a youthful
energy and sharp (if heavily Apple-influenced) design philosophy to the
Android space, and all at a knock-down price. The company typically
makes its money on software, selling its hardware at cost, though it’ll
be interesting to see if that works in the same way outside of China.
First
up at CES 2015 (according to the rumour mill) will be the Xiaomi Mi5 -
the company’s new flagship phone which could have some killer specs.
We’re talking a 5.7-inch QHD display, a 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 810
CPU, a 20.7-megapixel camera, and a fingerprint sensor.
Watch out Samsung, HTC, Motorola, LG, and Sony.
Smart TVs with Android TV
At
Google I/O back in June, it was revealed that the next version of the
Android OS had been designed to scale to the Smart TV form factor.
Android
TV offers the tantalising promise (admittedly not the first time) of an
intuitive and widely adopted Smart TV UI standard, rather than the
largely rubbish individual manufacturer efforts we’ve been putting up
with for too long now.
Google’s new solution will allow you to
initiate media content searches using your phone, using both text input
and voice recognition. You’ll also have access to a whole heap of apps
and games, through it’ll ship with its own app store rather than simply
having access to the Google Play Store.
Google also announced at
the time that it had reached agreements with Sony, Sharp, and Philips to
include Android TV in their 2015 HDTV ranges. As such, we’re expecting
to see a whole bunch of top end TV sets running on Android TV at CES
2015.
Sony in particular has promised to go all in with Android TV in 2015 and has already revealed a cryptic CES 2015 video teasing a Google-based announcement.
Don’t
expect Samsung and LG to join the Android TV party just yet though.
Both Korean manufacturers are keen to push their own platforms. Samsung
is known to be looking to reduce its reliance on Google, while LG last
year introduced its new webOS TV platform.
ANOTHER new Sony phone
No
one has released more flagship phone revisions over the past two years
than Sony, and we’re expecting to see yet another one at CES 2015.
Of course, there’s good reason to be excited for the Sony Xperia Z4 - the Sony Xperia Z3 and Sony Xperia Z3 Compact were two of the finest Android phones of the year.
Sony’s
continued financial troubles mean that this might be the last bit new
mobile release we see from them for a while. Well, for a year at least.
So make the most of it.
We’re expecting the Sony Xperia Z4 to see
a bump up to a QHD display, which should be a common sight throughout
2015. It’ll apparently run on a Snapdragon 805 CPU, which again should
be fairly normal throughout the new year.
What probably won’t be
normal is 4GB of RAM, but that’s what reports are suggesting the Z4 will
have, as well as an improved camera.
Oh, and we may also see the Sony Xperia Z4 Ultra, which will be a phablet version of the Z4.
The Dash gets a run out
If there's one thing we can be sure
of seeing it's the odd crowdfunded success story. One of those projects
includes the Dash, a pair of truly wireless smart headphones that
raised over $3 million on Kickstarter in 2014.
The tiny
waterproof in-ear buds are jam packed with features including a 4GB
music player, gesture controls, four hour battery life and activity
tracking including heart rate monitoring.
Kickstarter pledgers
are expected to get their hands on the Dash headphones in early 2015 so
we will be able to see how they are shaping up at CES.
More, and cheaper, 4K TVs
2014’s CES brought a lot of 4K or UHD TV sets, sporting four times the pixel density of your bog standard 1080p Full HD telly.
We’re
not expecting anything radically new on this front in 2015. The big
advances should be in UI and smart features rather than core tech.
What
we can expect to see, however, is more practically priced 4K TV sets as
manufacturers look to bring the new resolution standard within range of
your average punter. To that end, we’re expecting more 40- and 50-inch
efforts this time around.
One trend that doesn’t look likely to
go away just yet is curved TVs. Both Samsung and LG still appear fixated
with these bent screens, so there’ll probably be more on show in 2015.
Expect
to see LG showing off with its unique OLED TV tech. Samsung has all but
put its own OLED plans on hold due to persistent manufacturing issues,
but LG is known to be ahead of the game on this front. Naturally, it’s
going to push this advantage for all it’s worth, so look out for new
OLED sets.
Samsung for its part has announced previously that it
will be focusing on Quantum Dot TV technology - an advancement of
existing LCD techniques rather than a super-sizing of its OLED
technology. Keep an eye out for more on this new approach at the show.
Following
January’s Michael Bay blunder, hopefully Samsung will push another
inexplicably successful film director out to humiliate themselves whilst
pushing a 105-inch 4K TV no one can afford. Our money’s on Zack Snyder.
New tablets to rival the iPad
Speaking
of Samsung, this year’s CES saw the launch of the Samsung Galaxy Pro
range. This added the Samsung Galaxy Note Pro and the Samsung Galaxy Tab
Pro lines to an already dizzying array of sameish Android tabs from the
manufacturer.
Given Samsung’s slightly predictable cycles, we’re
offering low odds on another batch of Pros coming in 2015. We’re not
sure our keyboards could cope with a Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 2 12.2, but
who knows?
Of course, with the slinky Samsung Galaxy Tab S now
on the market you might argue that there’s no purpose for a new set of
Pros. But then that’s never stopped Samsung before.
It’s not just
Samsung you need to watch out for on the tablet space either. Chinese
manufacturer Huawei is alway keen to throw a new affordable take on a
consumer hit into the mix, with Sony, ZTE and a host of others all
likely to push new tablet offerings.
LG to bend our ear
We’re not expecting to see the LG G4 at CES 2015, which is a shame given that the LG G3 was our phone of 2014.
However,
an altogether more interesting smartphone proposition is in store from
South Korea’s second favourite electronics company: The LG G Flex 2.
Reports suggest that the follow-up to 2013’s banana-shaped oddity, the LG G Flex, is on the cards for a Las Vegas outing.
This
time around we could be getting a high-resolution OLED display in a
small form factor, as well as a self-healing plastic coating.
Of
course, the first phone claimed to have all of these things too, and it
wasn’t very good. Still, with rumours that the LG G Flex 2 represents a
“major upgrade” over the original, we live in hope.
No Steam Machines
One
of the biggest disappointments of 2014 was Valve’s decision to delay
its Steam Machine program until 2015, owing to issues with the design of
the Steam Controller.
Stepping back a few months, CES 2014 had
seen a big Steam Machine splurge, with a number of hardware partnerships
highlighted and some preliminary Steam Machine designs outlined.
After
this year’s false start, many were hoping that the very same venue
could be used to showcase Valve’s finalised Steam Machine vision this
coming January.
Alas, Valve itself has scuppered those hopes. The
company’s VP of marketing, Doug Lombardi, has revealed that Valve is
aiming for a big showing at GDC 2015 in early March instead.
Of course, that doesn’t mean that Valve’s third party Steam Machine partners won’t be showing up to CES 2015.
Wearables, and plenty of them
It’s
a pretty safe bet when discussing any of the big shows set to take
place over the next 12 months to simply say: “wearables.”
Yes,
it’s still a hot topic for tech companies, even if it hasn’t yet taken
off with the general public. But while previous shows have had wearable
devices that haven’t particularly wowed anyone, CES 2015 should be
different.
For one thing, it will be the first CES show following
Google’s unveiling of Android Wear, as well as the first smartwatches
built to run it. Now would be a good time for others to join in.bAlso
consider the fact that Apple will be releasing its Apple Watch a month
or two after CES 2015.
There’s a general feeling that this will
be the point at which the smartwatch market truly kicks off, so any
manufacturer that hasn’t played a convincing wearables hand around this
time risks being left behind.
This is also an area where we have
confirmation of some manufacturers’ plans. Lenovo has confirmed that it
will be showing off some new wearables at CES 2015 - and it has nothing
to do with Motorola (which it now owns) and its disappointing Moto 360. LG is tipped to offer a smartwatch based on the WebOS operating system currently used for its WebOS TV range.
There
are also claims that TAG will be showing off its first smartwatch,
powered by Intel internals. Intel itself is set for a big year with a
renewed emphasis on its wearable and mobile chip business, which has
thus far struggled in comparison to its traditional PC chip business.
3D printing steps to the fore
3D
printing will be big at CES 2015. The organisers are reportedly
doubling the floor space for this intriguing field at next year’s show.
Apparently,
more than 30 companies will be present with their latest advances. And
if you think this technology is still at the experimental stage, well,
think again.
Reports suggest that sales of desktop 3D printers
will have hit 67,000 by the end of 2014. True, that’s a pretty small
number compared to the number of ink jets out there, but it’s enough to
tell you that things are moving rapidly in the field.
