The countdown for the 2014's first - and one of the year's biggest - electronics trade fair International CES (Consumer Electronics Show) has already begun. The event is scheduled to run for four days straight (7-10 January) at the Las Vegas Convention Centre, Nevada, hosting industry's top-notch companies like Samsung, Asus, LG, as well as new and upcoming start-up firms like Innovega and others to showcase their innovative technology.
Here is the list of innovative technological trends to look out for at International CES 2014:
Li-Fi (Light Fidelity) wireless data transfer technology:
This new visible light communication technology which made its presence (theoretic) felt in late 2013 has now grown into a practical application in smart devices. If implemented, gadgets via Li-Fi (IEEE 802. 15) will be able to transfer data at an astronomical speed of 150 mbps using LED lights, 10 times faster the current Wi-Fi technology (IEEE 802.11).
French companies SunPartner Technologies and Oledcomm will be doing a demo of Li-Fi using a smartphone prototype at the CES this year.
3D Printers:
Even though 3D printing (or additive manufacturing) has been around since the 1980s - used mainly in rapid prototyping (in industrial sectors) and research purposes, companies have now brought the technology to the main stream, especially 3D gun with shooting capability, which brought a lot of attention last year.
In CES 2014, Singapore-based start-up company Pirate3DP's will showcase its 'Buccaneer' printer; sharing the stage will be the industry leader 3D Systems, who is expected to demo three new model categories: edibles, ceramics and full-colour plastics, reported BBC.
Smart Wearable Devices:
In 2013, Google's flagship eye gear 'Google Glass' did bring a new niche segment in the smart wearable devices, which now include smart watches and fitness bands. This connected Google eye gear now has tough competition from Innovega, which has brought an innovative contact lens, tentatively titled as 'iOptik', that brings information right on the eye ball.
Innovega's lens 'iOptik' does not actually directly stream contents on the eyeballs. Instead, it picks up light from images projected from the companion eye gear, giving some augmented reality vision around us, reported BGR
The company will be showcasing a demo with a fully operable test device at the CES 2014.
Here is video demo of Innovega's iOptik lens (v1.1):
Other smart wearable technologies include new smart fitness band from LG, and we can also expect new smart watches from Samsung (Galaxy Gear 2), Chinese firm ZTE and others.
Future Car Technology:
Over the years, CES known for its platform for consumer electronics, has begun to welcome auto companies to showcase their technological advancement in terms of on-board car entertainment and dashboard system, as well as self-driving (limited to auto car parking) abilities. This year, top car firms Audi, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Ford and others have signed up to showcase improvement in the autonomous car technology, including 4G connectivity in the car's dashboard, as a value-added information (for live weather and traffic) service.
Japanese firm Toyota is also expected promote alternative fuel (hydrogen) cell-powered concept vehicle, capable of recharging in three minutes - enough to run for 310 miles.
Big curvier and 4K resolution televisions:
World's top display makers Samsung and LG who brought the curved smartphones last year will be up against each other, to show case their big (105-inch) high-definition curved televisions and a new line of 4K (four times the conventional full HD resolution) Ultra HD TVs, along with Japanese rival Sony.
Though expensive, the product prices are expected to scale down with increase in demand over the year. Even popular US based on-demand online content provider Netflix has reportedly announced to stream 4K media starting February with the premiere of the critically acclaimed political drama - House of Cards Season 2.
64-bit architecture chipset for Mobile Devices:
We already seen Apple's iPhone 5S (boasting 64-bit architecture based A7 chipset) trashing the more powerful quad-core (and even Octa-core) based competitors in benchmark sites, now arch rival Samsung and semiconductor giant Qualcomm which are slated to make new generation chipset commercially available later this year will be performing a demo with prototype subjects at the CES.
Other gadget things to expect in CES 2014 include big (12.2) tablets, hybrid desktops and smartphones from Samsung, Acer, Asus and others.
