CES 2019: Top gadgets trends to watch out for at the world’s biggest tech show

CES 2019 preview: The international technology conference will showcase what’s next in the world of technology.

CES 2019 will offer a glimpse into new products and services designed to make people's lives easier, fun and more productive. (AFP)

Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is set to kick off at Las Vegas, US on January 8. Billed as the world's biggest tech trade show, CES showcases the latest and best of what the technology has to offer. This year's edition is going to be no different.

While the 2018 edition focused on smart assistants, CES 2019 is set to be grander with more and newer technologies taking the centre stage. Most anticipated technologies at the event foldable phones, 8K resolution, and 5G. From Sony to Samsung, all major technology brands are going to showcase their latest products.

CES 2019 will conclude on January 11. Technology companies are expected to start unveiling their new products starting January 6.

Let's take a look at the top gadgets trends to watch out for.

Foldable phones

Samsung finally unveiled its long-awaited foldable smartphone in November this year. The Korean giant narrowly missed the world's first tag as a small California-based Royole Corp introduced FlexPai, the world's first commercial foldable phone.

This year's international technology trade show will see new foldable devices, not restricted to just mobile handsets. Just last year, LG unveiled a 65-inch OLED TV that could be rolled up like a paper.

5G
5G is finally here. Qualcomm paved the way for 5G handsets in 2019 with its Snapdragon 855 processor. The chipset is going to power Samsung's foldable phone, Galaxy S10 and a number of flagship phones from brands like OnePlus and Xiaomi.

Unlike previous generation of telecommunications, 5G is not restricted to mobile handsets. Instead it's going to power a range of Internet of Things and will see applications in industries such as agriculture, healthcare and others.

AR, VR

Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality have been around for quite some time. The AR and VR technology has evolved and grown into a multi-million dollar industry. From Google to Facebook (Oculus), all major technology companies have significantly invested in the AR and VR. The technology itself has become more interactive and dynamic. CES has traditionally been the launch pad for new AR and VR tech.

8K display

With 4K TVs becoming more or less mainstream, technology companies are making efforts to break the barrier with twice the resolution - 8K. Already, the likes of LG have confirmed plans to unveil 8K displays at CES 2019.

Powered by the company's ThinQ AI, "LG's 8K 88-inch Z9 OLED TV boasts higher processing capabilities for delivering the most realistic 8K picture quality that looks sharp, vivid and detailed thanks to 8K upscaling and improved noise reduction," said the company in a release.

"In addition to content source detection, the new processor finely adjusts the tone mapping curve in accordance with ambient conditions to offer optimized screen brightness, leveraging its ability to understand how the human eye perceives images in different lighting," it added.

Futurism

Flying cars? Windshields that turn into AR monitors? CES is going to have lots of these.

NFT Inc. co-founders Maki and Guy Kaplinsky, a couple is developing a flying vehicle in Israel and California. The couple is going to showcase the flying car on Sunday. Toyota's flying car is also expected at the international tech show.

Nissan has unveiled a new invisible-to-visible technology that turns windshields of car into AR monitors, allowing users to drive like video games.

 

Last year, Nissan had showcased "brain-to-vehicle" technology that can predict by "catching signs that the driver's brain is about to initiate a movement - such as turning the steering wheel or pushing the accelerator pedal - driver assist technologies can begin the action more quickly. This can improve reaction times and enhance manual driving."