Over 180,000 people will go to Las Vegas next week for CES 2019 to check out the latest tech gadgets and services. Source: AP Photo/John Locher
The last 12 months have undoubtedly been rough for Silicon Valley, but CES 2019 could be what the tech industry needs to move the spotlight away from scandals back to innovation. Indeed, more than 180,000 people turn out each year to check out tech’s largest convention and glimpse the latest products.
And while every CES has more than its fair share of overhyped gadgets and downright wacky items, the convention’s overall vibe remains extremely optimistic.
Here are several of the largest themes Yahoo Finance expects from this year’s technopalooza:
5G gets real (sort of)
2019 is poised to be a big year for 5G technology. Source: AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File
To be sure, 5G is already here, with both Yahoo Finance parent Verizon (VZ) and AT&T (T) offering extremely limited networks. But we're still months away from smartphones from companies such as Samsung and OnePlus that can readily take advantage of them.
“5G right now is a lot of breathless hype, but as a practical reality it’s not there yet,” says Frank Gillett, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester.
Nonetheless, 2019 is poised to be a big year for 5G, and the hype train begins at CES, at least for consumers. Companies at CES 2019 could very well show the world what 5G is really capable of besides just giving us faster smartphones and download speeds. CES may show that 5G will be used to make more secure smart-home devices, battery-operated remote sensors, smooth-running telemedicine apps, and more reliable self-driving car technologies.
Folding phones
Smartphone sales have slowed over the last three years as people hold onto their devices longer than ever before. Thanks to devices with powerful processors, solid displays, and larger storage, it’s no longer as necessary for many consumers to upgrade every one or two years, and few new phones over the last 12 months have come along with features revolutionary enough to inspire people to upgrade.
Companies are getting more creative with form factors, as a result, exploring displays capable of folding. At this year’s CES, multiple device makers, including Samsung, could tease a foldable smartphone of some kind, though some of those demonstrations may be behind closed doors. Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next month is still going to be the big early-year event for phone launches, but CES could provide a preview of what’s to come.
TVs push 8K
Expect TV manufacturers to trot out more 8K TV sets next week. Source: AP Photo/Jae C. Hong
TV technology hasn't peaked by any means, but it's pretty much stagnated in more recent years. OLED and LCD panels have become the gold standard, as have features like 4K and HDR. Smart TVs, always a hot topic at CES, are still a mess of irrelevance since the TV is secondary to the sticks, dongles, and boxes we connect to them.
One thing consumers will always understand, though, is more pixels. And that's why we're going to hear a lot more about 8K at CES 2019. Let's be real: A TV with 7,680 x 4,320 resolution is a visual frivolity. In practice, the human eye can’t actually appreciate the huge difference between 4K and 8K from a normal viewing distance. Meanwhile, the content pipeline is still just catching up to 4K. Indeed, the majority of Netflix (NFLX) content is still streamed in 1080p.
“The key for manufacturers is to keep consumers upgrading to higher-priced screens,” says IHS Markit analyst Paul Gagnon, who adds that your local news broadcast isn’t even aired in 8K yet.
But TV makers have to show off something, so expect 8K displays to get some more space on the showroom floor, even if their applications and exorbitant pricing mean they’re years away from being in many people’s homes. For instance, Sharp’s 70-inch 8K TV, which began shipping last April in parts of Asia, retails for over $13,000. (Yes, you read that right.) Expect 8K TVs announced at CES next week to be priced similarly.
Google Assistant vs. Amazon Alexa (again)
Google plans to triple — yes, triple —the amount of showroom space it has this year at CES. Source: AP Photo/Jae C. Hong
If 2018 CES was notable for such newcomers as voice-activated washers, dryers, fridges, even bathroom mirrors, 2019 could be the year in which Amazon (AMZN) and Google truly find their way into every conceivable kind of device.
According to Canalys, Google has nearly closed the gap with Amazon in terms of smart speakers sales, with Alexa-enabled speakers accounting for 31.9% of all global sales and Google Assistant-enabled speakers accounting for 29.8%. The competition, of course, is far from over: Alexa had a years-long headstart, and Amazon's assistant is a massive presence on third-party devices. That's probably why Google is tripling the amount of floorspace for its presence at CES 2019.
"I believe the bigger Google booth will be about how wonderful life is across Google’s partnered hardware. It’ll be more about partner products and the wonderful integrated experiences you can create,” says Gillett.
Amazon, oddly, has never had an official booth at CES, so Google has a wide-open opportunity to fill the vacuum by hyping its Assistant, which has been making big strides this year with services like Duplex and Call Screen.
The big question will come after CES, though: Will Google be able to turn its CES presence into further market momentum?
A slew of automotive updates
Look for automakers to introduce a slew of features across the board all aimed at improving the transportation experience, from updated in-car dashboards to new kinds of self-driving tech — including partnerships, platforms, and in-car entertainment. Disney (DIS) and Audi have tag-teamed and plan on showing off a “new type of media” — whatever that means — aimed at entertaining backseat passengers. BMW, meanwhile, will show off a self-driving motorcycle "developed as a research platform to gain insights about how to help drivers improve their maneuvering in the future.”
Gaming
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang could announce news next week in Las Vegas. Source: MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images
This year, we can expect Nvidia (NVDA) to set the stage with some news on the chip front, with rumors of its RTX graphics coming to laptops. AMD (AMD) will also be in attendance, likely unveiling some chip news of its own to rival Nvidia’s. And now, with game streaming inching toward the limelight thanks to renewed interest from Google (GOOG, GOOGL), which is developing Project Stream, and Microsoft’s (MSFT) upcoming xCloud service, we could also see some news on that front, as well.
Check back into Yahoo Finance next week for all our coverage from CES 2019, including the latest news and live interviews with executives from tech, automotive and entertainment.
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JP Mangalindan is the Chief Tech Correspondent for Yahoo Finance covering the intersection of tech and business. Email story tips and musings to jpm@oath.com. Follow him on Twitter or Facebook.
