CES 2017: Announcements to expect from this year's show
The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is one of the biggest events in technology -- and it always kicks off the new year with a bang.
Major companies and even newbie startups flock to Las Vegas every January in order to promote their latest gadgets, TVs, cars, and initiatives. Apart from hosting show-floor booths and hotel suites, which attendees and the media can tour, companies hold keynotes and presentations to announce their latest kit.
On TechRepublic: CES 2017 Unveiled: A sneak peek at the newest tech
More than 177,000 people attended CES last year, making CES 2016 a record-breaking year. Who knows if CES 2017 will be as big, but based on a few invitations so far, we do have an inkling about what you can expect to see in the mobile, laptop, tablet, and wearables departments.
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Asus: Asus will hold a press conference called "Zennovation" on Jan. 4 at 11:30 am PST. It'll likely unveil new products under the "Zen" brand, which includes products ranging from laptops and tablets to smartphones. If a new teaser video the company published is to be believed, ASUS has two different phones to show off.
BlackBerry: BlackBerry will hold a press conference on Jan. 4 at 11 am PST. It's expected to launch the Mercury smartphone, the last phone to be developed by the company. (TCL, the new brand owner, will take over manufacturing, design, and distribution going forward.) Mercury is also known as the DTEK70, according to several leaks.
Dell: Dell will hold a press conference on Jan. 5 at 10 am PST. It will officially unveil a 2-in-1 version of its XPS laptop, which recently leaked on Dell's own website. The company has already said you can buy the new XPS 13 2-in-1 for $1,000 starting on Jan. 5. It's more expensive than the standard $800 XPS 13.
Fossil Group: Several Fossil brands, including Fossil itself, Diesel, Misfit, Michael Kors, Skagen, and Emporio Armani have all confirmed they will unveil new wearables at CES 2017. There will also be an announcement from a brand new to the wearables space. Google further confirmed to The Verge that new Android Wear 2.0 watches will be unveiled at CES this year, and we suspect many of them will come from Fossil brands.
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Honor: Honor will hold a press conference on Jan. 4 at 1:30 pm PST to launch "a new Honor phone".
HTC: Despite the rumors, HTC confirmed it won't reveal a second-generation HTC Vive at the show. Instead, the company wants to focus on building out the HTC Vive ecosystem, rather than introducing new hardware to the mix. We expect a few VR content and accessories out of HTC at the event, though.
LG: LG has already begun announcing what it plans to showcase at CES 2017. We've seen it tease a new robot vacuum cleaner, refrigerator, washing machine, air conditioner, 360 camera, wireless wearable speaker for the neck, and more. It'll likely also showcase new OLED TVs. Its press conference is set for Jan. 4 at 8 am PST.
Sony: Sony will hold a press conference on Jan. 4 at 5 pm PST. Sony could unveil a new 4K Xperia smartphone at the show, according to recent leaks. If not, we may see the company unveil its first OLED TVs.
Samsung: Ahead of CES, Samsung has already unveiled a couple of updated models in its Galaxy A series of mid-range handsets. The 5.2-inch A5 and 4.7-inch A3 will cost €429 and €329, respectively. They will be coming to the UK from early February, with pre-orders available from Jan. 20 through Samsung's own online store and selected carrier and retail outlets. There's no word yet on US pricing and availability. We may learn more at Samsung's press conference, which will be held on Jan. 4 at 2 pm PST. Samsung will likely hold its Galaxy S8 announcement for Mobile World Congress later in the year. However, the smartphone giant could be looking to show off new technologies like foldable screens at CES 2017.
ZTE: ZTE will hold a press conference on Jan. 4 at 4 pm PST. It will probably officially announce the ZTE Blade V8 that recently leaked on ZTE's own site.
ZDNet will have a team on the ground at CES bringing you the latest announcements and hands-on demos of some of the coolest technology.