Wearable Tech, Marissa Mayer, Entrepreneurs and Innovation: A CES 2014 Preview A bird's eye view of what's set to take place at the big tech event in Las Vegas next week.
By Jason Fell
Smarter, faster phones? Check. Technology you wear on your body? Yes. Massive TVs with mind-boggling resolution? Of course.
If you can imagine it, it will likely be on exhibit next week in Las Vegas. Tech geeks from all over the world will descend upon Sin City for the 2014 International CES.
The event is being held Jan. 7 to 10 at various locations in Las Vegas. Last year, more than 150,000 attendees participated in all the fun.
The 2014 CES will feature more than 3,200 exhibitors unveiling the latest consumer tech products across 15 categories. This includes products from the biggest tech companies like Microsoft and Samsung, as well as innovations from budding entrepreneurs showcased in the Eureka Park TechZone.
Big-name speakers: CES formally will kick off Tuesday morning with a keynote presentation from Sony Corporation president and chief executive Kazuo Hirai, who is expected to discuss the latest innovations "occurring at the intersection of content and hardware." Later that afternoon, attendees can expect to hear from Yahoo chief executive Marissa Mayer. She will present her "vision for products, services, and networks that will shape the next wave of innovation."
The following day, Twitter chief executive Dick Costolo will be on hand for a "Brand Matters" keynote discussion, along with other tech execs.
Innovative entrepreneurs: Eureka Park, dedicated to aspiring entrepreneurs and their homegrown consumer technology creations, will take up more than 2,000 square meters of showroom floor and feature some 200 exhibitors at The Venetian hotel.
One interesting exhibitor this year is Boston-based Bounce Imaging Inc., which develops low-cost, throwable sensors and cameras. Besides being neat, these bouncing camera balls seem like they have real-world applications for first responders and perhaps the military.
This video might give you a better idea:
New smartphones: There's a lot of rumor and speculation going around about which new phones might be unveiled at CES this year. One thing to keep an eye out for: larger, faster phones, and some with unusual shapes.
Among its lineup of internet-connected devices for the home, South Korea's LG will likely have the LG G Flex smartphone on display at CES this year. LG says this phone is curved to follow the contour of the human face. It also comes with "self-healing" technology that LG says helps eliminate scratches to the back cover. I for one would like to take a closer look at that.
Something else to keep an eye on: a Li-Fi phone exhibited by French companies SunPartner Technologies and Oledcomm. "Li-Fi" essentially is a way to wirelessly transfer information via light rays radiated by light-emitting diodes. Pretty far out.
Mega TVs: If LG can make a curved smartphone then why not a TV, too? The company will also be exhibiting a 105-inch (yes, you read that right) curved Ultra HD television -- meaning, it comes with a 5120 x 2160 resolution (11 million pixels!) and 21:9 aspect ratio.
Not to be outdone, Samsung said it will be unveiling a curved, 105-inch, ultra HD TV of its own. The price tag? $150,000. Here's a look at the TV, courtesy of Samsung:
Wearable tech: There will be a number of conference sessions and products on exhibit that relate to wearable tech at CES. While too numerous to mention them all here, there will be a surprising number of smartwatches on display. Among them will be the Neptune Pine from Montreal, Canada-based Neptune Computer Inc., the Burg Smartwatch from Burg Limited in Hong Kong, and the Sonostar SmartWatch from Salem, N.H.-based Dennco Brands.
This, of course, only scratches the surface of the gadgets that will be on display. There's 3-D printing, fitness tech, audio and much, much more. I'll be Las Vegas reporting all week on all things CES and tech. Stay tuned to Entrepreneur.com for news and more.
