CES 2021 will be an « all digital » event, given the ongoing coronavirus pandemic – but we still expect the biggest names in tech to have something in store.
CES 2021 is the first major event on the calendar for consumer electronics news in 2021, even though things are going to be different this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It’s new online format might be a bit off-putting, but for those of us looking forward to seeing the latest and greatest in tech, it’s still the epicenter of the tech world with big names like Sony, Samsung, LG, AMD, Microsoft and more all taking part in the event. Because it’s all online this year, we won’t be converging on the Las Vegas Convention Center like we do every January. Amid health precautions and global lockdown measures, events are shifting online – and, much like the E3 gaming expo and other shows, CES 2021 is an « all-digital » conference. What we’re expecting to happen this year, then, is for the biggest brands to host their own live-streamed announcements – think Sony, LG, Samsung and the like – with smaller companies either managing their own streams or possibly coming together in CES-themed showcase videos. The CTA, the company behind the event, says that it’s opening a virtual show hall that exhibitors will be able to show off their wares and answer questions from attendees and retailers about their new products. The CTA says we’ll be able to hold meetings of up to 30 people at a time and chat in real-time with one another. During keynotes and press conferences we’re expecting to hear about the latest and greatest in tech – new 4K and 8K TVs, headphones, laptops, smartphones, drones, speakes and more – that are heading our way next year. Most of these events will be open to the public, but some will be behind a pay wall that only CES 2021 attendees can access. To that end, it’s worth registering early if you know you want to see what’s coming next in tech as it could take a few days for the CTA to verify your information. So what, exactly, are should you expect to see this year? This guide will run you through our predictions for Sony, Samsung, AMD, and more based on pre-show rumors and what they got up to at last year’s event. A press release on the CES website originally put the CES 2021 dates at January 6-9, however those dates have since shifted to January 11-14,2021. That first day of the show will be keynotes from AMD, General Motors, Verizon and the CTA themselves, plus press conferences from LG, Sony and Samsung. Here’s the complete January 11 press day schedule provided by the CTA: In a typical year, CES takes over Las Vegas for nearly a week, with tech brands and press coming from all over the world to meet, make deals, and cover the latest announcements all together. How any of that will happen when it’s online-only is kind of hard to foresee, but it’s something the CTA has been hammering out for months, so we’re expecting things to run smoothly. Future CES events have definitive dates, too. CES 2022 and CES 2023 are scheduled for January 5-8, while CES 2024 is pencilled in for January 9-12. Keynote time: January 11 at 9 am EST on Samsung’s global news website. CES is always a big show for Samsung. It’s the place the company picks to roll out its latest QLED TVs, concept screens and monstrous custom-installs, plus innovations in the computing and phone space. Last year saw the rotating Samsung Sero TV unveiled, as well as the zero-bezel Q950TS 8K QLED and confirmation of two more 8K TVs for 2020. We’re expecting an even bigger 8K range for CES 2021, and possibly (if we’re lucky) news of a commercially-available transparent TV or sunlight-emitting display. Samsung usually announces a slew of soundbars to go with its new TVs too, and we’re expecting the same from CES 2021. The brand’s 2020 soundbar range, which included the HW-Q950T and HW-Q900T, came with Dolby Atmos and DTS:X immersive audio, alongside SmartThings supports and Amazon Alexa voice control. At CES 2021, we could see Samsung soundbars with Google Assistant voice control as well as Alexa, and more connection options than their predecessors. We’d also like to see Samsung take a few cues from Sonos with the implementation of Dolby’s latest TrueHD and Dolby Digital Plus sound codecs to deliver lossless Hi-Res Audio. Sony has just released its latest noise-cancelling headphones, the Sony WH-1000XM4 (which we’ve dubbed the best headphones of 2020), so it’s unlikely that we’ll see a new pair of flagship over-ear headphones from the tech giant debut at CES 2021. However, it’s now been a year since the brand’s true wireless earbuds, the Sony WF-1000XM3, were launched – and that means CES 2021 could be when Sony launches a fourth-gen version of the best true wireless earbuds you can buy today. The Sony WF-1000XM4 could come with some of the new features we’ve seen in the WH-1000XM4, including Speak-to-Chat, adaptive noise cancellation, and audio upscaling.
