CES 2020: 8K Televisions, Virtual Assistants On Display At Tech Show

Connected cars, 8K televisions and virtual assistants are amongst the tech taking centre stage at this year’s sprawling CES consumer electronics show in Las Vegas.

The show, which takes place this week, is expected to display emerging consumer gadgetry from 4,500 vendors to some 170,000 visitors.

Samsung kicked off the event on Sunday with the announcement of its Sero 43-inch 4K television, which can rotate from landscape to portrait orientation to display videos from Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and other online services at maximum size.

Sero was originally launched in South Korea, but Samsung said at the event it will come to the US and other countries this year.

8K televisions

Samsung also said it would introduce more sizes of its The Wall bezel-less 8K television, introducing 88-inch, 93-, 110- and 150-inch sizes in addition to the previously available 75-, 146-, 219- and 292-inch versions.

The Wall uses MicroLED technology, which offers OLED-like capabilities without issues such as screen burn that can affect OLED displays.

LG and China’s TCL are amongst those also showing 8K televisions, which have four times the pixel resolution of Ultra HD or 4K.

PP Foresight analyst Paolo Pescatore said on Twitter that while there is still relatively little 8K content, companies such as Samsung are establishing a “growing ecosystem of 8K content partners”.

Electric cars

Meanwhile, Amazon said it’s planning to show off its transportation ambitions, including becoming a player in self-driving vehicle technologies, connected cars, electric vehicles and managing the data generated by drivers and automakers.

Amazon is offering a new version of Fire TV on in-vehicle entertainment systems from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles this year, while electric carmaker Rivian, in which Amazon is a shareholder, is to demonstrate Amazon’s Alexa in the upcoming R1T electric pickup truck and the R1S SUV.

BlackBerry and Karma Automotive are to demonstrate how they use Amazon Web Services back-end services to better predict an electric car’s battery health, helping electric car drivers learn ways of extending battery life.

Voice-activated cooker

Google is also showing off its virtual assistant technology, and has attracted visitors’ interest to its display with an oversized plastic slide.

The market for internet-connected home products grew by 24 percent worldwide last year, indicating customers’ growing interest in such technologies.

Voice-activated gadgets shown at CES this year include a virtual assistant built into a showerhead, a frying pan that guides users through recipes and smart cooker dials that adjust the temperature via voice command.

CES 2020 concludes on Friday.