CES 2013 rumors: Smart fridges, translucent TVs, and more
The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is a week away -- which means that rumors about what will be on display in Las Vegas have started to fly in, right on schedule.
Before we dive in to gadgets, it鈥檚 worth noting that the show itself may be changing a bit this year. For years, CES has been absolutely huge, devouring a good chunk of Las Vegas as big companies show off their latest and greatest. But last year, Microsoft announced it wouldn鈥檛 be attending CES 2013, and other major players like Intel, HP, and Sony will be absent as well. As Matt Burns at TechCrunch , that means Lenovo and Samsung will be the biggest companies in attendance -- which leaves plenty of room for smaller startups to demonstrate their products.
But in spite of the absence of some of the bigger companies, there are good reasons to expect that CES 2013 will be bigger than ever. So what can we expect to see demoed in Vegas next week?
For starters, Samsung is teasing a new portrait TV that will be unveiled at CES. In a December 30th , the company posted a picture showing a screen in an upright 4:3 orientation (think of a giant iPad), describing the product as 鈥渁n unprecedented new TV shape and timeless design,鈥� according to a by The Verge. Last year the company unveiled high-end OLED TVs at CES, and the most optimistic speculation this year includes translucent TV screens like those used in Samsung鈥檚 refrigerators.
Speaking of fridges, Stacy Higginbotham at GigaOM that CES 2013 will showcase an 鈥淚nternet of things,鈥� with connected appliances and home automation products stealing the show. It鈥檚 certainly no stretch to predict that we鈥檒l see not only smart fridges that can tell you what鈥檚 inside and communicate with your phone (especially since we saw similar devices at last year鈥檚 CES), but also services that can tie data from different appliances together in useful ways. Think, for example, of a fridge that can not only keep track of inventory, but also order groceries, create recipes based on what鈥檚 at hand, and even suggest meals based on things like the age and activity level of each family member.
We鈥檒l also likely see lots of Windows 8 devices -- desktops, laptops, tablets, and smart phones alike -- on the CES floor this year. The OS wasn鈥檛 made available until relatively late last year, and manufacturers are still coming up with spiffy new hardware that runs Windows 8. And given that the OS is designed to take advantage of touch input, we can expect to see lots of touch-enabled devices at the conference, including some new laptop/tablet hybrids.
CES will begin in just a week, so we鈥檒l know then which of these rumors are true. In the meantime, let us know in the comments section below what you鈥檙e hoping to see at CES 2013!
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