New Year, New Tech

The New Year is upon us and that means it is time for the world’s largest technology convention – the Consumer Electronics Show (CES).  The massive conference is held in Las Vegas this week.  Around 200,000 people will travel to Sin City to share new innovations, learn about trends and gadgets, and view the showcase of new and updated technology for 2017. This year marks the show’s 50th anniversary and the event is sure to be jam-packed with exciting new tech – from self-driving cars to voice-controlled personal assistants to drones.
China may make the biggest impact at the event with more than 1,300 registered exhibitors as reported by the BBC. Xiaomi, a small Beijing-based company, is setting its sights globally by launching an all-new product at CES. LeEco, Hisense, TCL and more are Chinese companies that plan to unveil products at CES to further expand their brand’s reach beyond the Chinese market.
The anticipated highlight of the show this year is said to be self-driving automobiles.  A few years ago, Ford presented this technology and now CES will feature an entire conference hall for automakers and suppliers to present their latest technology.  Uber recently rolled out self-driving cars in some American cities for people to try and tech blogs are buzzing with speculation that 2017 could be the year when self-driving car technology reaches the masses.
Drone technology is another exciting piece on the CES agenda.  This year, we may see drones optimised for flying indoors, used for high-speed racing, and even drones that can dive underwater.
While they could be confused for a drone as they fly out of your ear canal during exercise, Apple finally released the much anticipated AirPod in December and CES is sure to offer many other competitors in the wireless ear phones market for consumers.  Wires could be a thing of the past, if only consumers can keep track of their tiny devices.
The New Year will bring new beginnings and new technology.  Major trends to watch this year at CES and throughout the market are smart home technology, voice assistants, self-driving and electric cars, bigger and better televisions, new exciting laptop computers, and wearables.
2017 is going to be an exciting and innovative year in high-tech and it will be interesting to see the innovations unveiled this week in Vegas.