It’s hard to believe, but CES – the Consumer Electronics Show – is almost upon us once again. Every January, the entire gadget industry heads to Las Vegas to show off all the new wares and check out the trends for the year to come. We’ll be there, covering it all live, naturally, but before that, let’s take a look at five of the companies we think will be making waves at the expo.
Nvidia
Nvidia is an enormous company that dedicates billions to coming up with the best graphics chips and hardware, and in recent years’, it’s been making a big shift in focus from desktop PCs to mobile devices. Last year, its press conference was the scene of a bunch of new tablets and even a gadget super car, but 2011 is when we’re expecting it to shine.
Its Tegra 2 chip for tablets and mobiles is finally shipping, and showing some very promising results, Apple’s iPad has pushed slates mainstream. We can’t wait to see what Nvidia and its partners have on offer this time around.
Motorola
Motorola’s mobile division has turned its fortunes around drastically in the last year and a half with the adoption of Android. Now it looks set to shake the tablet market up too with the launch of its first Android slate, glimpsed briefly a few weeks ago at a press conference. We don’t know for certain that it’ll be on show at CES 2011, but it’s significant that the company has scheduled a press conference at the expo (On 5 January), when it had no presence at all last year.
Notion Ink
Notion Ink’s Adam tablet was shown at last year’s CES, but it’s been a tale of woe and vapourware and more woe since then, with delay after delay. The good news is now that Nvidia’s latest Tegra chip is shipping, there really shouldn’t be much longer to wait for this Android tablet with a twist: it’s packing a transflective display which should make reading much easier on the eye than the iPad’s IPS screen. Pre-orders should be shipping around the start of CES 2011, but we’ll believe it when we see it, and be sure to check out the Adam at the show for you regardless.
Nikon
The big imaging companies don’t usually try to thrust new DSLRs into the headlines during CES, when so many people are busy getting excited about 3D yet again, but there are serious rumours floating around that Vegas could be the place Nikon makes its move into mirrorless imaging systems. Olympus and Panasonic’s Micro Four Thirds shooters, which allow for interchangeable lenses in a smaller body than a DLSR, and Sony’s similar NEX system, have met with rave reviews. It’s not know whether Nikon will come out with its own proprietary format or adopt MFT, but one thing’s for sure: it didn’t release many top end models in 2009 (Just two new DSLRs). Any guesses why?
Parrot
French Bluetooth tat peddler Parrot has been around for decades, but the company absolutely stole the show last year when it literally launched its Parrot AR Drone, an incredible quadricopter that you could control with your iPhone. It went on sale in the Summer, meeting with rave reviews, and now we can’t wait to see what it’s going to follow up with. Android and iPad support? A quinticopter? Is that a thing? Regardless, we’re going to have to cross our legs, we’re that excited.
