CES 2021 is underway this week, from January 11 to 14, 2021. This year, of course, instead of being hosted in convention centers and hotels in Las Vegas, Nevada, the massive consumer technology and trends-focused event is all-digital and online. The upside is instant access to all the content at a push of a button without any of the lengthy queues and crowds, but the downside is there’s no interaction with the products, companies or people you want to meet.
The CES website currently indexes 1958 exhibitors, which is less than half of last year’s tally of 4,000 exhibitors. Being online means a smaller footprint for the event, but it still offers plenty of new technology and ideas to explore.
Registration options for CES 2021 are still open, but you don’t prefer that route, you can participate in these ways:
How to Watch?
The official CES channel content kicks off ahead of the first keynote later on during January 11th.
We’re bringing CES to you. Tune in live on January 11, 12 and 13 for keynotes and exclusive content from the anchor desk.
Only at the all-digital #CES2021.https://t.co/Tqx6lB9ssm
— CES 2021 (@CES) January 10, 2021
Check out some of the featured content at at the official 2021 CES portal page.
If you want to see the press conferences that fill most of the January 11 schedule, CNET is hosting a livestream featuring a selection of the virtual press conferences with commentary between each.
Companies with a big stake in PC (and console gaming), such as Intel, AMD, NVIDIA will be hosting high-visibility events, like keynotes and reveals through their own portals.
What to Look for?
This year, given the significant disruptions that took place during 2020, at CES 2021 expect to see a lot of new technology around smart homes, display technology, robotics, and medical and sanitization technology. Gaming is also one of the other major markets that grew significantly in 2020 (and should continue to grow in 2021). What are some of the interesting gaming and event/streaming-related technologies that may be revealed at CES?
Silicon wars: No good competition over gaming wouldn’t include a graphics processing unit (GPU) duel between AMD and NVIDIA. With competing events on the morning of January 12, AMD and NVIDIA will have the opportunity to make their respective cases for both new desktop and mobile GPUs — Ampere for NVIDIA and Big Navi for AMD, and there may be new gaming-class CPUs announced for 2021 from AMD and Intel as well.
New displays: New display technology has become more important, as gamers and just about everyone else has spent more eyeball time in front of screens over the last year. As gaming and other media push further into the 4K and even then 8K categories, laser projection, quantum dot, microLED and the more established OLED will be seeing numerous new products from companies like LG, Acer, Samsung, and other companies. high-refresh rate gaming monitors, coupled with blue light-filtering technology and other optimization for eyesight and comfort level built in. Acer, for examples
Streaming accessories: Granted, the gear and accessories a streamer might use can cover a lot of territory, everything from furniture, to mice, to headsets, to mics and cameras and beyond. But it’s also what general-purpose gaming looks like in 2021, especially when gaming may be less mobile and more centered around the couch or desk experience. CES has usually had this space well-covered in the past, and there’s no reason not to expect the same in the 2021 version of CES.
A few examples among the many, many such products that will be exhibited at CES 2021 includes Panasonic’s update of the SoundSlayer gaming speaker with Final Fantasy artwork; Atlantic Gaming Accessories’ gaming desk, riser, and TV table, bHaptics TactSuit X Series full-body haptics suit, which is intended for VR, PC gaming, music and movies.
Events for Gamers will pass along some of the most interesting news from CES 2021 through the week and beyond.
