CES 2017 Opens with Next-Generation Innovation

CES 2017 officially opened its doors today, celebrating the show’s 50th anniversary with a recording-breaking exhibit floor spanning more than 2.6 million net square feet. More than 3,800 companies will launch innovative products this week at CES, including an unprecedented 600 startups in Eureka Park. Owned and produced by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), CES 2017 runs through Sunday, January 8, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

“What an incredible way to celebrate the 50th anniversary of CES – with the largest show floor in our history showcasing the next generation of innovation that will revolutionize our world,” said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO, CTA. “The products and services unveiled at CES 2017 will touch nearly every single global industry. From the latest in virtual reality, smart home, self-driving vehicles, robotics, wearables, health and fitness tech and more, CES 2017 is unveiling the future of the connected experience and what it means for consumers around the world.”

CES welcomed NVIDIA founder & CEO Jen-Hsun Huang to the keynote stage Wednesday night, where he made multiple groundbreaking announcements based on the company’s leadership in developing advanced graphics processors and artificial intelligence. Mass Effect: Andromeda, a popular video game made by BioWare, was previewed by NVIDIA along withGeForce NOW, a streaming service that turns any PC into a powerful gaming PC from the cloud. Huang also unveiled a new version of the Shield TV — now just called Shield — which will support 4K HDR for both games and movies making it the world’s first 4K HDR entertainment platform.

To support Shield’s Artificial Intelligence (AI), Huang introduced NVIDIA SPOT, a plug-in device that understands natural language and complex patterns to help build a user’s AI experience. Huang also announced an AI car supercomputer called Xavier used in NVIDIA’s own self-driving car BB8 and a new capability on the NVIDIA AI car computer called AI Co-Pilot, which provides drivers with road alerts and recognizes facial expressions and voice recognition to improve drivers’ experience.

Huang further announced an expanded partnership with Audi to develop artificial intelligence for a new generation of self-driving cars, with plans to have vehicles on the road by 2020. He also provided details on partnerships with mapping companies HERE and ZENRIN; and two of the world’s largest automotive suppliers, ZF and Bosch.

Wednesday also kicked off the C Space Storytellers series, with key influencers and newsmakers sharing best practices surrounding the relationships among brands, entertainment and technology. In the series’ first session, Spotify’s Alex Underwood moderated a panel with executives from GroupM, Nestle S.A. and Wordsworth and Booth providing a 30,000 foot view of the advertising opportunities in audio.

During the Nielsen Storytellers session, Nielsen’s Executive Vice President & Global Retail Practice Leader Louise Keely discussed new technologies for advertising for consumer-facing companies. In this “period of great disruption” in the consumer path to purchase, companies must change measurement tools and methods.

Preshow media events kicked off on Tuesday which included the largest CES Unveiled in history. The official media event of CES 2017 featured a record 190 exhibiting companies, an 18 percent increase over 2016, including 60 startups from Eureka Park, the most startups ever showcased at CES Unveiled.

Featuring the latest in virtual reality, companion sensing robots, wireless headphones, sleep trackers, smart lighting, wearables and more, CES Unveiled provided the more than 2,000 media attending with a sneak peak of the innovation launching this week at the show. The official CES Unveiled highlights reel can be viewed here.

New for 2017, CES included two full Media Days where companies large and small introduced products to the global market. Setting the stage for a week filled with innovation, 28 companies hosted preshow news conferences, with a wide array of major product announcements:

A&D Medical/Mobile Health – The MobileHelp Tablet Medical Alarm with MobileVitals Monitoring.

BMW – Prototype of BMW’s 7-fully automated sedan.

Bosch – Concept car featuring face recognition and intelligent personalization, gesture control with Ultra Haptics, a crystal-clear OLED display and digital exterior mirrors.

Carnival – Ocean Medallion, a highly personalized wearable concierge service, which enables elevated service through enhanced guest interactions during the entire cruise experience.

Casio – PRO TREK, a smart watch, which uses Android Wear 2.0 and is equipped with low-power GPS and new full-color map functionality.

Continental – High-Resolution 3D Lash Lidar, capable of 3D measurement of the environment in challenging conditions such as fog, dust, rain and light.

Faraday Future – The FF 91, a fully-electric, fully-connected, self-driving, keyless vehicle experience with a “driverless valet” function that allows the car to park itself from your smartphone.

FCA – Portal, a concept car, is battery electric, cloud connected and offers fully self-driving capabilities.

Hisense – The H10D 4K HDR TV, featuring proprietary ULED display technology, quantum dot wide color gamut and full array local dimming.

Huawei/Honor Brands – The Honor 6X dual-camera, dual-sensor smartphone, retailing for $250 USD.

Hyundai – IONIC Scooter, a “micro mobility” fold-up scooter aimed at those who live in urban environments with limited parking options.

LG – LG Signature OLED TV W, or the “The Wallpaper TV.” The 65” model is 2.57 mm wide – 1/10th of an inch – with no gap between the TV and wall.

Lucaro – iRobotics 7 Medical Massage Chair, a full-body massage chair that also uses blood pressure and heart rate monitoring for added comfort and options.

Monster – Soundstage 2, to be integrated with Amazon Alexa.

Panasonic – Lumix GH5 mirrorless camera that excels at shooting video and has 4K and 6K capabilities.

Qualcomm – Snapdragon 835, the first 10 nanometer mobile processor, with enhanced efficiency that helps to create thinner phones with longer battery life.

Royole – The Royole Moon, a 3D virtual mobile theater combining 1080p AMOLED displays at over 3000 ppi resolution that simulate a giant 800” curved screen, with stereoscopic 3D and noise-cancelling headphones for a completely immersive experience. ]

Samsung – The Wash and FlexDry IoT-enabled washer/dryer system featuring four separate compartments for washing and drying, letting you maximize efficiency and customize how you manage your laundry.

Sony – Crystal LED integrated structure display, with superfine LED structures serving as a light source, making it virtually impossible to see the pixels.

TCL – The Xess series – X2 and X3 models – which are edgeless, flat and curved proving ultimate picture quality.

Toyota – Concept-i, a self-driving car allowing passengers to interact with the car’s artificial intelligence agent named “Yui,” which anticipates drivers’ needs, measures emotions and responds automatically.

Valeo – The 360AEB Nearshield, an emergency braking system that eliminates drivers’ blind spots, bringing the vehicle to a stop in emergency situations.

VOXX – Terk delivers the strongest Wi-Fi signals throughout the home, as well as free HDTV. The soon-to-be released Terk Omni features circle beam technology, which will allow you to receive broadcast signals up to 65 miles away.

ZF – The ZF ProAI, a deep learning software and ZF’s first step into artificial intelligence that goes beyond automotive applications.

ZTE – The Hawkeye, the world’s first crowdsourced phone.

Wednesday afternoon also featured ShowStoppers LaunchIt, the Official Pitch Event at CES, built around the entrepreneurial companies that exhibit in Eureka Park, the home for startups at CES. Twelve startups pitched their products to a standing room-only crowd. First prize was awarded to Nonda, makers of a family of connected, app-enabled devices for the vehicle. Kino-mo, developer of high tech smart holographic displays, took second place. Third place was awarded to In&Motion, creator of a smart wearable that aims to reduce the risk of serious injury due to falls. Attendees can experience these and other innovative startups at the Eureka Park Marketplace, located in the Sands, Level 1, Hall G.