Page 78 - ICE BUSINESS TIMES February 2020

Taking a
Tech closer look at
CES 2020 and
TECH consumer the world’s biggest names in electronics coming rivalries, but also about
the future of
electronics
forward with their wondrous (and occasionally
collaborations. Companies
whimsical) wares, ensuring that 2020 would
from different industries are
coming together to bring
indeed be significant in this aspect.
TRENDS For starters, it seems quite apparent that flexible forth some truly exciting
displays are here to stay, at least for a while.
innovations. For example,
They are very much likely to show up a lot more
Uber and Hyundai have
announced that they would
this year, in a variety of form factors, including
phones, tablets and even laptops. While the first
be working together to
barrage of foldable phones and phablets utilizing
develop a flight-capable
WITH THE flexible screens have already been unleashed electric taxi that would be
upon the world by numerous manufacturers,
capable of transporting a
they are still far from hitting the mainstream,
quartet of passengers over a
60-mile range at speeds of up
and the first laptops to utilize such displays
to 180 mph – all on a single
have been displayed at CES 2020 as concept
charge. Concepts like these
prototypes. Moreover, Microsoft is working hard
TRENDIEST on Windows 10X, which is being primed as the are the best examples of why
combining strengths is one of
definitive operating system for such flexible
variable-form hardware platforms, built to take
the most amazing ways in
full advantage of their versatile nature without
which tech companies can
sacrificing user experience in the process.
grow, and CES 2020 has been
TECH By Abhijit Asad Even aside from foldable displays, ‘regular’ solid to keep up even with the rife with numerous other
collaborations, such as those
screens are also gearing up for war – particularly
between medical entities and
in the market for televisions. The
newest generation of their
Extreme lineup, both in terms
robotics firms, as well as
ultra-high-resolution 4K HDR televisions have
retail companies with
of price and performance.
become affordable enough to become
mainstream, and 8K televisions with svelte form
researchers. History has
underdog for nearly a decade,
factors are already waiting in the wings to hit Although AMD had been the artificial intelligence
the consumer markets properly. Interestingly, their turnabout in early 2017 shown that these
prototypes of TVs utilizing flexible display had sent the overconfident intermarriages often help to
technology have also shown up, which can roll complacent Intel reeling – and bring together the best of
the display up and pack it away when the TV is the products they had both worlds, and the biggest
not in use. However, it is safe to say that followed up with over the beneficiaries of such unions
although these are exciting developments, it is years that followed clearly are always the consumers.
very much likely that because of the price showed that they were not And indeed, in a world that is
hurdle, these are going to see adoption at rather pulling any punches. To make changing as rapidly as it is
slow pace, and they are quite far from becoming things worse for themselves, today, the lines that separate
even nearly ubiquitous. Intel had made strings of the different industries are
Certain parts of CES 2020 did feel as if some of terrible product design and becoming rather fuzzy, and in
the tech companies out there were trying far too marketing decisions in some cases, vanishing
hard to come up with new ideas, and Samsung’s response to the looming AMD completely.
adorable new robot – dubbed ‘Ballie’ – sadly threat, the latest of their Like every other CES before it,
seems to be one of them. While somewhat blunders being their decision CES 2020 was chock-full of
reminiscent of the famous BB-8 from the Star to reenter the dedicated novelty and brilliance,
Wars movies, Ballie, at least in its current basic graphics card market – a showing the world where the
form, is still very much of a gimmick of very scene that is not only utterly consumer electronics industry
limited utility – essentially a smart speaker (like dominated by AMD and their is currently headed. While
Amazon’s Echo range of speakers, with the Alexa other rival Nvidia, but also a there was no individual
smart assistant built into them) that is capable scene from which Intel had groundbreaking product on
of some degree of self-locomotion and been unceremoniously tossed display which would cause
independent operation, thanks to its on-device out in the late 1990s with the seismic paradigm shifts in
AI systems. It is perhaps our very first glance at failure of the i740, their first our lives the way
a future where robots would serve as household and only dedicated graphics smartphones and social
help, but it isn’t a very clear one, because card to date. Not only is Intel media did, there were plenty
whether it is a step in the right direction is up against two behemoths, of exciting new ideas being
impossible to determine at present. but the lukewarm pitched, many of which were
The Consumer Electronics Show (CES), a major Meanwhile, on the computer hardware front, the performance of their brimming with the potential
expo held annually at Las Vegas, always war between semiconductor titans AMD and prototype DG1 Xe GPU – as to be considerably greater. It
manages to provide tantalizing glimpses at the Intel are heating up even more as both continue demonstrated at CES 2020 – can be said with conviction
technology trends that are likely to make to reveal their latest and greatest weapons. On all but ensures another flop that technological innovation
waves in the global consumer electronics the processor market, AMD is triumphantly in the works. is far from dead, and 2020
industry and shape the future of things to trouncing archrival Intel with their new lineup of However, CES 2020 certainly promises to be another
come. CES 2020 was no exception to this, with desktop and laptop CPUs, and Intel is struggling hasn’t been all about exciting year for it to bloom.
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