With the annual Consumer Electronics Show right around the corner and the industry’s marketing efforts going into overdrive, what is it that we will likely see next week?
It’s a safe bet that if will be a week of opposites.
From hardware going to both larger and smaller designs, Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) G-Sync versus AMD (NYSE: AMD) FreeSync, small displays with massive resolution, and gaming notebooks of both massive and diminutive sizes.
Small form factor hardware as is one of the fastest growing areas in the hardware segment, and no doubt there will be a lot of it on display at CES. With hardware becoming so powerful and small we are seeing a lot of really powerful builds that can be done. With even MATX X99 boards we are seeing that there is a move toward making things small and potent. On the other side there is a lot of huge pieces of hardware showing up on the market, namely 4K and ultra wide monitors. They are becoming even more prolific and the ultra wide monitors are drawing a lot of interest from gamers and power users who were once planning on going for a 4K monitor or two. There will be a lot of talk this CES about AMD’s FreeSync for enthusiast gaming monitors as it is the newcomer challenging Nvidia’s established G-Sync. FreeSync will draw the attention of monitor manufacturers since it is less costly to implement and license than the G-Sync solution. The LG 34UM67 will be a curved ultra wide monitor that will feature AMD’s FreeSync, and should definitely steal a lot of the spotlight next week.
The mobile computing segment is also something to watch next week as we will see a lot of small notebooks with very high resolution displays. It is easy to say that there will be a number of notebook models that will feature 3K and 4K screens, even at the 15.6-inch sizes. There will also be a movement with ultraportable gaming notebooks of small size that can be docked with a desktop graphics card for superior gaming ability while at a desk. With the shrinking of parts that make up computers we will be seeing a drastic reduction in size and weight of these ulta portable notebooks. Not only will they be smaller but they will be potent and even come equipped with quad-core Intel i7 processors and decent graphics. On the other hand you will also see that there is a move to the opposite extreme as there will be new 18″ gaming notebooks that will be the true embodiment of the “desktop replacement” name. Some of these huge notebooks will even sport gaming grade mechanical keyboards featuring Cherry MX Brown switches.
Be sure to check back throughout next week as CES 2015 kicks off in Las Vegas.
