CES 2017 Kicks off with NVIDIA, Sony and Intel
CES 2017 aims to showcase the latest tech that companies are preparing to unleash on the consumer market. Smart home robots, 8k TVs, whacky gadgets, internet appliances (How long have we heard about these?), a smart toothbrush and more. Should we as gamers take any notice? NVIDIA certainly seems to think so.
Intel, Sony and NVIDIA have already kicked off the keynote presentations. The official start is tomorrow. Unfortunately, Sony didn’t have a lot of information to get excited about. More so, PS4 Pro owners were frustrated that Sony announced a new Ultra HD Blu-Ray player. Owners would much rather have seen it available with the Pro.
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High on their list was two new Bravia TVs. X93E and the beautiful OLED A1E. There’s been a big debate for years about whether 4K and HDR are worth the money. Manufacturers certainly seem to think so with a big presence of new models.
Intel didn’t have a lot to say about gaming. They announced that their all-in-one VR headset will come into production by in 2017. Developers will probably not be too enthused to support the device.
The big announcements were from NVIDIA. CEO Jen-Hsun Huang was the speaker for the keynote address and had much to say about video games. Noting its importance for AI development. Huang stressed the importance for GPU and it’s ability for deep learning saying “This technique helps software to write software”. He also displayed what GPU technology has been used for. Including advancements in AI, gaming, synthesizing voice and driverless cars.
Now to the actual announcements
Firstly, NVIDIA’s Geforce Experience. Their video game capture technology has been available for a while but it will now support FaceBook Live. Bioware’s General Manager Aaryn Flynn then joined Huang to show some amazing gameplay footage from Mass Effect Andromeda. The second, Geforce Now. A Pascal-powered supercomputer will now allow PC and Mac users to play latest games over the cloud with “amazing performance”.
GeForce NOW for MAC and PC! You'll have a Pascal-powered PC in the cloud, able to run all your games with amazing performance. #CES2017 pic.twitter.com/eZaJWD1Yow
— NVIDIA GeForce (@NVIDIAGeForce) January 5, 2017
For a MacBook Air user like myself that could be an option. However, there is of course a monthly fee. Thirdly, the new Nvidia Shield. The new Shield will support a new Steam app, be able to stream 4k gaming from your PC to your TV, and supports 4k and HDR streaming from YouTube, Amazon and Netflix.
That’s the main points for now. There are still more keynote presentations scheduled. Qualcomm may have some more info on chip advancements and their Augmented Reality Smart Glass. This could be exciting news for mobile gamers. Mobile manufacturer Huawei will have more to say about their new Honor 6x smartphone. We’ll keep you posted.
Are you excited by the announcements from NVIDIA? Any other tech that has caught your eye? Let us know!
