CES 2015 laptop and tablet preview: Microsoft returns with a bang

On January 5, the US International Consumer Electronics Show (CES2015) will be officially held in Las Vegas, USA from January 6 to 9. As the main attraction of CES, what surprises will tablets and notebooks bring us this year?

Microsoft returns to CES to showcase Surface NFL tablet

Surface NFL Tablet Booth

Microsoft stopped attending the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) a few years ago, but it has returned to CES this year in an unexpected way.

Microsoft showed off its Surface NFL tablet at this year's CES. The product is currently used by professional football players and coaches. Microsoft set up a small booth at the CES Unveiled launch event on Sunday afternoon. The launch event attracted more than 100 companies, especially startups, to participate. These companies showed off new products at the event.

Microsoft has been participating in CES for more than a decade, but a few years ago, Microsoft stopped giving keynote speeches at CES and stopped participating in the main exhibition area of ​​CES. Since then, Microsoft's participation in CES has mainly been private meetings, and then showing the latest Windows devices behind closed doors.

Last November, the media reviewed Surface NFL. Microsoft has reached a five-year contract worth $400 million with the National Football League (NFL), so players and coaches can abandon traditional tactical boards and use customized Surface Pro 2 starting this season.

Arbor Solution launches three-proof tablet

Arbor Solution will launch its new rugged Android tablet, Gladius 10, at CES 2015. The tablet can be used in professional fields such as warehousing and transportation. It is reported that the Gladius 10 rugged tablet is expected to be released in the United States and Canada in May this year, with a starting price of US$1,030, or about RMB 6,390.

Arbor Solution released the Gladius 10 rugged tablet (Image from androidadvices)

The Gladius 10 rugged tablet complies with MIL-STD-810G and IP-65 certifications, provides four-foot (about 1.2 meters) drop protection, and has rubber protective covers for both output and input interfaces.

Arbor Solution released the Gladius 10 rugged tablet (Image from androidadvices)

This rugged Android tablet features a 10.1-inch 1280x800 resolution TFT color LCD display and a Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protective layer to effectively enhance the display's strength. The device has a built-in 1D laser barcode reader, and customers can choose between 1D/2D imagers. It also offers a replaceable lithium-ion battery with a battery life of 10 hours and a continuous video playback time of 8 hours.

Samsung launches entry-level tablet

Samsung SM-T116 Tablet

Previously, two suspected new-generation Samsung tablets were exposed on the Indian import and export tracking website Zauba, and one of them, a Samsung tablet codenamed SM-T116, was unveiled again. The Zauba website marked it as "pending testing". This device is very likely to be the successor of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 Lite.

This Samsung tablet, codenamed SM-T116, is likely to be an entry-level product, and the GeekBench benchmark website also revealed the configuration of this tablet. In addition to the 7-inch screen, the SM-T116 will be equipped with a Speadtrum sc8830 quad-core processor with a main frequency of 1.2GHz. At the same time, the phone will also have 1GB of RAM and pre-installed Android 4.4.4 KitKat operating system.

Acer launches new gaming laptop: gesture control 3D simulation

Aspire V17 Nitro

Gesture control is an amazing experience for some games, and manufacturers naturally know this and go with the flow.

According to foreign media reports, Acer announced today that it will add gesture control and 3D simulation functions to its Aspire V17 Nitro gaming notebook.

The feature of this product is the addition of Intel's RealSense 3D camera, which can detect the three-dimensional movement of objects. This camera includes a traditional camera, an infrared camera and an infrared laser projector. The technology uses reflected infrared light to determine the distance of an object, combined with functions such as motion tracking, it can determine body movements and facial expressions.

This feature allows users to disconnect from the keyboard and mouse when browsing the web, playing games or running software.

Three-dimensional spatial detection also means that the game can create three-dimensional models and then print out what you want using a 3D printer.

Acer is highlighting the computer's 3D modeling, drawing, and architectural design capabilities. Of course, it will also make games more realistic. In addition, gesture control will save you from leaving fingerprints on the computer.

In terms of specific configuration, Acer provides a 17.3-inch HD display, 16GB of memory, a Core i7 processor and a GTX 860M graphics card. The sound effect will be equipped with Dolby 4.1 surround sound.

The new Aspire V17 Nitro gaming laptop will be released at the 2015 International Consumer Electronics Show.

Sony Xperia Z4 Tablet Ultra

Sony Xperia Z4 Tablet Ultra has been confirmed to be unveiled at CES 2015. As a flagship tablet, Sony has made a big push for this. The new generation of Xperia tablet will be released together with the Xperia Z4 phone. The Xperia Z4 Tablet will be equipped with a 13-inch 3840×2400 resolution screen, a 2.9GHz Snapdragon 810 processor, and a memory combination of 6GB RAM + 64GB storage space.

Sony Xperia Z4 Tablet Ultra flagship tablet unveiled

The tablet is 8.6mm thick, has a built-in 12100mAh battery, and provides an 8.08-megapixel 1/2.3-inch Exmor RS sensor and supports 4K video recording via HDMI.

4K/Flexible screen

Recently, Sony also released the latest CES promotional video, and all the attributes of Sony Xperia Z4 Tablet Ultra appeared in the video, indicating that Z4 is thinner, has a larger screen, better display effect, stronger audio and video, and is compatible with Lolipop.

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Will flexible screen technology be used in tablets? Let's wait and see at CES 2015

Flexible screen technology is nothing new, but it is not easy to combine the material with current hardware. Apple and Samsung have already joined the research and development of flexible screens. Some early reports said that the Apple Watch to be released next year will only support force feedback screens, and there is no definite news that it will use this patented flexible screen.

But the humanized design of this flexible screen is easily accepted by people. Therefore, Apple Watch is also very likely to adopt flexible design, because force feedback needs to be supported by flexible elements. Not only that, other Apple products are also likely to adopt flexible screens. At CES2015, we hope to see larger flexible screens appear on tablets.

Fingerprint recognition will be integrated into laptop touchpads

Synaptics fingerprint recognition touchpad prototype

According to the US technology media Engadget, the fingerprint recognition technology will soon be introduced into laptops. Apple has introduced the fingerprint recognition technology in smartphones since 2013. Although it is not very cool, it is very practical for consumers.

Now, Synaptics, a leading notebook touchpad manufacturer, has developed a touchpad called SecurePad, which integrates a press-type fingerprint recognition sensor in the upper left corner and an LED indicator light below.

Synaptics said that if a notebook manufacturer is willing to use this technology, the company can integrate it into the touchpad but make it almost invisible to the user, so the prototype should be made to highlight the existence of the sensor. It is not yet known which notebook manufacturer will be the first to bring this technology to consumers.

14nm and 3D cameras

Intel has to be mentioned at CES every year, especially for tablets, especially the Windows tablets that emerged in the second half of this year. Except for Microsoft Surface Pro 3, although most Windows tablets perform mediocrely, they have brought many opportunities to manufacturers in South China. They are also making every effort to release new products to seize a part of the notebook market and become the main force in the office market segment. Intel's role as a driving force behind this is indispensable.

Windows tablet market still has potential

If nothing unexpected happens, Intel's U-series Broadwell will be officially launched in the first quarter of 2015. CES is always Intel's favorite time to show off new cores and technologies. It can be confirmed that Intel will launch U-series processors in the first quarter of 2015, but they will be shipped separately according to the product. Intel will officially release the Broadwell-U processor in the 5th generation Intel Core series at CES 2015. Like the Core M processor, which belongs to Intel's 14nm process, the Broadwell-U series processors will be divided into "2+2" and "2+3" versions.

The performance improvement and battery life optimization of the Broadwell processor are of great significance to the tablet industry. Under the same specifications, tablet computers equipped with Broadwell processors will be thinner and have stronger hardware performance.

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14nm process is on track

Intel launched RealSense technology at CES last year, but after a year, we have not seen popular products. Will Intel promote this technology at CES this year? Currently, this technology has only been shown on Dell Venue 7000, but this tablet has not yet been launched in China, so many people have not experienced the real RealSense technology.

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Intel RealSense 3D Camera

The RealSense 3D camera is the world's first device that integrates 3D depth and 2D lens modules, giving the device a visual depth similar to that of the human eye. The RealSense 3D camera integrates 3D depth of field and 2D color lens modules. It can not only achieve highly accurate gesture and facial feature recognition, but also help machines understand human movements and emotions. Intel's goal in this area is clear, which is to further deepen the connection between computing and people.

Devices equipped with RealSense 3D were expected to be integrated into computers from Acer, Asus, Dell, Fujitsu, HP, Lenovo and other manufacturers in the second half of 2014, but only the Dell Venue 8 7000 has been seen so far. We expect to see more innovative new products at CES 2015.