CES 2020 is literally around the corner, and during our live coverage of the tech conference from the Las Vegas Convention Centre, we thought we would discuss the top 5 things we are excited to see at the annual tech convention.

READ MORE: CES 2020: Nexus Is Going To Las Vegas!

1. Samsung’s Neon and Internet of Things

Samsung has always been a powerhouse of CES, making some of the biggest claims when it comes to the future of tech, and how Samsung would lead the charge. We are excited to see what Samsung has in store for CES attendees this year, including more details on Neon.

Meet #NEON. January 2020. pic.twitter.com/iFkWVVyF6k

— NEON (@neondotlife) December 17, 2019

Neon is the newest “Artificial Human” product coming from Samsung but the tech conglomerate has promised that this has nothing to do with Bixby - the current smart digital assistant introduced three years ago. So far, we don’t know much about Neon but Dutch tech website, LetsGoDigital, describes Neon as the following:

Entertainment services, namely, production of special effects including model-making services, computer-generated imagery and computer-generated graphics for the production of motion pictures, videos and movie trailers; augmented reality video production; creating computer generated characters; design and development of computer-modeled versions of human beings using computer animation for use in movies, television, internet and other applications; design and development of software for virtual characters; creating for others custom computer-generated imagery, animations, simulations and models used for entertainment.

If Neon were to pan out as a more intelligent interface software between humans and their devices, this could be the major push that Samsung needs to bring their “Internet of Things” ideals to life. Essentially, Samsung aims to have all of their devices connected to the internet, from phones and TVs, to washing machines and fridges, so Neon could act as the central interface system we use to communicate with our Samsung devices. What does this all mean? Well, it means fridges that can order food for us when it runs low, washing machines that can be used remotely, and the general ease of our everyday lives.

Honored to have so much coverage even before we unveil. But contrary to some news, NEON is NOT about Bixby, or anything you have seen before. #NEON is coming to #CES2020, so stay tuned! @neondotlife

— NEON (@neondotlife) December 26, 2019

2. AMD’s Zen 3, 4th-Gen Threadripper, and Ryzen 4000

AMD has been dominating tech conversations for the last three years with the announcement of the first-generation Ryzen CPU chips. Many met AMD’s announcement with dread - as their previous line-up of FX processors had led many to dismiss AMD as a threat to Intel - but year-on-year AMD has proven to be a fierce competitor in the CPU space, with each generation getting better and better. Even now, many consider AMD to lead the CPU space purely in terms of innovation, especially since AMD was able to get their CPU down to 7nm where Intel is currently struggling on 10nm. As we have seen a new generation of CPU from AMD each year, we naturally expect to see the fourth generation Threadripper CPUs and Ryzen 4000 chips from the tech giant. Even more exciting is the possible announcement of Zen 3, which seems to be confirmed by a Taiwanese newspaper.

Taiwan newspaper:

"AMD CEO Lisa Su may disclose more details about Zen 3 architecture at a press conference during CES...." pic.twitter.com/1g9ypTtr2a

— RetiredEngineer® (@chiakokhua) January 1, 2020

Zen 2 brought a shrink from 12nm of Zen+ to 7nm, which not only brought smarter processing from the new data transfer systems but also brought down thermals as well as power draw, which all resulted in significantly better IPC performance. Will we see a further drop in size? We don’t think so, and if there is, it might be minimal. The only reason for this is the fact that figuring out 7nm architecture was incredibly risky - and thought to be “impossible” by Team Blue - so the likelihood of an even further size decrease might not probable. Also, AMD really pushed to get the 7nm architecture stable because they needed a leg up over Intel, and what better way to do that than to break the size limits of their competitors who claimed it was “not possible”. This time around, AMD has regained their reputation, and then some, so they need not take as many risks as before.

3. Health and Fitness


Health and fitness has become increasingly popular at CES in the past couple of years, and it is great to see this particular category drawing in larger crowds. Health and fitness incorporates a lot of technology and innovation as well, considering we mostly use apps and smartwatches to keep track of our exercise routines, as well as record our daily health figures.

We are incredibly excited to see how tech will influence and shape the future of our health and fitness, with improvements on VR cycling - which promises an authentic cycle ride along pristine routes without ever leaving your home or gym - as well as what the future of smart bands and smartwatches is. Healbe even promises the world’s first smart band to track your calories for the day automatically, using their patented GoBe FLOW™ Technology, which will be interesting to see in action.

4. Gaming


CES is typically catered to more mainstream technology including TVs, smart gadgets, and more, but with the rise in the popularity of gaming, it makes sense that there is a larger focus on gaming-centered products being displayed at CES. AMD ties into this as they could possibly announce Zen 3 architecture for their Ryzen chips - as we discussed earlier - and we are ecstatic to see what comes of this from third-party manufacturers such as MSi.

Speaking of, we are excited to see what new products MSi aims to bring to market, whether it be a larger-scale incorporation of 240Hz monitors, or even simply an expanded business model on their popular Prestige range of notebooks aimed at content creators and artists - which, again, would be a great adaptation of the new Zen 3 architecture.

Aside from direct gaming products, we are also interested to see how mainstream tech products will be incorporating gaming into their lines, as we have seen with TVs. 8K TVs are expected to make a bigger splash this year at CES, and the promise of 8K has also been made in the next generation of consoles - the Xbox Series X and the PS5 - so we are eager to see just how far gaming has impacted the future of technology.

5. 5G networking


5G networking is the successor to 4G, or LTE, and while there is the promise of it coming to South Africa quite soon, we still have yet to adopt it. However, 5G is still a rather new network, with it being only adopted on a small-scale in the US thanks to Huawei, globally, full 5G integration is still a-ways off. Nonetheless, there will be real-world 5G devices available to play around with at CES thanks to AT&T’s low-band 5G network in Las Vegas, which is incredibly exciting.

5G has further promise than just faster networking speeds for the mobile market, but also extends to autonomous cars, healthcare, and general public use. We are most likely not going to see most major updates when it comes to 5G at CES, as it will most likely be saved for the Mobile World Congress in Brazil in February, but there will still be some mention of 5G at CES, and the fact that we should be able to see 5G first-hand at the conference is exhilarating to say the least.

We will be covering CES 2020 live from Las Vegas from the 6th - 8th of January, and if you missed our announcement yesterday, you can all the details from here.