CES 2014 doesn't technically begin until Tuesday, but the news begins now. Press conferences kick off at 8PM PT on Sunday night and continue in earnest throughout Monday. This is when the news breaks, when manufacturers from LG to Valve pull back the curtain on what they'll be doing this year. We'll have all the livestreams on our front page and we'll also be there live, covering all the news as it happens and jumping straight into The Verge Live throughout the day to discuss what we're seeing. It's a year's worth of news in 24 hours, so keep it locked on The Verge.
A year after debuting its first mobile device, Nvidia returns to CES with hints and promises of more to come. Tegra 5, the next generation of the company's mobile processor, is sure to make a splashy debut, but the real mystery about the company's announcements revolves around potential successors to its Shield gaming console. How will Nvidia expand on its efforts to become a fully fledged hardware manufacturer?
LG's already let the cat out of the bag for its upcoming 105-inch curved Ultra HD television. But all eyes are on what the company's doing with webOS, the operating system it bought from HP last February. A leaked photo over the weekend showed it running on a TV set, though it's unclear what new features will come with it. We're also expecting to hear more about LG's new wearable fitness band, the Lifebrand Touch, which leaked out in photos last week.
Dual-booting, transforming notebook-meets-tablets are expected from Asus tomorrow, along with a trio of new smartphones. But the big new product is expected to be that tablet / notebook hybrid, which will be able to switch between Microsoft's Windows or Google's Android OS. That's part of a larger effort by computer-makers at this year's show, and goes against a long tradition of offering only one operating system out of the box. Asus is also likely to debut new routers, and a new pair of 4K monitors aimed at pro users.
Samsung makes everything from appliances to smartphones, and it uses CES to talk about just about all of it. Last year's theme was "discover," as President Boo-Keun Yoon talked about how Samsung's TVs, phones, tablets, and refrigerators had been designed to help us find more and better things. This year, rumor has it Samsung's theme is going to be "smart": Smartwatches, smart appliances, smartphones, smart microwaves, smart everything. Samsung's events always walk a delicate (and often hilarious) line between entertaining and bizarre, and no matter what the company announces this year its events are not to be missed.
Last year at CES, Valve held closed-door meetings with hardware partners to build momentum for its mysterious, reinvented gaming console. We got our hands on Valve's prototype Steam Machine and Steam Controller in November, but Valve still has a lot of questions to answer. In the next few days, we expect Valve's hardware and software partners to reveal the Steam Machines that you'll be able to buy later this year and the games you'll be able to play. We also might see some virtual reality gear; Valve could be making its own VR headset, but it's also been working to help the Oculus Rift take off. If you've been following Valve's console play since the initial Steam Box rumors, stay tuned: CES 2014 is Valve's first real coming out party.
Sony's likely to do a big 4K push at its press conference, so expect lots on TVs. We're also looking out for new phones and notebooks. The company doesn't typically do anything new with PlayStation at CES, though the PS4 has been out since November, and the company could give us an update on how it's selling. It's a noteworthy talk given that Sony Electronics CEO Phil Molyneux stepped down just last month.
Every year at CES, Intel gives a keynote address. Last year, the company talked about Haswell, ultrabooks, Atom, and how Intel is moving into mobile. Its keynotes are always a teaser for new devices and form factors, too — no company is more pervasive across the PC industry than Intel. This year, CEO Brian Krzanich will take the stage to preview what we're about to see at CES – and he'll probably have a thing or two to say about Intel chips as well.
Hot on the heels of Google’s announcement of the Open Automotive Alliance, a keynote address by Audi chairman Rupert Stadler at CES could set the stage for exactly what the OAA intends to do — and how it’ll do it. Audi is one of the founding members of the Alliance, which has the stated goal of spreading Android in the car world, where infotainment systems are still immature at best. It’s also possible that Stadler won’t talk about Google at all: Audi has several self-driving demos at this year’s show, a white-hot area of development for the German company over the past couple of years.