CES 2020: From Apple and Ivanka Trump to 5G, AI, robotics – here's what’s in store at the annual tech bonanza

CES 2020, the world’s largest annual technology trade show produced by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), kicks off this week, with more than 170,000 people expected to descend in Las Vegas, Nevada, to witness the latest breakthroughs and innovations in technology.

Artificial intelligence (AI), augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR), privacy, foldable tech, 5G, robotics, smart cities and smart car, home, and health products, 8K TVs, drones, wearables, and health and wellness tech – you name it and all the latest buzzwords in technology are expected to dominate this year’s expo.

Indeed, the sheer scale of this giant tech event is mind boggling.

Officially slated to start on Tuesday, January 7 through Friday, January 10, CES 2020 is expected to see more than 4,500 exhibitors showcase around 20,000 new tech products. These companies – both startups and established tech names – will showcase their latest innovations to over 170,000 attendees from at least 160 countries.

Some of the products expected to be showcased include giant TVs by the likes of LG and Samsung, a 5G-ready laptop by Dell, foldable phones and dual-screen devices likely from Samsung, Dell, Huawei, and Microsoft, as well as smart cars and smart home products powered by Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa.

And that’s not all.

CES 2020 will feature over 1,100 industry experts and visionaries, who are slated to speak at over 300 sessions.

Additionally, more than 1,200 startups from at least 45 countries will participate at the event, making their presence felt alongside more established tech names like Intel, AMD, Dell, Nikon, Sharp, Samsung, LG, Bosch, and Panasonic, among others – all of them showcasing their tech novelties at 11 different hotels and convention centres, or across a total exhibit space of more than 2.9 million square feet, in Las Vegas.

“Companies across every major industry are using technology to transform their businesses, and CES 2020 will be the global stage for the latest innovation across all sectors,” said Karen Chupka, EVP, CES. “The show will represent all facets of global business where attendees can expect the unexpected.”

Here's what you can expect at CES 2020

CES 2020: broadens scope

In a growing sign of the pervasiveness of tech-led innovation across industries, this year’s expo will see the participation of a slew of more traditional, non-tech enterprises.

Companies such as German automaker Daimler, US carrier Delta Airlines, personal care goods company Procter & Gamble, French auto parts maker Valeo, food startup Impossible Foods, and mass media conglomerate NBC Universal, are expected to make significant announcements at CES 2020, with a few even delivering keynote addresses.

Apart from this, one tech major is making a rare official appearance at CES 2020 – Apple. Apple returns this year for the first time since 1992 to participate in a session dedicated to ensuring privacy in consumer businesses.

With privacy “a strategic imperative for all consumer businesses", Apple’s Senior Director of Global Privacy Jane Horvath will participate in the Chief Privacy Officer Roundtable, along with Facebook’s VP of Public Policy and Chief Privacy Officer for Policy Erin Egan, Federal Trade Commission’s Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter, and Procter & Gamble’s Global Privacy Officer Susan Shook.

The roundtable will focus on how consumer companies can build and ensure privacy at scale, regulation to ensure privacy, and what consumers want when it comes to privacy.

Another major appearance due at CES 2020 is mobile streaming service Quibi CEO Meg Whitman, who along with Quibi founder Jeffrey Katzenberg, will showcase their new streaming service that is scheduled to launch in April.

Quibi, short for ‘quick bites’, will feature bite-sized episodes of not more than 10 minutes in duration and is expected to charge $5 per month for a version with ads.

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High-profile speakers at CES 2020

Not just Quibi, NBCUniversal, which is also expected to launch its own streaming service in April this year, will deliver a keynote address at CES 2020, where Linda Yaccarino, Chairman of Advertising and Partnerships at NBCUniversal, will lead a panel discussion examining the future of entertainment.  

Linda joins other featured speakers such as Ivanka Trump, Salesforce Chairman and co-CEO Marc Benioff, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine Cho, FTC Chairman Joseph Simons, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, Entrepreneur and Billionaire Mark Cuban, Unilever CEO Alan Jope, White House CTO Michael Kratsios, The Female Quotient CEO Shelley Zalis, Golden Globes nominated actor Mandy Moore, award-winning journalist Katie Couric, NFL CIO Michelle McKenna, and America’s Got Talent host Terry Crews, among others.

Ivanka Trump, who serves as an Advisor to US President Donald Trump and heads the White House’s Office of Economic Initiatives and Entrepreneurship, will participate in a fireside chat with Gary Shapiro, President and CEO, Consumer Technology Association, to talk about the ‘Path to the Future of Work’. 

And there’s more.

From new conference tracks to a focus on diversity and inclusion to even the appearance of companies focused on sex technology, this year’s event has many firsts.

Here’s what else is new at CES 2020

• Non-traditional and new companies – Non-traditional tech businesses such as John Deere, Bell, NBCUniversal, Impossible Foods, P&G, and WWE, are all exhibiting this year. With over 1550 new exhibitors, attendees will see the likes of Delta Air Lines, Abbott, DuPont, Bridgestone, Weber, and Humana for the first time at CES.

• New conference tracks – A slew of industry leaders will participate in the new conferences tracks at CES to talk about their vision for the future. Tracks include Drone Operations and Innovation; Travel & Tourism; Gaming and eSports; Voice: Brands Leveraging Voice Technology; and Innovation for All.

• Policy discussions – From the White House to the FTC and FCC, policymakers from the US and across the world will gather at CES to discuss policy and regulations related to tech innovations in transportation, healthcare, global trade, and future of work.

• World Bank partnership – CTA is partnering with the World Bank on a Global Tech Challenge that calls on companies across the world to create solutions related to three key areas: gender barriers, health, and technologies that help communities to be resilient. 

• Diversity and inclusion – Innovation for All programming will be held across all show days, featuring conference sessions with Chief Diversity Officers of top companies, and panels focused on creating inclusive products, ensuring D&I contributes to the bottomline, and investing in diversity.

• The Female Quotient – The Female Quotient (The FQ), which works with companies to advance gender equality, is the official Equality Partner for CES 2020. The Equality Lounge at CES will see a variety of panel discussions on gender equality and act as “the unplugged space for conversation.”  

• Sex tech – At least 10 companies that focus on sex tech will feature innovative sex technology products at CES’s Health and Wellness marketplace. For the first time, sex tech companies will be able showcase their products at CES or qualify for awards at the tech event.

YourStory is at Las Vegas, Nevada to cover CES 2020 at the invitation of the Consumer Technology Association.