Hot Mobile Trends to Expect at CES 2012
The 2012 Consumer Electronics Show kicks off in Las Vegas next Tuesday to showcase the latest innovations in smart television, tablets, smartphones and more. It's going to be a long week with news, conferences and product introductions as thousands of companies gather to set the stage for the rest of 2012.
While it's going to be a very busy week, mobile phone manufacturers will take a back seat at the CES and wait until February's Mobile World Congress to show off new products. Samsung's Galaxy S III and the next generation Galaxy Tab will likely debut at MWC. Despite the spotlight focusing on new smart TVs and Intel's new Ultrabooks, that doesn't mean the mobile industry is going to be completely silent at CES. Here are some of the mobile trends to expect at CES 2012.
Quad-Core Smartphones. Dual core processors are so last year. This year expect souped up smartphones with quad-core processors such as Nvidia's Tegra 3 and Qualcomm's Snapdragon 4. The world's first quad-core processor, the HTC Edge, is reported to be debuting at February's Mobile World Congress. Still, you should expect the introduction of superphones with quad-core CPUs from other manufacturers at CES.
Nokia Windows Phone. This CES marks the last year Microsoft will participate at the event. While the software manufacturer will be busy promoting Windows 8, close partner Nokia will likely introduce the Nokia Windows Phone at CES. The Lumia 900 will be sold in the United States as the Nokia Ace and the device will serve as the Windows Phone flagship smartphone. The Ace will have a larger screen than the Lumia 710 and 800 which were launched in October.
4G Networks. More LTE 4G capable phones will be announced this year. Microsoft may announce an update to Windows Phone Mango to allow the phone to support LTE. AT&T will hold a two-hour-long press conference to reveal their LTE network strategy. The carrier will hold a joint press conference with Nokia on January 9 probably to announce AT&T Nokia phones for 2012. Other carriers will also announce new smartphone offerings, so keep an eye out for that.
New Smartphones. Of course one of the biggest draws for the mobile phone consumer at the CES is new announcements from phone manufacturers. The big news will likely be held at the MWC but manufacturers will still present some new smartphones for CES as appetizers to the main dish at MWC. Motorola is expected to debut its Droid 4 QWERTY slider phone, Sony will show off the Xperia Arc HD and LG might show off the LG Revolution 2.