News

8K TVs and smart shower head among first CES gadget announcements

The annual technology convention officially begins on Tuesday.
The annual technology convention officially begins on Tuesday. The annual technology convention officially begins on Tuesday.

A number of 8K resolution televisions and an Alexa-enabled shower head are among the first products to be announced at CES.

South Korean tech giant LG has unveiled a range of new 8K resolution TVs, double that of current high-end 4K televisions, which will be on display at the Las Vegas convention.

They will be joined on the show floor by thousands of other new gadgets, including a shower head by Kohler which has an Amazon Alexa-enabled speaker built into it.

On Monday, a number of other technology firms including Sony and Samsung are also expected to make new product announcements – with reports suggesting Samsung may reveal a new foldable smartphone, following on from the launch of its Galaxy Fold handset launched last year.

The four-day trade show will also see the chief privacy officers from Apple and Facebook appear together on stage for a discussion on data privacy – an issue the two firms have publicly disagreed about in the past.

CES organisers have also been forced to defend the event over its decision to hand a keynote speaker slot to Ivanka Trump, daughter of US President Donald Trump.

The White House adviser is scheduled to appear alongside CES boss Gary Shapiro for a discussion on the future of work, but some have criticised the decision, claiming she is benefiting from nepotism at the expense of other, more qualified women from the technology sector.

Mr Shapiro told the BBC Ms Trump had done “great work” on job-related issues and said the discussion would show how the tech industry was working with the US government.

The convention, which is expected to welcome more than 170,000 visitors, officially opens on Tuesday.