CES 2016: The 14 Most Important CES Product Announcements, So Far

CES Big Shots Deliver The Goods

Connected, wireless, smart and virtual sum up the biggest trends here at CES 2016. And leading the charge and setting the tone for the largest tech-fest on the planet are companies such as Amazon, Ford, Qualcomm, HTC and Samsung.

Here is a roundup of the most important news from CES Tuesday, one day ahead of the show's official kickoff.

Ford Announces Drone Development, Autonomous Cars, Partnership With Amazon

Automakers at CES are out in force this year outlining plans to make cars smarter, more connected and more autonomous. Ford CEO Mark Fields said Tuesday that the carmaker has a new partnership with Amazon to allow Ford owners to use the voice-recognition system Amazon Echo to start their car using voice commands from inside their home or get basic diagnostic information regarding their car.

The Ford-Amazon partnership also will allow Ford drivers to use Amazon's voice-recognition service from their car and have it carry out tasks such asking the Amazon Echo assistant Alexa to open their garage door from behind the wheel.

Ford also revealed a bold plan build "affordable" self-driving cars by 2020 for a number of specific driving scenarios. The company also said its popular F150 pickups will be a launch pad for a new drone-to-vehicle that would help government agencies such as the United Nations quickly deploy drones to assess damage during emergencies.

Huawei Goes Glitzy With Smartphone, Smartwatch

China-based Huawei is hoping to capture a little of that premium brand Apple magic with the release of a fancy new smartphone and gorgeous new smartwatch.

For its new smartwatch, Huawei partnered with Austrian jewelry maker Swarovski on two new watches called the Elegant ($500) and the Jewel ($600). Both smartwatches feature rose gold and Swarovski crystals around the watch face, giving the smartwatches some serious good looks.

Huawei also unveiled a premium phone that sports some serious high-end features, a departure from its reputation as a budget phone maker. The new phones include the Mate 8, a sleek 6-inch phone with an impressive battery life of 20 to 28 hours depending on usage. Phone specs for the Mate 8 include a peppy 2.3GHz octa-core Kirin 950 processor, fingerprint reader and a 16-megapixel rear-facing camera.

TCL, LG Reveal Big Update To Picture Quality With Dolby Vision

TV makers are always looking for that edge to take HDTVs to the next level. Here at CES, TCL and LG unveiled a partnership with Dolby to deliver Dolby Vision, the company's high dynamic range technology that can boost image quality. Called HDR, the technology can make images brighter and sharper than existing HDTVs, giving picture quality a greater contrast range and improved color depth.

LG showcased a new 4K OLED TV and TCL a new line of X1 HDTVs. Both support Dolby Vision and HDR. Of course, to be able to take full advantage of Dolby Vision you need content. To that end, both Universal Pictures and MGM, according to TCL, are both releasing movies in Dolby Vision in 2016.

Qualcomm Ups Auto Tech Ante With Audi

Qualcomm, best known for its mobile Snapdragon processors, said it's doubling down on car tech with a partnership with Audi. Qualcomm revealed its Snapdragon 602A chipset would be used in Audi's 2017 infotainment system. But why stop there?

Qualcomm also rolled out a Snapdragon 820 Automotive edition of its chips that adds an LTE modem to a car's infotainment system to drive entertainment, navigation and the car's dashboard. Demonstrations of the Snapdragon 820 included customized dashboards for individual drivers at the same time driving two HD displays -- one for navigation and a second for backseat 4K entertainment systems.

Making It Easier To Cut The Cord: Dish Network Updates Sling TV Interface

Gadget, gizmos, tablets and hulking HDTVs may make up the bulk of what you see here at CES, but what matters just as much is what you can see and do on those devices. Last year Dish Network made a big splash at CES with its streaming TV service Sling TV. The service is a cable TV cord-cutter's dream. It allows users to pay $20 a month and bundle just the channels they want at $5 increments and watch them on nearly any device.

Sling TV Tuesday gave a sneak peek to its first-ever overhaul of its user interface. The new update is expected to roll out in the first quarter, according to the company, and includes new features such as a "My TV" shortcut for most-watched shows and on-demand content that users haven't finished watching. Sling has also added a "What's Hot" section based on what's trending across the Sling TV platform.

HTC, Under Armour Create Fitness Ecosystem: HealthBox

Piecing together smart fitness gear within the vast universe of wearables can be hard when you're trying to figure out things such as compatibility, syncing and sharing data. To help create one unified system that aggregates data from an activity tracker, heart rate monitor and scale into a synthesized platform, HTC teamed with sport apparel leader Under Armour.

Called UA HealthBox, the fitness ecosystem includes a wrist-based fitness tracker, a heart rate monitor and a smart scale. Data from each device is synthesized seamlessly into the UA Record app, which offers a handy dashboard.

In tandem with HTC's hardware (but not part of the HealthBox platform), Under Armour said it would be releasing a smart shoe and wireless headphones. The UA SpeedForm Gemini 2 Record Equipped smart shoe can detect when users begin to run and track it. Under Armour's UA Headphones Wireless Heart Rate can measure heart rate. With both the sneakers and headphones, users can export data to the MapMyRun app -- part of the UA HealthBox ecosystem.

Smart Outdoor Watch by Casio

Electronics manufacturing company Casio Tuesday took the wraps off its newest smartwatch, the Smart Outdoor Watch.

This rugged smartwatch is built for outdoor lovers -- the watch has a built-in microphone, is resistant to up to 50 meters of water, and has a dual-layer LCD display, helping it conserve power and extend battery life.

Based on Casio's popular G-Shock Watch, the Bluetooth 4.1-enabled smartwatch comes pre-installed with Android Wear apps, including RunKeeper and MyRadar Weather. The smartwatch will be available in April, with color options of red, green, orange and black, and will cost around $500, according to Casio.

Panasonic Toughpad FZ-Q1

Panasonic expanded its ruggedized tablet Toughpad lineup at CES, debuting the 12.5-inch Toughpad FZ-Q1. This new tablet is geared toward small-business applications, point-of-sale retail environments, and transportation functions.

The Toughpad runs on Windows 8.1 Pro and has two different versions packing separate Intel processor options -- the Intel Core i5-4302Y vPro processor and the standard version with an Intel Celeron processor N2807. The purpose-built tablet touts a full high-definition touch-screen display and easy grip bottom cover. The Toughpad also features up to nine hours of battery life, USB 3.0 and Micro SDXC ports, a 2-megapixel front-facing camera and an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera.

The Toughpad FZ-Q1 will be available in March. The standard version of the tablet will cost $1,000, while the performance version will cost $1,700.

Fitbit Blaze

Fitbit during CES unveiled the Fitbit Blaze, a new wearable built to help users make the most of their fitness workouts. The Blaze has a large square screen and looks strikingly similar to the Apple Watch.

The Fitbit Blaze will be available in March for $199.95, and comes with a variety of choices, including classic high-performance elastomer bands, genuine leather bands and stainless steel bands. This new product tracks daily steps, sleep, burned calories, and 15 different exercise types. The Blaze will also auto-track activities such as running, tennis, soccer and elliptical machine workouts.

The Fitbit Blaze has a battery life of up to five days and is compatible with iOS, Android and Windows mobile devices, so users can stay connected to receive smart notifications and accept or reject phone calls directly from their watch.

Galaxy TabPro S

Samsung showcased the Galaxy TabPro S, a 2-in-1 running the Windows 10 operating system. This new 6.3mm-thick 2-in-1, which packs a sixth-generation Intel Core M processor, has a 12-inch Super AMOLED display and 2,160 x 1,440 resolution.

The body of the 2-in-1 contains a full-size keyboard cover that wraps around the device and includes a flexible hinge for dual-angle display -- and comes in the box with the TabPro S. A multi-port adapter for HDMI, USB Type A and C, and Bluetooth Pen, are available for purchase separately.

The Galaxy TabPro S contains up to 10 hours of battery life and 4 GB of RAM. The device will be available by the end of February and will be in the $999 price range, according to Samsung.

Notebook 9

Samsung Tuesday showed off two new laptops in its Book 9 line -- the 13.3-inch Notebook 9 and the 15-inch Notebook 9. The 13.3-inch and 15-inch laptops, which are made from a lightweight magnesium design, weigh less than 1.85 pounds and 2.9 pounds, respectively.

The new Notebook models, which both have a 180-degree hinge for enhanced usability, run on the Windows 10 operating system and pack a sixth-generation Skylake Core processor. The two Notebook 9 versions also contains two speakers, a 720p integrated camera, and all-day battery life. The 13.3-inch model contains two USB 3.0 ports and one USB Type-C port, while the 15-inch version contains two USB 3.0 ports, as well as micro HDMI, mini Ethernet and mini VGA. The pricing for the Notebook 9 has not yet been disclosed. The new laptops will be available in early 2016, according to Samsung.

Signature OLED G6 Television

For the past few years at CES, LG has delivered new cutting-edge televisions. This year was no exception, as LG showed off its Signature OLED G6 television. The G6 TV is an extension of Samsung's brand-new Signature line, a brand that promotes high-end, connected products like a washer and a smart refrigerator.

At 2.57mm thick, this television is about as thin as four stacked credit cards, according to LG. The television comes with either a 65-inch or 77-inch OLED panel on the front and sits on a speaker base that acts like a stand.

Further details of the OLEN G6 television, including pricing and availability, were not specified.

Nikon D500

Nikon took the wraps off of a new DX-format flagship, the D500, which touts professional-level features to photographers for easy handling and high processing power.

The DX-format DSLR successor to the D300S runs on Canon's multi-cam 20K 153-point autofocus system, and contains 4K UHD video capture. The DX format is especially popular with photographers as it promotes smaller form factors and enhanced lens crop features. The D500 allows for up to 79 shots to be captured in a 10-frame-per-second burst speed. The Nikon D500 DSLR will be available in March and will start at $1,999.95 for the body-only configuration.

LG K-Series Smartphones (image k series smartphone)

LG unveiled its K Series, a new line of premium-looking smartphones touting UX features and advanced camera technology. The company showed off two smartphones, the 5.3-inch K10 and 5-inch K7, as part of the series.

The K Series smartphones feature a glossy pebble design language that gives the phones a stylish, curved modern finish. Both smartphones run on Android 5.1 Lollipop.

The camera is the real focus for these smartphones, as they come with photography features such as Gesture Shot and Gesture Interval Shot for taking series. The K10 features a rear-facing 13-megapixel camera and 8-megapixel camera on the front, while the K7 contains a rear-facing 8-megapixel camera and 5-megapixel front-facing camera. LG did not detail availability or pricing for the K-Series.