2020: What's to come in technology—AirPods Pro, Oculus Quest return to stores

AirPods Pro
Credit: Apple

Those AirPods Pros that you coveted before the holidays?

They'll be back on January 27.

And the red-hot Oculus Quest virtual reality headset? Sold out as well. You'll have to wait for February 19 to nab them.

Those are two tech highlights to look forward to in 2020. There's more as well. Expect a lot of talk, a lot of product announcements, and eventually, delivery.

CES! The U.S.'s biggest trade show kicks off in Las Vegas again, on January 5, with dozens of companies from Amazon, Samsung and Sony to little start-ups all strutting their stuff with new products that will possibly be seen in stores by the spring.

Speakers include President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump, and CEOs from Samsung, Daimler, Delta, Unilever and Salesforce.

NAMM: The National Association of Music Merchants kicks off in Anaheim, California on January 16. This is where some 100,000 people come to see new musical instruments with a tech twist, and awards are given to industry legends. This year Joni Mitchell gets the Les Paul Innovation Award. At the 2019 NAMM, Yamaha introduced the "Keytar," an electronic keyboard designed to be played like a rock guitar.

South by Southwest: The massive two-week festival, which begins March 13 with interactive, and morphs into music and film, is a popular piece to launch new apps. Among the keynote speakers: Whitney Wolfe Herd, the founder of dating app Bumble, who will be interviewed by CBS This Morning's Gayle King.

Facebook F8: Scheduled for May 5 and 6, this is where the social network traditionally introduces new initiatives. Last year Facebook announced that people would soon be able to send messages across all of the Facebook apps—Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram. We're still awaiting the on that one.

Google I/O: Google hasn't announced a date for its developer conference, but it's traditionally in May. At the 2019 I/O, Google unveiled its new $399 Pixel 3A phone, and sneak peeked the 10-inch version of the Hub Max video display unit, which eventually was released in October. (And included on our best tech of 2019 roster.)

Apple Worldwide Developer's Conference: Apple traditionally holds its software conference the first week of June (no 2020 date announced yet) and previews in the iOS operating system. In 2019 we saw iOS 13, with improved photo management features.

New products

Samsung has historically released new editions of its high-end Galaxy S smartphone line in March, and the Note "phablet" in August.

Apple traditionally launches new iPhones in September, the same month Amazon sneak peeks new Echo speaker products and offshoots, which tend to be released in October. Google also touts in September for October releases.

The rumor mill for the new iPhones includes many different sizes and features, but the one many analysts are in unison on is 5G. The new, faster wireless service, which is just starting to become more widely available, requires a 5G capable phone (like Samsung offered to consumers with a high-end Galaxy this year.)

Goodbye streams

Everyone's favorite 25 year-old TV show, "Friends," disappears from Netflix on January 1. Reason? Read next paragraph.

New streams

HBO Max: The streaming wars continue in 2020, following November 2019's arrival of Disney+ and Apple TV +, with the companion to HBO, HBO Max, the latest from AT&T, which owns Warner Bros. HBO and the Turner TV networks. Max will be the most expensive of the new streamers, at $15 a month, although free for current HBO subscribers, and will include such favorites as "Friends" and "The Big Bang Theory," as well as new takes on the movie Gremlins and Looney Tunes cartoons.

Peacock: The streamer from NBC/Universal is launching in April, but no price has been announced yet. Programming highlights include reruns of The Office and reboots of Punky Brewster and Battlestar Gallactica.

(c)2019 U.S. Today
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Citation: 2020: What's to come in technology—AirPods Pro, Oculus Quest return to stores (2019, December 26) retrieved 29 March 2024 from https://techxplore.com/news/2019-12-technologyairpods-pro-oculus-quest.html
This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.

Explore further

Apple Watch shopper's guide: What you need to know before buying

2 shares

Feedback to editors