CES 2019: Tech firms set to chase Vegas lights for gadget bonanza

This week marks the dawn of CES 2019, an annual trade show held in Las Vegas where startups and tech giants alike debut some of the world’s hottest new gadgets.

Following on from last year’s most popular trend, voice assistants and artificially intelligent products are expected to take centre stage. Samsung is thought to be preparing to unveil a new version of its Galaxy Home speaker, powered by assistant Bixby.

TV is also a hot topic for this year’s conference, as LG will debut a TV that can roll-up for portability. A patent revealed over Christmas suggests Samsung might do the same, while others chase the world of incorporating 8K viewing technology into everyday homes.

The creator of Softbank’s beloved Pepper robot has said he will showcase a new companion robot named Lovot, designed to aid its owners emotional health by boosting their mood.

HTC is set to make an update to its Vive virtual reality headset, although little has been released about it ahead of the event. In general, VR is thought to be taking a back seat while Facebook and Google prepare for events later this year.

After the Gatwick Airport chaos before Christmas, the world’s largest drone-maker DJI has said it will debut a drone designed especially for the emergency services, including a split-screen mode so workers can see real-time footage in both thermal and normal modes.

And last but not least, we'll finally get an up close glimpse at Royole's smartphone with a foldable phone screen after it beat Samsung to the punch last year.

Samsung is said to be taking a little longer to work out the kinks until a debut set for February's Mobile World Congress event, as well as Chinese giant Huawei and a host of others who have promised the tech in 2019.