Microsoft, Motorola, Verizon: CES Preview
NEW YORK (
) -- Next week marks the biggest week on tech's calendar as the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show kicks off in Las Vegas.
Not only will all the gadgets from the future be there, so will
TheStreet
. And amid the buzz about connected cars and connected TVs, tablets and 4G wireless, we will be zeroing in on the pertinent investment news that could influence stocks.
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So what's in store?
Microsoft's
(MSFT) - Get Report
new, new tablet plan,
Verizon's
(VZ) - Get Report
4G devices, and
Motorola's
(MOT)
(GOOG) - Get Report
Android-Honeycomb tablet, for starters.
Here are a few other highlights.
ARM-based processors
Nvidia
(NVDA) - Get Report
has scheduled a press conference Tuesday, and the expectation is that the chip shop will have a beefier graphics processor for laptops and a slew of mobile devices to show off its Tegra 2 dual core processor. One guess is that
Nvidia will feature the LG Optimus 2X
Android phone, running a Tegra chip.
The stock
Nvidia has had difficulty expanding its business beyond graphics chips. Every year for the past three years, it has promised an ARM-based mobile chip; this may be the first time Nvidia delivers.
Qualcomm
(QCOM) - Get Report
and
ARM
(ARMH)
will also be showcasing similar chips at the show.
Mini Notebooks
Asus
and
Toshiba
also present Tuesday, and it wouldn't be a shock to see them unveil some ultra-thin notebooks. Apparently
Acer
and Asus and a number of other computer makers have developed new models that take after the sleek design of the
Apple
(AAPL) - Get Report
MacBook Air.
The stock
Apple's MacBook Air is the new netbook to beat. Slumbering giants like
Dell
(DELL) - Get Report
and
Hewlett-Packard
(HPQ) - Get Report
can't get out-maneuvered again in this category.
Connected TVs
Yahoo!
(YHOO)
has a demo in the works on how it plans to play a role in the great bridge between Internet and HDTV. And TV makers like
Sony
(SNE) - Get Report
,
Samsung
,
Panasonic
(PC)
and
Toshiba
-- among many others -- are expected to emphasize Internet proficiency. But Google's Google TV effort may have dealt the group a bit of a setback.
The stock
Instead of forging the happy partnership between Hollywood and Net TV it hoped for, Google has been seen as an adversary. Failed negotiations with
ABC
,
CBS
, and
NBC
have caused the studios to block shows from Google TV. It's a bad start to a promising service, and Google needs to break the standoff.
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Tablets
Microsoft, Motorola and
Palm
will once again have tablets to talk about -- and maybe even to demonstrate. In 2010, Microsoft misfired on the Courier device, killing it before it ever really took shape. This time around, Microsoft is expected to brandish tablets from Samsung and Dell.
The stock
Microsoft's tablet demo should mark the software giant's big step toward ARM-based mobile systems. The company will likely unveil a version of Windows for tablets. This would be a crucial step just like Windows Phone 7 was in smartphones, but, similarly, it could take years to pay off.
4G
Verizon has scheduled a 4G press conference for Thursday, Jan. 6. The nation's biggest wireless player will pull back the big red curtain, if speculation is correct, and show a collection of 4G devices. Among the selection could be 4G phones from
HTC
and Motorola, and quite possibly a 4G tablet from Motorola running on Google Android's Honeycomb operating system.
The stock
Verizon's bold effort to be the biggest, fastest network didn't work out too badly with FiOS. So an early lead in the race to deliver the biggest pipe in wireless could have some payback. But that's all secondary to the prospect of
, which you won't likely see in Vegas this year.
--Written by Scott Moritz in New York.>To contact this writer, click here: Scott Moritz, or email: scott.moritz@thestreet.com.To follow Scott on Twitter, go to http://twitter.com/MoritzDispatch.>To send a tip, email: tips@thestreet.com.