Microsoft began offering a preview of its Office apps for Android tablets this week. Beta versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint apps are now available (no invitation required) via the Google Play store. According to Microsoft’s 365 Team, users need ARM-based Android tablets with KitKat or Lollipop (and 7- to 10-inch screens) to install and run the preview apps. “As expected, the apps are freemium versions, meaning you can create documents and perform basic editing. But you’ll need that Office 365 subscription to do more,” reports CNET. “The finished version of Office for Android tablets will be available in the first half of 2015.”

During her CES keynote address, Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Edith Ramirez suggested that the growing crop of interconnected devices that make up the Internet of Things could potentially put individuals’ privacy and security at risk. “Ramirez outlined several concerns including ubiquitous data collection, or the ability of sensors to collect sensitive personal information about consumers all the time and in real time; unexpected uses of consumer data, such using individual energy use patterns to set their homeowners’ insurance rates; and cybersecurity threats,” reports The Wall Street Journal. She recommended that companies minimize the data they collect, consider encrypting sensitive information, and be more transparent about how they use personal data.

During a CES press event in Las Vegas, Panasonic showed a prototype Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc Player (the Blu-ray Disc Association is finalizing the new Ultra HD Blu-ray format standard). While a formal release date for the player was not announced, the first film titles are reportedly slated for release before the end of 2015. According to HDTVtest, the new standard will use the H.265 HEVC codec and will support 3,840 x 2,160 video at up to 60 frames per second, the BT.2020 wide color gamut, and 10-bit video encoding. One of the more interesting features will be support for High Dynamic Range (HDR) video, which significantly expands the brightness peak.

Charter Communications announced a cloud-based cable TV service called Worldbox to be backed by Cisco technology. Charter CEO Tom Rutledge unveiled the initiative at CES with Cisco CEO John Chambers. The system will allow Charter to update its services regardless of which set-top boxes are being used by its subscribers. Cisco plans to supply data center and networking equipment. “By using cloud-computing technology to deliver software updates, Charter will be able to add features and content quickly, instead of sending technicians to install new machines in homes and businesses,” reports Bloomberg.

Speaking at the Citi 2015 Global Internet, Media & Telecommunications Conference in Las Vegas, Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam announced that his company plans to launch an Internet pay TV service during the second half of this year. The “mobile-first” OTT service, separate from Verizon’s current FiOS TV, is expected to initially roll out with 20-30 channels, and target younger consumers who are not interested in paying for cable (similar to Dish Network’s planned Sling TV service announced at CES). According to Variety, McAdam also denied a recent report that his company is considering an AOL acquisition, although he suggested there is a potential to partner.

Samsung was the first to showcase a bendable TV at last year’s CES, and this week the company is demonstrating a 105-inch, 21:9 screen that can expand or contract depending on how curved the viewer wants it. “For such a novel TV, Samsung put out all the stops, including 4K resolution, quantum-dot technology for improved color and its Tizen-powered smart-TV platform,” reports Mashable. “The bendy set has features of Samsung’s new SUHD line, which includes a ‘re-mastering engine’ for improved picture quality, an extremely thin screen bezel with chamfered edges and Samsung’s Tizen-powered Smart TV interface.”

During his CES keynote, Samsung Electronics CEO BK Yoon addressed his vision for improving consumers’ lives via the Internet of Things. “In 2015, the company will invest more than $100 million in the development community working on connected devices,” reports USA Today. “And it will appeal to developers and competitors to assist in open standards so that devices from different manufacturers work together.” According to the CEO in an interview prior to the keynote: “A lot of the smart TVs and smartphones out there already can communicate. By 2017, our plan is to IoT-enable 90 percent of Samsung hardware, and within five years our plan is to IoT-enable all Samsung products 100 percent.”

LG is introducing seven new 4K OLED TVs during CES this year. Ranging in size up to 77 inches, the TVs feature the company’s WRGB pixel technology (including a fourth color — white — for improved viewing angle and more vivid colors), and its “Art Slim” design (ultra-thin displays with transparent stands that make the sets appear as if they are floating). “At the top of LG’s list for CES 2015 is the EG9900, a 77-inch flexible 4K OLED TV,” Digital Trends reports. The set includes “a 100W 4.1 Channel speaker system with wireless subwoofer developed by Harman/Kardon, and deca-core processor for faster webOS performance.” LG is also introducing two new 4K LCD TVs, one of which features Quantum Dot technology.

Sharp is focusing on subpixels again this year at CES in another effort to widen the color gamut and bring more sharpness to the TV screen. “The company’s highest-end 4K sets, which launch this Spring, come packed with 66 million subpixels — about 42 million more than your average RGB-only 4K television,” reports Wired. “The company says it will put the new UH30 ‘Beyond 4K Ultra HD TV’ panel next to the 85-inch native 8K TV Sharp has showcased at its booth the past few years.” While the new TV is not being billed as an 8K set, the company claims it can reach an effective resolution of 7,680 x 4,320, and can upscale 4K content to a higher definition.

During CES, Hollywood and the consumer electronics industry announced the formation of a coalition that plans to “set the bar for next generation video entertainment by establishing new standards to support innovation in video technologies including 4K and higher resolutions, high dynamic range, wider color gamut and immersive 3D audio.” According to Carolyn Giardina of The Hollywood Reporter, the UHD Alliance was formed by companies including DirecTV, Dolby, LG, Netflix, Panasonic, Samsung, Sharp, Sony Visual Product, Technicolor, The Walt Disney Studios, Twentieth Century Fox and Warner Bros. Entertainment.

During its CES press conference, Panasonic placed a spotlight on Ultra HD by emphasizing its part in the newly announced UHD Alliance, and illustrating its commitment to its line of 4K CE devices and professional 4K broadcast cameras. Among its announcements, the company unveiled a new 4K Blu-ray player, nine new UHD 4K TVs, and two 4K-capable palm-size camcorders. “Panasonic also plans to show a prototype 8K display, notable as Japan’s NHK is looking to leapfrog 4K and go directly to 8K, which it intends to have ready for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Dolby arrived at the 2015 CES with a Warner Bros. partnership that includes a slate of 4K titles mastered in the high dynamic range-supported Dolby Vision format. “Edge of Tomorrow,” “Into the Storm” and “The Lego Movie” are among the titles to be released in Dolby Vision in early 2015 in preparation for the launch of Dolby Vision-enabled TVs. “There’s a lot of HDR interest coming out of Hollywood,” writes Carolyn Giardina for The Hollywood Reporter. “Dolby Vision is intended to be a complete system, through which Hollywood would produce content in the format, and a delivery system would get that content to Dolby Vision supported TV.”

Mike Dunn, Fox Home Entertainment worldwide president, believes Virtual Reality will be a major story for Hollywood at this year’s CES. Oculus Rift and Project Morpheus are likely to be made available this year, Samsung launched Gear VR last month, and additional VR announcements are expected from Las Vegas. Fox is bringing a VR experience to CES based on the feature “Wild.” “This feels like tablets,” Dunn told The Hollywood Reporter. “In the fourth quarter there will be a few systems out there, and the market could reach 10 million households very quickly. If it’s compelling, I think 25 million households is conceivable by 2017.”

In recent years, CES has largely featured updated versions of existing products and services. The New York Times suggests that the show has been lacking in “big excitement,” despite its massive scope and media coverage each January. This is likely to change this week, thanks to a wave of new exhibitors chasing the Internet of Things. The next generation of home automation, connected CE devices, vehicle infotainment systems, smart wearables and related mobile apps could result in a CES that is “much more future-oriented,” as predicted by CEA head Gary Shapiro. Research firm IDC anticipates the global IoT market will exceed $7 trillion by 2020.