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That’s a wrap: CES 2024 has officially, as I type, just shut its doors about an hour ago.
This was my first-ever trip to the world’s largest consumer tech trade show, and it didn’t disappoint in so many ways – particularly when it came to just how bonkers it really was (as any CES veteran was all too fast to point out before I headed out to Vegas).
This isn’t a detailed report of what happened at Vegas, or a breakdown, category-by-category of what I discovered. I won’t beat around the bush: I genuinely can’t be arsed. I’m tired, still jet-lagged, and just want to get home to my family. Sorry. Plus, you’ve probably already caught up on the weird, wacky, and AI-infused stuff that appeared during the four-day show.
What follows instead, is an account of my first ever CES experience and the stuff for which this year’s event will become known. Not that the latter will come as a surprise.
A CES noob
“Get ready for loads of walking.”
“You can plan all you want – nothing will prepare you for what actually happens.”
“Don’t forget your comfiest trainers.”
“You won’t be able to cover everything. You can’t cover everything. You probably won’t even get to see everything.”
“Just use Uber. Always.”
“Take lip balm.”
“Did you know that it’s also being held in <insert name of Vegas hotel here>?”
I know lots of lovely people in this industry, and those who had been to CES previously had lots of advice for me.
They were right. Kinda.
The only thing I’d argue is that none of them were able to accurately convey what CES is actually like. Because it’s impossible. This trade show is the sort of thing you can only experience and feel with your own eyes, mind, and feet.
I’ve done lots of exhibitions in my time, both as an exhibitor and an attendee. The largest in the UK usually take place somewhere like the NEC in Birmingham or Excel in London.
Those shows are roughly the size of the CES food courts.
The scale of CES is mind-boggling. It stretches across two convention centres and countless hotels. There are two media days before the event starts, with huge press conferences undertaken by all of the big tech brands (minus Apple, obvs). There are even pre-event events, including Showstoppers, Pepcom, and a whole host of private unveilings, parties, and ‘mixers’ to which you’re invited or into which one must sneak.
I went with a plan of sorts, but I was fully aware that it would probably fall apart immediately – which it did, obviously. Regardless, it has felt like an incredibly productive trip in terms of content production, networking, and spending face-to-face time with my creator mates.
But enough about my experience – what was CES 2024 really about?
There were two things that you couldn’t avoid.
AI everywhere
This was inevitable, wasn’t it? The buzzword on practically every single stage, booth, and panel discussion was ‘AI’. Artificial intelligence appeared to be baked into everything at CES 2024, from the obvious (robots) to the less obvious (AI-powered massage chair, anyone?).
During the media days, when the big brands unveiled the products they’d be exhibiting at CES, there was a common theme among the new TV sets: new chips. More specifically, AI chips, which appear to have coined the term ‘AI TV’. I genuinely don’t know what that means, but when quizzed about the real-world benefits of putting artificial intelligence into a TV, the answer from brands was “well, it just makes the picture and sound better, innit?” (not verbatim).
The robotic stuff was slightly easier to get one’s head around. Beyond the spookily human- and animal-like movements of the Boston Dynamics clones lay some genuinely interesting products that appear ready for prime time.
Everyone is talking about the Rabbit R1, which is a $199 ‘large action model’ device with a 2.88-inch touch screen. The idea is that it interacts with popular apps for you and can interpret requests linked to those apps, which means you can leave your smartphone in your pocket while the R1 does the work. Ten thousand R1s were subsequently sold immediately, exhausting both the first and second batches. And, no, I couldn’t find it at CES.
Samsung got involved too, with the cutesy Ballie, a yellow be-wheeled ball which scoots around your house being adorable and genuinely helpful. Although I challenge anyone’s dog not to destroy it, immediately.
It’s hard not to leave CES feeling a little fatigued by those two letters, though. Everyone is getting involved with AI and throwing it into anything which has the vaguest of use cases (and some of which categorically don’t). As a result, the presence of the letters ‘AI’ at CES rapidly felt like nothing more than a marketing ploy. Which is a shame.
See-through TVs
I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking: why on earth can’t I see through my television? Well, your prayers have been answered, because it was hard to walk past a TV manufacturer’s booth at CES without spotting a translucent TV set.
Samsung and LG were the main proponents of this, with the latter staging a very impressive media day stage launch of the Signature OLED T. This 77-inch monster of a display is, literally, see-through and is capable of displaying stuff while you’re looking through it. If you fancy turning it into a regular old-fashioned TV, you can, thanks to a black ‘blind’ that sits behind the translucent display and which can be raised, thus blocking out the view of your wall behind the set.
I’ve posted a couple of videos about these see-through TVs, and the overwhelming response is as predictable as it is voluminous.
Why?
LG has yet to confirm the release date or pricing details for the Signature OLED T, but you can bet your bottom dollar it’s going to cost an arm and a leg. It has to – this is bleeding-edge consumer tech and designed for a very tight audience. Who that audience is, I’m not entirely sure, but one would have to guess that it’s the type of person who wants an art piece rather than a TV, but who doesn’t want to miss out on last night’s Eastenders.
Translucent displays weren’t the only common theme among the TV big boys. CES 2024 felt like the year of the ultra-massive, bright TV, too, with Hisense launching the 110UX (a monstrous 110-inch TV with a retina scolding 10,000 nits of peak brightness). LG, Samsung, and TCL were also at it, and every single booth I visited was earmarked by the brightest, biggest TVs I’ve ever seen in my life.
The only question I have is how big your living room needs to be to house these things. And if you’re wondering, mine isn’t big enough.
Apple’s attempted upstaging… failed
On Monday, Apple announced that its brand-new Vision Pro headset would be heading customers’ way on 2nd February.
Ooh, you cheeky minx, Tim.
I predicted this. I knew they were going to do something to try and derail the focus on CES this week.
However, to my knowledge, that tactic – if it was indeed Apple’s intention – didn’t succeed. My creator mates and I briefly discussed it on the day Apple dropped the news, but it quickly faded into obscurity once the show got underway.
No one seemed bothered on the show floor, and from the looks of the tech press coverage, the news sunk without a trace relatively quickly. That’ll change come early February, of course, but CES won this particular battle.
Final thought
I’ll be heading back to CES in 2025; I’m pretty confident it’ll become an annual event for Mark Ellis Media. I’ll need another pair of hands when I head out there next year, but CES 2024 has been invaluable in terms of teaching this newbie what’s what and how it should be approached next time.
Over to you. What was your take on CES from an outsider’s perspective? Get involved in the comments below, please!
