CES 2024: my pick of the top trends – part 2, hardware

Hello again for another remote view of events at last week’s CES conference in Las Vegas. Having covered the main trends I spotted in terms of software in my last post, this time it’s all about the hardware – and there’s plenty to explore.

As you would probably expect, electric cars were in abundance this year. There were also electric scooters, electric bikes, and an electric outboard motor that can be used for snorkelling, kayaking and so on. I even read about these motorized skis and now can’t stop thinking about them. (I will not click pre-order. I will not click pre-order.)

Screens were also big news. These are either clipping on, rolling out, folding and unfolding, tucking in behind your laptop keyboard (as seen on the Asus ZenBook Duo 14), or becoming super-portable (like this monitor from Xebec). The Spacetop laptop even boasts a 100-inch AR screen, although you do need some smart glasses to view it. Overall, the message seems to be that the ideal number of screens is n+1, where n = how many screens you already have…

At the other end of the spectrum, the Rabbit r1 is a little handheld AI device that has been designed to save us from the endless drudgery of scrolling and completing online tasks every day. This cute “pocket companion” will learn how you typically interact with apps and the web and do the work for you when you ask it, a bit like using a walkie-talkie (or a virtual assistant – I’m sure we’ve been here before ??). For the security-conscious among us, yes it does ask permission to use your personal information, like login details. The first batch has already sold out, if that’s any indication of what people want from their devices these days.

Alternative methods to external charging have also been cropping up all over the place. I like the idea of this mechanical mouse and keyboard from Lenovo, so-called because the design is based around mechanical movement (in other words by typing, spinning a dial on the keyboard or turning a small hand crank on the mouse) along with solar power. The wind-up keyboard and mouse combo is only at the concept stage, but could be a genuinely sustainable solution if it comes to market. More retro than sustainable, perhaps, but this keyboard attachment for smartphones made me feel a bit nostalgic.

Other impressive accessories include the GyroGlove, designed to stabilize involuntary hand movements and tremors, for example those experienced by people with Parkinson’s disease, enabling them to eat, drink, draw, paint… things that most of us are lucky enough to take for granted. Similarly, the Palmglove could help people who have had a stroke. It can be paired with TheraPlay, a health tech game that supports patients to regain mobility and allows doctors to monitor their recovery.

As usual, Apple did not have any presence at the show, but was included in a lot of the coverage anyway, thanks to the news that its VisionPro extended reality headset will be on sale from 2 February in the US. More surprising was Sony’s announcement of its own high-end XR offering, which doesn’t have a name or a price yet, but will be aimed at “spatial content creation” and could give the VisionPro a run for its money.

Other fundamentals getting a refresh include new chips and graphics cards from NVIDIA, AMD and Intel, some Wi-Fi 7 routers and mesh systems courtesy of TPLink, Acer, MSi and Asus, and a charging solution called Swapery that could power up your phone in just seven seconds.

As for the weird stuff, unfortunately this time I can’t really comment on any of the robots that were on display, but we now appear to be going from robot pets to robot pet companions… I find it staggering that the woman in the photo is just lounging on a sofa watching her dog have a tennis ball fired at it by the robot. Just me?

Or what about an AI cat flap? On the surface, the Flappie sounds pretty conventional – however, it also comes with technology that automatically locks the door if your cat tries to bring a “present” (like a dead mouse) into your home. For dog owners, there is the Pawport, a motorized door that slides onto your existing door frame, meaning you don’t have to be opening the door to the garden 20 or more times a day – especially useful if there are cats in the neighborhood. It is also one of the rare innovations that does not have any AI (yet).

To be honest, there’s a lot more I could share if I didn’t have to get back to some kind of post-flu, post-conference normality. For example, I was going to highlight a few of this year’s Innovation Award honorees, but by the time I scrolled through the extremely long list I could probably have written another couple of articles ??. So I’ll let you decide on your own favorites.

And that, as they say, is a wrap. I’m now going to get ready for my next video call (not via hologram). But what a start to the year. Roll on CES 2025!

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Photo credit: Consumer Technology Association