CES roundup - welcome to 2023!
The year as usual started with the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), which is one of the biggest and buzziest tech events of the year, offering a first look at next-generation TVs, laptops, smart home gadgets, cars, and more. The show typically sets the stage for trends, announcements, and ascendant product categories we’ll see throughout the rest of 2023 giving us an early look at the latest developments in TVs and laptops, useful and sometimes invasive smart home gadgets, and plenty of phones, monitors, cars, and smart toilets in between! Regular players like Samsung and Sony showed up with impressive TVs and concept cars, while newer entrants like Neutrogena and John Deere impressed with their innovation pitches. If there's one thing everyone at CES agreed upon, it was that sustainability is a priority for every business and product. Every company talked about how its products would be more sustainable, from Samsung's partnership with Patagonia to reduce microplastics in the water supply to Asus' boast that it has used 1,500 tons of recycled plastic in its products since 2017.
TV manufacturers have seemingly learned their lesson and have now shifted their focus to practical real value rather than some obscure hi-tech. LG made the biggest splash at CES with its 97-inch OLED TV capable of a high 4K resolution picture and an ultrasmooth 120Hz presentation of games and movies. That's a huge TV using LG's awesome OLED implementation, but the real selling point for ordinary consumers was the fact that the TV is entirely wireless (well, except for the power cord). That's right, no more fiddling with HDMI cables behind the home theater setup with zip ties and the like, trying to make the setup look tidy. While not a TV, Samsung's 8K projector called The Premiere can basically turn any wall into a screen as large as 150 inches. The short throw projector is designed to sit just a few inches from the wall, so even those in small apartments can have access to a high-quality projector without needing much room.
CES 2023 saw traditional consumer electronics players make a bid to define how we will spend our time in a car going forward. Samsung and LG pitched their smart car platforms. Samsung's system will be called ICX, powered by a platform called Ready Care from its Harman International business. It uses sensors to measure driver drowsiness and will employ driver-facing infrared cameras to monitor their status. Naturally, the system is expected to work with Samsung's family of products like its Galaxy Watch. LG's Cockpit Computer likewise focuses on optimizing the driving experience, and how the platform will let us check on the stove at home or call roadside assistance. Sony showed off Afeela EV, built in partnership with Honda, that boasts 45 cameras and sensors both on the exterior and interior of the vehicle, again with the theme of detecting and understanding people. BMW showed off the i Vision Dee (or "Digital emotional experience"). The car will talk to its driver, change color using E Ink and features an AR display that wraps around the windshield like the ones we see in sci-fi movies!
After years of buildup and a handful of delays during the pandemic, Matter, an open-source, universal smart home protocol backed by Amazon, Apple, Google, Samsung and countless others is finally live. The pitch is simple: a single, Wi-Fi-based standard that bundles together compatibility with Alexa, Google Assistant, Siri and SmartThings, among others. Sure enough, we saw plenty of gadgets at CES rushing for the bandwagon, including new, Matter-compatible smart lights and smart plugs, connected roller blinds, and a new SmartThings hub. Later in the year, when Matter's next release arrives, additional device types like robot vacuums and smart home cameras should come on board too. Some companies, like Eve, are going to be able to bring older smart devices on board with Matter with a simple software update, if they haven't already. In other cases, like with GE Lighting or Govee, smart-home users will need to buy brand new, Matter-compliant devices to reap its multilingual benefits. That could irk consumers who like the devices they've already bought, so Matter will need to deliver on its promise of smart home harmony soon.
As always, using AI to monitor health was omnipresent. For example, Nuralogix announced plans at the show to use its AI to measure blood pressure, heart rate and more by analyzing the face from a selfie! We can expect more and more home health monitoring products to hit the market this year. From the traditional wrist-worn trackers and smart rings to sensor-filled toilet seats and bathmats, there's no shortage of ways to keep tabs on our health. It seems the next frontier for tracking and managing health is in our bathroom. Specifically, the toilet. Withings and Vivoo came to the show with sensors that attach to the toilet bowl to analyze urine. These sensors can keep tabs on nutrient levels, hormones and more. Meanwhile, The Heart Seat from Casana aims to keep tabs on heart rate, blood oxygen and blood pressure while we do our business. All we have to do is sit on the smart toilet seat and all our health vitals will be known soon. Welcome to 2023 ??