CES is an annual tech event that takes place every year in January. It’s the place where companies big and small, including start-ups, reveal their latest products. This spans every category of tech, from audio and video to mobile, appliances, gadgets, gizmos, and more. The show is also where trends for the year ahead begin to emerge.
After attending CES 2024, it was clear that there are a few growth areas for this year. Here’s a rundown of what to expect in the tech space for 2024.
AI Is Everywhere
Artificial intelligence (AI) is running rampant across every facet of consumer technology. From your TVs to your smart home products, home appliances, even mobile phones, you’ll find AI technology across the board. The latest developments show how AI can be used to not only enhance experiences but make them more personal as well. Hisense, for example, showed a future concept kitchen where you could be watching a TV cooking show and instantly call up the recipe for the dish being made. You could then use AI to intelligently modify it based on what’s in your kitchen or what spin you want to put on it: maybe you want that pasta dish but add a Mexican flavour kick, or the casserole looks delicious but you want to make it vegan. The oven preheats and the step-by-step recipe ports over to your small kitchen display.
After CES at its Galaxy Unpacked event in San Jose, CA, Samsung revealed its S24 Series mobile phones, which centre around AI technology. They feature AI for live translations, intelligent suggestions, and even with photo creation and post-capture editing, like filling in missing background details if you move a subject in a photo or fix a crooked one. A new Google feature called Circle to Search makes it simple to search for information about items in photos, videos, web pages, and more, by simply circling, scribbling on or even tapping it. This could be a handbag a woman is holding in a photo or even a phrase or food item depicted in a YouTube short that you want to learn more about. Get instant results right in the app. In some cases, you can even interact with more complex questions, all thanks to AI. You’ll find plenty of AI, including Circle to Search, in phones like the Google Pixel 8 Pro as well.
This merely scratches the surface of what’s coming in AI. We’ll explore that deeper in another article later this year.
Portable TVs Making a Comeback
More than a decade ago, portable DVD players were a popular trend. Parents mounted them to the seatbacks in cars so kids could pop in a disc and enjoy a cartoon or movie during a long road trip. Once tablets and streaming came to be, portable DVD players went the way of the DoDo.
We saw unique innovations after that in an attempt to reinvigorate the category, like Sony’s LocationFree TV (remember that?) Now, portable TVs are experiencing a resurgence, of sorts, with bigger screens and built-in streaming capabilities.
LG StanbyME Go
One of the most notable, launched just prior to CES, is the LG StanByMeGO, a compact version of the StanByMe rotatable, battery-operated moving display that LG revealed last year. This portable 27-inch TV comes housed in an oversized briefcase that resembles the ones spies carry in movies. Pull it out on its built-in articulating mount and position it horizontally to watch a movie or vertically for a Zoom call or TikTok videos. You can even lie it flat and the image will replicate that of a turntable if you’re using it to play music. It has LG’s webOS software built right in for watching TV, or you can screen mirror from an iOS or Android device or leverage AirPlay 3. It also supports Wi-Fi and Bluetooth pairing. The TV is battery operated (up to three hours per charge) and the case comes with a handle so you can easily carry it around. Great for campsites, backyards, presentations, even for photographers or drone users, there are likely more applications for this than we know of just yet. It isn’t cheap at $1,600, but the LG StanByMeGO is a decently sized TV you can use just about anywhere.
Skyworth also showed its P100 portable display, which comes with Google TV built in. It has a slightly smaller 24-inch screen and can run for up to three hours per charge. There’s no built-in carrying case nor can you swivel it. But this TV does have a handle built right into the back. It’s ideal for use around the house, taking to the backyard, enjoying at tailgates, and more.
Washer/Dryer Combos Save Space
Eureka Washing Machine
When I say washer/dryer combos, I don’t mean side-by-side or stacked units that include both a washer and a separate dryer. I mean single units that can both wash and dry in the same drum. They come in two types: vented and ventless. Ventless models, which are becoming more popular, wash clothes as normal than use a condensation process to dry them. The chamber begins heading while the drum is spinning and the steam circulates back, drains, while hot air recirculates inside to complete drying. With vented models, a spin cycle after the wash gets rid of excess water while fresh air is sucked into the room and heated to dry the clothes. Steam escapes through the vent, keeping the interior dry until the load is ready. This trend will be ideal for apartments and small homes, or homes where you have limited laundry room space or want to be able to build out the laundry space to add more storage, shelving, and more
At CES 2024, there were innovations in this space from LG with its Smart WashCombo, GE with its UltraFast Combo washer/dryer, and Eureka with its combo. What’s most interesting about Eureka’s invention is that it also has a robot vacuum cleaner and mop built into the bottom that connects to the same drain pipe and water line the washing machine/dryer uses. This is an even more clever and space-saving solution, and one we might see others adopt in the future, especially as housing prices increase and city homes and apartments become more cramped.
Transparent TVs Are All the Rage
LG’s Signature OLED T transparent TV
The big news at the show when it comes to the display space was LG’s Signature OLED T transparent TV. A stunning 77-inch display, it delivers 4K picture quality and wireless audio and video transmission with the Zero Connect Box. Images almost look like they’re floating on the screen. Samsung also showed its transparent micro LED display that looks like glass as you watch images scoot across the screen. The tiny microLEDs, says the company, help eliminate seams and light refraction. This one boasts a modular design so you can make it any size you like.
Will we see more transparent TVs come to market in future? That remains to be seen. What is apparent is that the transparent TVs are a trend consumers would happily get behind, with proper execution.. Transparent TVs might become the next big development when they launch, potentially by the second or third quarter of this year.
Qi 2 Charging is Faster and More Efficient
Littered throughout the show each year, typically in Central Hall, North Hall, and the Venetian/Sands Expo areas, are wireless and wired chargers of all kinds, and this year was no different. The big news in this space, however, was Qi2 charging. The next evolution in wireless charging standards from the Wireless Power Consortium, Qi2 was developed with assistance from Apple. The technology (which we’ll get deeper into in another article) results in greater efficiency, faster charging (wireless charging is notoriously slow), and greater compatibility. Brands like Scosche with its BaseLynx 2.0 modular charging system, Satechi, Anker, and others all showed new and upcoming chargers based on the Qi2 standards.
Smart Glasses and Rings
We’re familiar with smartwatches and many other smart wearable devices. This year, however, will be the year of the smart glasses and rings. Apple announced concurrent to CES (the company doesn’t participate in the show) that its Vision Pro spatial computer would be available in the U.S. starting February 2, 2024. Several other brands showcased innovations in smart glasses. Solos showed its line with the addition of new features for SolosTranslate (naturally, using AI). LetinAR, meanwhile, has been working to perfect its technology with the PinTILT lens that affords a better design, field-of-view, and colour expression with glasses that use them.
This year, EssilorLuxottica also had a booth for the first time ever, showing its smart hearing aid eyewear. Nuance Audio is a new pair of glasses that have hearing technology built in. The booth also featured the recently announced Ray-Ban Meta glasses, which also fall under EssilorLuxottica’s umbrella (the company handles Ray-Ban, Oakley, Oliver Peoples, Sunglass Hut, and LensCrafters).
Already, however, smart glasses are dividing attention with another smart wearable trend: smart rings. These might become the bigger story for 2024. It arguably all started with the Oura ring, and now it seems like every company that makes smartwatches is devising its own version of a smart ring to do something, or multiple things. Zepp, which makes Amazfit smartwatches and other devices, launched the Amazfit Helio Ring, which is designed to help athletes with recovery, monitoring, analysis, and guidance. The Movano Evie, meanwhile, is made specifically for women. It’s goal is to help ladies manage their health and even incorporates thoughtful details, like a slight flex in the band to accommodate changes in finger size due to hormones. Late last year, the Circular Ring Slim was announced as a thin, lightweight accessory to track seven biometrics for health, wellness, and sleep.
The game-changer in this space, however, could be the smart ring that Samsung teased at Galaxy Unpacked. Called the Galaxy Ring, it’s purportedly designed to measure sleep (and potentially detect sleep apnea) and other fitness information, deliver medication reminders, track your physical and mental readiness, and more. It’s still early days so we don’t know much about Galaxy Ring just yet. But the fact that Samsung is entering the category suggests that it’s one to watch. The smart ring could become the next evolution of the smartwatch while smart glasses could replace some functions of both wireless earbuds and eventually even the smartphone itself.
From the living room to your home security, home appliances, smart wearables, mobile devices, and on-the-go technologies, 2024 is gearing up to be yet another exciting year in tech. We’ll fill you in on all the latest and greatest tech and tech trends as the year progresses.
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