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Fein-Lines: CES 2024—Reviewing the ‘Show’ Before the Show

With two days of media presentations and technology previews before CES 2024 even opened its show floor on Tuesday, there was still so much to see and hear. The opportunities for media seem endless here, and it’s impossible to take advantage of them all.

The first media day offered three great opportunities, and no matter the market segment, the focus was on getting a leg up on new technology, areas of impressive growth, the new and growing incorporation of AI, and how industry and the public feel about its rapid growth.

Showstoppers Launch It
On my first day, I attended Showstoppers Launch It, an event where new ideas and products are described and often demonstrated as the inventors look to win one of the top slots and gain the interest of investors, potential partners, and venture capitalists This year’s event was held in partnership with the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), a Japanese government-supported agency that assists innovative startups to go global. There are usually about 10 presenters, and while I haven’t heard the winning company announced yet, here (in my humble opinion) are my top picks.

Thermalytica: This company redefines energy efficiency through a technology material called Tiisa. It is a lightweight, heat resistance insulation for buildings and homes. The company also has a thermal-reflecting paint.

Holotch: These are holograms for everyone. Using a simple system, including smartphones, the program captures images and creates a hologram that can be used for virtual gatherings. The company is looking for investors.

Technology Trends
The second media event focused on Technology Trends, and this was dominated by AI. While ChatGPT has been a key focus, things are moving beyond generative AI. Major changes and advancements in AI over the next year are expected. Today’s cutting-edge will become commonplace. Some key examples are humanistic digital twin built in conjunction with NVIDIA.

Customer sentiment on AI is changing rapidly, with the overall feelings becoming more positive, but some of the biggest concerns include privacy disinformation, safety, and job loss. Despite these concerns, AI is the top tech trend under discussion.

Automotive technology is another hot topic, but again, discussion surrounded the use of AI in this technology. We can expect some major automotive announcements over the next few days, like expanding electrification on land, sea, and air. You’ll see expansion from e-bikes to electric vehicles with improvements in peace of mind, safety, environment, longevity, and cost. These will all be addressed and shown at CES. One example is a much larger and more expansive network of chargers that have better enhancements and faster charging. Charging your car’s battery may be as fast as filling up your gas tank. Wireless charging may even be possible.

But AI and automotive technology weren’t the only topics up for discussion. Some huge announcements were expected regarding video. On Monday, we were shown a 150-inch TV with super resolution. TVs are becoming the smart home command center. Expect to see on-board cameras, an e-commerce platform, and more interactive and non-linear content. I also noted some major advances in content video streaming, novel bundling, live sports, and multilingual libraries. In speaking with others, we noted one area of concern was the amount of discussion and statements being announced on TikTok.

Other topics I heard about included gaming, IP expansion, AI gaming, and many retro remakes. Gaming is a significant and large expenditure. In the industry, it is reported that the effort and money now equate to 32% on software and the rest on hardware.

The Events Kept Coming
At CES Unveiled we previewed hundreds of new devices that will be introduced on the show floor. In addition, we attended the major Samsung press announcement event, where hundreds of press heard that, once again, AI was a key focus. Here are some highlights:

Samsung sells 500 million devices yearly, with a significant focus on AI. The company says AI is becoming part of our lives and wants to focus on high productivity with a personal touch. We heard quite a bit about this from the CEO’s opening remarks.

Samsung Knox Matrix has evolved to a connected device area for all your devices. Know that the company is expanding its Knox Vault for better security and is committed to keeping our devices safe.

The company also says it remains committed to low-carbon manufacturing, focusing on how devices are used, reused, and recycled. Up to 14% of the plastics they use come from recycled sources.

Other updates include Samsung Smart Things working with Tesla, micro-LED screen, transparent LEDs on the NEO QLED 8K, and even smarter TVs with better visuals, sound, and voice. Oh, and the 150-inch 8K TV will provide a full-scale movie in your home. Galaxy phones will now be able to use Microsoft Pilot. Harman Audio offers personalized alerts and reminders while driving, it can determine between children and adults, has a heads-up display right on the windshield, and can deliver personalized recommendations and directions with ready vision. Harman-ready hardware can be upgraded every 18 to 24 months to keep you from having to get a new vehicle in order to stay up with new technology.

So, stay tuned as I lace up my walking shoes and prepare to walk the massive floor at CES 2024. I’ll be covering more media events and then exploring the exhibits that hold the most interest for me.

Dan Feinberg is a technical editor at I-Connect007 and founder of Fein-Lines Associates.