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Wednesday, January 4, 2023
CES 2023 officially starts tomorrow. Here’s what we hope to see.
The new year has officially begun, and that means crowded gyms, diets that — in my case at least — will last about a week, and the most important tech show of the year: CES. The show, which officially kicks off in Las Vegas on Thursday, sets the stage for the various gadgets and gizmos that will end up in the hands of consumers in 2023.
In years past, companies have shown everything from concept cars to virtual reality (VR) headsets to powerful new processors — and 2023 promises even more advancements. This year also marks a sort of return to normal for the big show, as visitors from around the world descend on the bright lights of the Las Vegas Strip again after two years of COVID lockdowns.
So what types of gear can you expect to see at CES 2023? Continue reading.
electric vehicles and automotive technology
It’s been said before, but it’s worth repeating: CES may be the biggest tech show of the year, but it’s also an auto show. In the West Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center, 300 auto exhibitors will present their latest and greatest vehicles and technologies. Two of the biggest names will be BMW and Stellantis (STLA).
BMW CEO Oliver Zipse will give a keynote before the show. And the company itself is expected to unveil its latest concept car, as well as its mysterious “Dee character,” which the automaker could dub as its latest proprietary in-car artificial intelligence platform.
LAS VEGAS, Nevada – CES 2023 at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada on January 4, 2023 Credit: DeeCee Carter/MediaPunch /IPX
Carlos Tevaras, CEO of Stellantis, meanwhile, will give us an inside look at the company’s Ram 1500 Revolution battery-electric vehicle concept and Peugeot Inception concept.
And then there’s Sony (SONY) and Honda (HMC), who are expected to give us an update on their joint EV efforts. The Japanese giants merged to form Sony Honda Mobility, Inc. earlier this year and CES could prove to be the perfect place to showcase their vehicle to the masses.
The story goes on
But that’s not all. CES usually offers a look at any number of transportation technologies, whether it’s flying taxis or electric watercraft, and we’ll likely see more of both at this year’s show.
And if you’re looking for wild subwoofers and in-car audio accessories, CES is the place to be. Just make sure you bring some earplugs to keep your ears from ringing for the rest of the show.
AR/VR and the Metaverse
Facebook has rebranded itself to Meta (META) to reflect its focus on the industry in 2021, and Apple (APPL) is expected to launch its first headset later this year. So it makes sense that technology would be the focus at CES 2023.
According to my inbox, companies from all over the world travel to Las Vegas to give us a glimpse of how they think the metaverse should evolve. (I can’t seem to go an hour without a ton of new Metaverse or AR/VR pitches.)
Right now, Metas Quest 2 and the high-end Quest Pro are getting all the attention in the AR/VR industry. But HTC, which currently has three families of headsets on the market, will be showing off a new rig that will likely compete squarely with the Meta Quest 2.
The AR/VR industry is still in its infancy, particularly in terms of consumer adoption, so it will be interesting to see how the HTC headset gets reception at the show.
Smart home technology is getting smarter
Each CES brings us a host of new types of smart home devices, from smart showers, lights, and door locks to toilets with Amazon’s Alexa built-in. (Yes, you can talk to your toilet.) And while we’re sure to see a wide range of smart home devices this year, the big change is that they should finally start working together.
The Withings U-Scan is a new breed of smart home device that aims to track your health through your urine. (Photo by Robyn BECK/AFP) (Photo by ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images)
That’s because manufacturers will start releasing products compatible with a new smart home standard called Matter. To date, the smart home market is a bit of a wild west. When you buy a smart home device, you need to make sure it works well with your existing devices. If it doesn’t, you may need to control various smart home products through a litany of different apps and voice assistants. It’s all pretty annoying.
Matter aims to change that, however, by offering a single standard that all smart home device manufacturers adhere to. So far, Google (GOOG, GOOGL), Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN) and Samsung are on board, meaning that if a Gadget Matter compatible, you can use it through those companies’ apps. Expect a variety of smart home product makers to unveil Matter-specific devices at CES 2023.
New PCs with new chips
The PC and chip markets suffered a setback in 2022 as fewer consumers had to buy new computers after buying units earlier in the pandemic. But that doesn’t mean chip and PC makers are canceling CES 2023.
Intel’s new N-series chips are designed for the education market. (Image: Intel)
Intel (INTC) and Nvidia (NVDA) showed off their chips in Vegas that bring more power and performance to both consumer and business products, and AMD (AMD) will do the same. Of course, that also means we’ll see plenty of new laptops and desktops from manufacturers ranging from ASUS and Acer to HP, Dell and Lenovo.
Gaming systems are always a hot option at CES, as manufacturers can rely on gamers to update their systems before the average consumer. In other words, expect a healthy dose of backlit keyboards and sleek designs at this year’s show.
TV as far as the eye can see
This year I will be covering CES for the 11th time. I went in person nine times in 2021 and 2022 and watched from afar. Admittedly, I’m tired of spending hours walking around the exhibition space and darting back and forth between the convention center and the hotel. But the one thing I still love about the show is seeing all the new TVs.
Over the years I have seen many new television technologies come and go. 3D TV for example was a letdown; others have proven incredibly useful, such as B. High dynamic range. At this year’s CES, you can expect to hear more about 8K TVs, which are still completely unnecessary unless you buy an absolutely massive panel, think 70+ inches. or are a player who needs faster display refresh rates. Or do you have a pile of cash to burn.
I’m hoping to get a better look at newer display technologies like microLED, which are set to power the future of TVs once their price drops to something more palatable than $80,000. Then there are the snazzy new designs like LG’s rollable TV. And it wouldn’t be CES without a company like Vizio or Hisense showing off a new high-end TV at a discounted price.
If only there was an easy way to smuggle one of these bad guys out without getting caught.
By Daniel Howley, technical writer at Yahoo Finance. follow him @DanielHowley
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