Why You Can Trust CNET What We Didn't Get at CES 2024
CES 2024 is in the books and certainly had its share of innovative and eye-catching new products and concepts. But here's a look at a few items we were hoping to see that didn't materialize.
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As CES 2024 comes to a close, we've rounded up the biggest trends of the show, the most futuristic tech, the weirdest gizmos and gadgets, and the stuff you'll actually be able to buy in 2024. And we even put together CNET's Best of CES 2024, a list of the most innovative and potentially impactful products that were announced at this year's show. However, this list is all about what we felt was missing from CES 2024 -- or products we were hoping might turn up in Las Vegas but didn't.
None of the CNET category experts I polled to create this list were too upset about what they didn't get at CES 2024 -- after all, there weren't really any highly anticipated products that failed to make an appearance. But a few folks expressed mild disappointment. Here's a look at what we missed.
Read more: The Race to Move Beyond Phone Apps Was in Full Swing at CES 2024
Sonos headphones
There's been a lot of chatter about Sonos launching its first headphones. In the company's fiscal fourth-quarter earnings release, Sonos CEO Patrick Spence, without directly mentioning a headphones product, hinted that Sonos would be entering "a new multibillion-dollar category in the second half of the year that will complement our current offering, delight customers and drive immediate revenue." And Bloomberg's Mark Gurman recently stated that Sonos was readying "$400-plus headphones to rival Apple and Bose" that could be released as soon as April.
Would CES have been a good place to trot those new headphones out? Maybe, but Sonos has obviously chosen to hold off. As soon as we hear more about any new Sonos products, we'll let you know, of course.
Anything real from Sony
At CES, Sony unveiled a prototype of Afeela, a new AI-powered electrical vehicle that it drove onto the stage with a PS5 controller. And it also showed off an early version of a new industrial mixed-reality headset (see above) that had pundits comparing it to Apple's soon-to-be-released Vision Pro headset. But it didn't announce any new audio or video products, including new TVs.
Once upon a time, Sony used to announce lots of new home theater equipment at CES, along with portable audio products. That's a thing of the past as it's now more focused at CES on its entertainment franchises, including PlayStation, and concept products designed to make a splash.
Bigger and smaller Samsung QD OLED sizes
There was some interesting new TV tech at CES, including the OLED T, LG's transparent OLED TV, which comes really close to disappearing when its mechanized black film rolls up, leaving nothing but a see-through display revealing the wall behind it. CNET's veteran TV reviewer David Katzmaier was quite impressed by the OLED T at CES, saying it was one of the coolest TVs he's ever seen. But he was also a tad disappointed that, while Samsung had added glare-free technology to its latest QD OLED TVs, it isn't offering its OLEDs in a wider range of sizes, both larger and smaller.
LG OLED TVs come in more sizes: 42 and 48 inches at the smaller end and 83 and 97 inches at the larger. Samsung only has 55-, 65- and 75-inch sizes.
Next-gen Apple CarPlay
Just a couple of weeks before CES, Car and Driver reported on how Aston Martin and Porsche had previewed new "bespoke" interfaces of the next-gen version of Apple's CarPlay, which was first teased at Apple's WWDC in 2022, so there was some expectation that we'd see more of the new CarPlay at CES 2024 (CES is now a big car tech show).
That didn't happen, and much of the new car tech we saw at CES this year revolved around concept vehicles like the aforementioned Sony Honda Mobility Afeela and bringing AI to the dashboard. For instance, Volkswagen announced a partnership with Cerence to bring ChatGPT to its "Hello Ida" voice assistant system as a free, cloud-based update for drivers of its ID 4 and ID 7 electric cars later this year.
Alas, CarPlay was not mentioned in our round-up of the best car tech at CES 2024.
A shortage of robot pets
As usual, we saw lots of robots and robotic devices at CES 2024, including an upgraded version of Samsung's Ballie, a combo of companion entertainer and security guard, that made a return visit to the show after first appearing in 2020. We even found an Oro Dog Companion robot designed to help your pet (see image above). But this year's crop of CES robots were short on adorability, with a decided lack of robotic pets. With such advancements in AI, we were ready for the next Aibo, but instead got more kitchen and cleaning bots, as well as Yarbo, a modular robot that will shovel snow and blow leaves so you don't have to.
