Speaker 1: From AI in everything to massive folding TVs. These are the biggest tech trends of CES 2024. The CES tech show in glittering Las Vegas tends to have a bit of predictability about it. Big TVs tick weird robots that never go on sale, tick a wildly over-designed toothbrush. Absolutely a tick. But every CES also brings its own standout trends that dominates the show [00:00:30] floor and of course the chatter at the late night casino tables. So this year's trends were pretty easy to foresee. We knew that AI was going to be pretty much everywhere. Others like transparent screen technology came a little bit more out of left field. So here then are our top trends from this year's show. Based on everything CNET editors have seen, touched and fiddled with AI in everything, you've got about as much chance of winning big on the roulette wheel as you have about finding a company that is not [00:01:00] boasting about its AI prowess.
Speaker 1: Now, this year is absolutely not the first year that companies have been talking about ai, but it's certainly one of the first years where it has truly dominated the show flaw. There's all kinds of things making use of AI from bird feeders that recognize birds through to pillows that automatically adjust to help snoring. And as CNET editor at large and AI guru Connie Googly Elmo states, there's no question that AI specifically generative AI, is going [00:01:30] to be a big driver of new products and services. We've seen Microsoft changing its Windows keyboard for the first time in 30 years to add a specific AI function key. While Volkswagen has actually added chat GPT directly into its vehicles. So you can talk to them just like in nightrider. The screen reinvented screen technology is always a big deal at CES, and this year is no exception with some huge advancements seen both in the form of huge folding TVs [00:02:00] and smaller bendable screens.
Speaker 1: As cnet resident TV expert David Kame puts it, TVs are even bigger and brighter this year. Hisense and TCL both made their mini LED lineups twice as bright as last year, and both introduced huge expensive models with eye watering specifications at 110 and 115 inches. Neither model has been given an official price tag yet, but we can expect them to cost many thousands of dollars. But new screen [00:02:30] tech never comes cheap, and nowhere is that more obvious than in cc's wild folding N one. This Luxury TV splits. Its 137 inch display into five panels that automatically fold away into a neat box. How much does that luxury cost to you? $200,000 because maybe not everyone is suffering with a cost of living crisis. But a new TV trend this year is transparent
Speaker 2: Screens. [00:03:00] LG has actually had see-through screens for several years now for businesses, but now we're actually going to see one going on sale for consumers. The idea is that when your TV isn't in use, it sort of blends more into your room rather than just looking like a ugly black rectangle stuck to your wall when it's not in use. It kind of just looks like a regular transparent window with animated fish or stars or other objects passing in front of it. Then when it wants to be a tv, a black film comes up behind [00:03:30] it and you could watch it as normal as Katz Meyer puts it. It's one of the coolest TVs I have ever seen. But Samsung also showed off some new screen tech for its phones, which it calls Flex in and out. Flip seriously, baffling name aside, this tech caught the eye of cnet Sini editor Lisa Ed Chico, who said the concept is a z flip style phone that can bend both ways.
Speaker 2: With a device like this, you'd be able to use the screen where the device is opened [00:04:00] or closed, potentially making your phone much easier to use. In one hand, the flex in and out, the flex in and out flip shows that companies like Samsung, along with Motorola, which showed off an amazing rollable concept last year, aren't ready to settle on one foldable design just yet. Next gen gaming technology. Gaming tech remained a firm staple on the show floor at CES this year. We've also seen new graphics cards from Nvidia [00:04:30] vibrating gaming seats from Razor and new gaming phones from a Zeus. We've also been treated to the first handheld PC gaming console using Intel processes. Valve Steam Deck gave us our first experience of playing PC games in a handheld format when it launched back in 2022, and both Aze and Lenovo were pretty quick to bring out their own versions.
Speaker 2: But while Valve Aze and Lenovo's models all run a MD chips, MSI New [00:05:00] Claw runs brand new Intel chips, Sena editor Scott Stein records that these core ultra five or seven processes could make the MSI claw the most powerful PC handheld around Windows-based PC handhelds have been generally well received so far, allowing dedicated gamers to enjoy their polygon punching from the comfort of their couch. Andi's Intel-based model should bring a bit more healthy competition to the burgeoning category, as Scott explains what the claw [00:05:30] symbolizes may be even more important than what it does energy tech evolution. In previous years, the lack of home energy tech or other serious solutions to help tackle the environmental crisis has left us a little puzzled, but there's no time like the present to right the rungs of previous years. And this year. Green technology has been a big theme of the show due to increases in energy prices and added pressure on the grid.
Speaker 3: Smart homeowners know that it's more important than ever [00:06:00] to take their own power management into their own hands. And this year's CES has shown us how tech companies are responding products like the portable whole home backup battery from EcoFlow and use solar technology in the form of stained glass that can generate electricity, show innovation in home energy. Meanwhile, we've seen moisture farming tech that can literally draw moisture out of thin air and smart energy services that let you easily switch between on-grid and off-grid energy. Do the products at CES [00:06:30] 24 make a big enough statement about the tech industry's commitment to sustainability? No, but it is a step in the right direction. These are the biggest trends that we have identified so far from the show floor, so make sure to keep it CNET for all the news.
