CES used to focus almost exclusively on consumer electronics. As the tech world expands, though, and artificial intelligence becomes an increasingly important buzz word to tech companies, the show has morphed into a larger tech event.
Technically, consumer electronics are still the focus, since chips, robots, and vehicular advances ultimately will be used by consumers, but increasingly mainstream consumers would be baffled by the alphabet soup of chip and feature names that tech companies will be pushing at the Las Vegas Convention Center (and up and down the Las Vegas strip) in early January.
That's not to say there won't be plenty of items going on people's wishlists. Samsung, Sony $SONY, LG, and more will be on hand, showing off the new batch of high-end televisions, with ultrasharp OLED screens and ridiculously large sizes. (Samsung's expected to showcase a 98-inch version of its The Frame set, which mimics a framed piece of art when the owner isn't watching television.)
Expect, also, improvements to household appliances, such as LG's robotic vacuum, which has a docking station designed to be installed under a kitchen sink, so it can be hidden away when not in use (and automatically use the house's water supply and drainage for its floor cleaning and steam mopping functions.
Robotics will continue to pop up in new places (and, indeed, will be one of the central themes of this year's show), with more enhancements to lawn mowing and pool cleaning robots. And at least one robot vacuum will come with legs to help it step over small ledges. And Roborock, which unveiled a robot with an arm to pick up things like pet toys and discarded socks last year, is likely to show off its Qrevo Curv 2, which has a retractable mop, letting it clean hardwood floors, but not soak carpets.
In the aforementioned alphabet soup category, expect chipmakers such as AMD $AMD, Qualcomm $QCOM, and Intel $INTC to showcase new offerings, virtually all of which will be tailored to work better with AI — whether in laptops, phones, or other forms of technology.
Of course, artificial intelligence will be inescapable during the first week of January. In terms of industry-wide news, that's most likely to come from the keynote address from AMD CEO Lisa Su, who is expected to "share her vision for delivering future AI solutions — from cloud to enterprise, edge and devices." Lenovo CEO Yuanqing Yang will take over Vegas's Sphere to discuss how AI is reshaping how people live, play, and work. Expect Caterpillar $CAT CEO Joe Creed to bring it up in his keynote as well.
Along the way, there will be the usual assortment of head-turning products, such as Hypershell's exoskeleton, which helps hikers and bike riders do more with less exertion; wearables for pets, which will do everything from monitor their health to ensure you can find them when they pull a Houdini and escape from your backyard; and next-generation, over-the-counter hearing aids, including a pair from Elehear which will utilize AI to help people hear more of the world around them.
Lego will also be at the show for the first time in eight years, showing off a new product.
As always, CES will be a mish-mash of the good, the bad, and the ludicrous. There will be products that will capture a lot of attention, yet never move beyond the prototype phase. There will be products that look to capitalize on the tech buzzwords of the day. But there will also be some diamonds in the rough, which could completely upend people's day to day lives in the years to come. And that's what brings people back to Las Vegas every January.