CES 2024 is finally upon us, taking over Las Vegas with throngs of crowds, booths full of products and a lot of companies making claims about how AI is improving their offerings. As noted in our CES preview, though the conference has had its ups and downs of late, it’s increasingly become an opportunity for startups to capture attention while all eyes are drawn to the bigger budget announcements from the likes of Samsung, Sony and Nvidia.
TechCrunch is on the ground at CES 2024 throughout the event next week, with a particular focus on those startups that might be headlining a big livestream of their own in a couple years. You can follow along with our team’s CES coverage across the site and social handles here, but let’s cut to the chase, since we all know those big-name events still matter.
Consumer tech and transportation aficionados have had plenty to watch on Monday starting at 7 a.m. PT / 11 a.m. ET, with many of the highest-profile press conferences being livestreamed to the public, as has become the norm. These events will set the stage for the public CES show floor opening January 9 and running through January 12.
As you’ll see in the rundown below, AI will be the big through-line running across almost all of the big events, as CES 2024 marks the first iteration of the event fully in the new AI-centric era.
We’ll keep this list updated, along with the biggest reveals, but for now, these are the big-ticket companies looking to make a big splash before the convention doors open and CES 2024 begins for in-person attendees Tuesday.
CES is all about AI this year, and AMD is no exception. The company unveiled second-generation AI PCs built around the Ryzen 8000G series neural processing units and a new Radeon RX 7600 XT graphics card and spoke to the previously announced automotive grade processors.
CES is wasting no time in getting to one of the main events. Nvidia is coming into the event riding high on its recent AI-fueled growth. So it’s no surprise the company promises a focus on AI and content creation during their kickoff address at CES.
At the same time, LG will be showcasing its own updates, though they have already shown part of their hand by releasing the details on their new OLED TV lineup, featuring AI processors it claims will significantly improve visual and audio fidelity over prior models. LG will also feature updates on home, mobility and, you guessed it, AI in its CES event.
The appliance and electronics manufacturer is making its automotive debut at CES with an in-vehicle projection system. The company also showcased a new smart built-in dishwasher with “autodose” and “autodry” features.
Panasonic is leading with their energy and climate policies, in a break from the other companies keeping a big focus on AI reveals.
The electronics company unveiled their TCL QD-Mini LED TVs, full-color RayNeo AR glasses and a paper-like display optimized for human eyes.
The audio company Sennheiser will have their own CES showcase, with a pretty clear focus, promising new headphone announcements from their live stream, which at the time this piece was updated had been taken private.
Hyundai’s most attention-grabbing reveal looks to be an update on its Supernal eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicle), which was first showcased back at CES 2020. In addition to its CES kickoff, Hyundai is hosting separate events Tuesday focused solely on the eVTOL concept and its vision for mobility hubs for these flying vehicles to actually take off and land from. Beyond its aerial ambitions, Hyundai will be talking about sustainability, software and, of course, AI in a stream you can watch below.
If you’re looking for phone news from Samsung, you’ll have to wait until January 17, when their next Unpacked event will kick off. As has been the case for several years, Samsung focused on the rest of their product lines at CES 2024.
And those products are about to get the AI push, if their press conference title “AI for All: Connectivity in the Age of AI” wasn’t enough of a clue. Samsung has already revealed some AI applications in the kitchen and in its updated robot vacuum lineup. But it expanded that lineup to include a fresh look at its Ballie home assistant robot, which was initially revealed at CES 2020, as well as a series of updates to its smart home suite to include household maps.
Samsung also put out some additional teases over the weekend for “new generation of products that can be folded inward and outward,” which could include rollable and foldable displays building off of their existing lines of foldable phones, as well as showing off a transparent MicroLED screen at an event at CES.
Witnessing the Ghostbusters logo wearing a VR headset is just the kind of corporate synergy CES is made for. Sony has highlighted the use of its technology within its film and gaming efforts at past CES events, and by focusing on “Powering Creativity with Technology,” that looked to be the same at CES 2024. And as expected, Sony did place an emphasis on its partnerships and products with creators in mind. Aside from that focus, and a victory lap on successes from its film, TV, gaming and streaming divisions, Sony highlighted its joint mobility venture with Honda, which peaked with their Afeela car rolling onstage while being piloted by a PlayStation 5 controller. Microsoft’s Vice President of Data, AI, Digital Applications Jessica Hawk even joined in to roll through the company’s contributions to Honda’s and Sony’s use of AI.
And yes, there was a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it mention of the live-action Legend of Zelda Sony has in the works.
Asus takes the prize for most hyperbolic CES teaser, as it sets out to put viewers “in search of incredible transcendence.” That’s one way of framing the formal reveal of what Asus already showed to be a new dual-screen laptop design.
Honda’s been pretty clear about what to expect from its CES event this year: the reveal of a new EV series, complete with a purple-tinted tease of its form factor. Will that coincide with more details on Honda’s partnership with Sony for the Afeela brand revealed at CES 2023? Time will tell.
For more CES news as it rolls in, click the banner below to see our entire coverage, or check out some of these highlights from the event:
Source @TechCrunch
