What to anticipate at CES 2023

Taking a deep breath as I write these phrases: Next week, TechCrunch will return to our first in-person CES in three years.

Phew. It felt good to lastly get that off my chest.

The final time our group flew to Las Vegas for the occasion was January 2020. An auspicious date. It wouldn’t be lengthy earlier than your complete world went pear-shaped. It was an enormous present, with 117,000 in attendance, per the CTA’s (Consumer Technology Association) figures. The occasion, which its governing physique would quite you not name the Consumer Electronics Show, has turn into a sprawling affair in current many years.

Attempting to see your complete present is a idiot’s errand. Back in my youthful, extra hopeful days, I made a degree of seeing as a lot of it as I might, making a reasonably good run at strolling each official corridor. That’s turn into more and more not possible through the years, because the present has spilled out nicely past the confines of the Las Vegas Convention Center. There’s the Venetian Convention and Expo Center (RIP the Sands), numerous resort suites and varied official and unofficial occasion areas orbiting across the strip.

As with numerous different dwell occasion producers, the final three years have offered a form of existential disaster for the CTA. After a lot foot dragging, the group needed to lastly admit that an in-person CES 2021 was a horrible thought for all events, and the pivot to a digital occasion was understandably rocky. Last 12 months, the present dovetailed with the omicron spike, and TechCrunch — amongst others — made the choice to take a seat that one out. Highly contagious new strains, coupled with vacation journey was a bridge too far.

Last 12 months’s numbers had been down considerably. The CTA pegged the occasion at “well over 40,000” folks (44,000 is the generally accepted determine), marking a 75% drop from 2020. It’s a outstanding drop, however I suppose that, given the whole lot occurring on the time, cracking 40,000 was a victory of kinds. The CTA says it’s on observe for 100,000 this 12 months — seeing as how there isn’t one other outstanding COVID-19 variant, it appears possible that, on the very least, there shall be a large bounce from 2022.

I’m possible not alone in my suspicions that the CTA didn’t need folks getting too snug with 2021’s digital occasion. Well earlier than COVID, there had been a longstanding query across the efficacy of in-person tech occasions. CES and different {hardware} exhibits have had an edge in that debate, with a deal with merchandise that do profit from being seen in particular person. That stated, the final two years have demonstrated that it’s, certainly, attainable to cowl the present moderately nicely out of your front room.

We have, nonetheless, moved past dialog about “the new normal” (actually, when was the final time you heard that phrase uttered in earnestness?). The new regular occurred once we weren’t trying. The new regular is that the virus doesn’t exist as a result of we are saying it doesn’t. Have I gotten it thrice, together with as soon as from attending a commerce present in Vegas? Well, yeah. Do I acknowledge that the act of attending a present that’s billing itself as drawing in 100,000 attendees means there’s an affordable expectation that I may very well be staring down time quantity 4 in mid-January? Absolutely. The CES COVID protocols are here. The TL;DR is that vaccination, testing and masking aren’t required, however you’ll be able to if you’d like. That’s just about the usual in all places at this level.

Attendees go by way of a hallway on the Las Vegas Convention Center on Day 1 of CES 2022, January 5, 2022, in Las Vegas, Nevada. CES is the world’s largest annual shopper know-how commerce present. Image Credits: Alex Wong/Getty Images

Is there nonetheless worth in going? I feel, sure. I imply, I’m going. Other TC employees are additionally going. We’ve pared down our presence from previous years, and I think about that is going to be the case shifting ahead. Given the quantity of CES information that’s launched by way of press launch and the truth that just about each press convention is streamed, the precise method to masking an occasion like that is be smaller and extra strategic.

This isn’t merely a product of this new, endemic virus. It’s a product of a shifting panorama for media on the whole. For all of my private points with the occasion, I do genuinely have nostalgia for these days of pure, uncut running a blog, again when there was nonetheless cash being dumped into format, at first turned paywalled. There’s worth available at exhibits like this, however for TechCrunch, at the very least, it’s about taking the precise conferences and discovering the people who find themselves engaged on cool issues. It’s more durable than it sounds, having come again to 1,600 unread emails after a few weeks off. We made this listing, and I plan to examine it twice extra earlier than I hop on a airplane subsequent week.

Image Credits: DENIS CHARLET/AFP / Getty Images

Even earlier than these explicit units of circumstances, CES has been by way of a couple of crises of confidence. Figures have ebbed and flowed through the years, as is the character of this stuff. The smartest factor the CTA has completed previously a number of years is lean into the automotive aspect. What began as an embrace of high-tech in-car programs has expanded considerably. It’s virtually as if CES turned a automotive present when none of us had been trying.

One of the present’s key performs is timing. Much to the chagrin of each one that has tried to take pleasure in a while off throughout the holidays, it’s positioned as the primary present of the 12 months in an try to set the cadence for the remaining 11.5 months. CES technically begins on January 5, however the press days are two days prior. This 12 months, I’m flying out on the 2nd, simply to verify we’ve received our bases lined. There have been years once I’ve flown in on the first. Let’s simply say I’m glad I ended ingesting a few years again.

By positioning the present proper initially of the 12 months, it’s received a couple of months’ bounce on main auto exhibits like those held in Chicago, Atlanta and New York. The know-how angle means we get have a look at a variety of EVs and autonomous driving programs, in addition to eVTOLs and micromobility. Expect some large information, together with keynotes from BMW and Stellantis. Chip makers like Qualcomm and AMD additionally at all times have lots on the automotive entrance on the present.

Image Credits: Hyundai

Hyundai could have a large presence on the present as nicely, strolling the road between automotive, mobility and robotics. In truth, judging by my overstuffed inbox, it’s going to be an enormous 12 months for robotics, from shopper to the presence of key industrial startups in a broad vary of various classes. Robotics is at all times a difficult one at CES. Big corporations love to point out off flashy robots that by no means go anyplace (imagine it or not, the latest Sony Aibo is a relative success story there), and there are going to be a ton of junky robotics toys. But the present remains to be an awesome place to see some authentic breakthroughs up shut. Stay tuned for subsequent week’s difficulty of Actuator to get a full breakdown.

My inbox can be flooded with web3 and crypto pitches, although I can rely on one hand the variety of instances I’ve written concerning the topic over my 6+ years at TechCrunch. To say the business hit a tough patch in 2022 is like saying Elon is “still figuring it out” as Twitter CEO. The believer nonetheless believes theirs is the fix-all resolution to each drawback plaguing humankind. Expect that to trickle into each facet of the present, together with, considerably satirically, local weather.

I’d like to see sustainability turn into a significant matter at CES. Apparently there’s a bit within the Convention Center’s North Hall. There’s principally been a smattering of local weather corporations on the present, however I’ve definitely by no means been overwhelmed by them. Hopefully that is the 12 months that begins to show round. Ditto for accessibility. I’ve heard inform of some corporations with this focus on the present, however that is one thing else that actually must be on the forefront.

Remote management / sensible residence Image Credits: Erhui1979 / Getty Images

Much has been written about Amazon’s Alexa battle of late. It’s protected to say that the sensible residence market hasn’t labored out like everybody deliberate. I do, nonetheless, anticipate a large press at CES, bolstered by Matter. The customary, supported by Amazon, Apple and Google, amongst others, actually began gaining steam over the previous couple of months. If issues go in line with plan, this CES shall be an vital second, as the assorted classes of related residence devices are on full show.

Image Credits: Meta

AR/VR — sure, I say this yearly. Yes, much more than with sensible houses, this one has but to shake out the way in which many hoped. The current debut of Meta’s Quest Pro and HTC’s Vive tease will anchor the large VR information. AR will possible be much more ubiquitous. Even greater than digital actuality, augmented actuality feels just like the Wild West proper now. There are a ton of {hardware} makers at present vying for a spot in your face. Traditionally, CES hasn’t been very gaming targeted, however Sony does are likely to make it a centerpiece of its personal press convention and we’ll possible be getting some face time with PlayStation VR.

Wearables ought to get some love on the present. Oura’s success has catapulted the ring kind issue. We already wrote up Movano’s pre-show announcement. Bigger names like Google, Samsung and Apple do most of their gadget asserting at their very own occasions lately, however CES is a chance for a few of the smaller companies to seize a little bit of consideration. I’d anticipate an excellent greater deal with well being metric monitoring from names like Withings. Connected residence health stays a key pattern to look at, fueled by that preliminary pandemic push.

Image Credits: Oura

As ever, telephones are principally a nonstarter right here. Mobile World Congress is the place that magic occurs. Otherwise, anticipate a smattering of bulletins from {hardware} companies like Lenovo and Sony, which don’t have a lot of a presence within the North American market. This has, nonetheless, historically been an enormous present for PCs. Dell, Asus and Lenovo all have large presences, whereas AMD and Nvidia might serve up some large information concerning the chips that energy these programs.

We don’t cowl them that a lot, however CES can be large for TVs, in each sense of the phrase. LG, Samsung, Sony and TCL will possible have the most recent, best and largest. QD-OLED and MLA OLED are the magic phrases — or letters, I assume.

The press days are January 3 and 4, and the CES present ground formally opens on January 5. Plan accordingly.