Emerging Technology Trends Showcased at CES 2024: AI, New Screen Technologies, and Smart Energy

AI, screens, gaming, and energy technology are the major highlights of CES.

On January 9th, local time, CES 2024, the world's largest consumer electronics event, officially opened in Las Vegas, USA.

Various new consumer technology products from around the world are showcased at CES, becoming the hotspots of focus for the electronic technology industry as they indicate the upcoming industry trends.

At present, the exhibition is more than halfway through, and giants such as NVIDIA, Samsung, Alphabet-C, as well as technology startups, have brought exciting performances.

According to media reports, Wall Street News has selected the following highlights:

AI: Everywhere

There is no doubt that AI will dominate CES.

Although this trend has not fully developed in the previous CES, after a year of rapid development, AI has become a heavyweight guest at the "Electronic Spring Festival".

Connie Guglielmo, an AI expert from CNET, said, "There is no doubt that artificial intelligence, especially generative artificial intelligence, will be an important driving force for new products and services."

• AI Replicating Human Voices: "Legislation"?

SAG-AFTRA, the world's largest union representing performers, announced at CES 2024 that it has signed an agreement with AI voice technology company Replica Studios. This agreement will allow union members to authorize digital replicas of their voices for video games.

This means that entertainment organizations led by SAG-AFTRA are pushing the industry of AI voice replication into the public eye, and perhaps finding new solutions for the film and television industry under the impact of artificial intelligence.

• Microsoft: Notebook Keyboard Instantly Activates Microsoft Copilot

Microsoft has come up with a new move - the new XPS laptop series from Dell will have the built-in Microsoft Copilot key.

This means that on the new XPS series computers, you only need to press lightly to activate Copilot and help you efficiently perform tasks.

Copilot is Microsoft's generative AI assistant that can help you summarize documents, search the web, or create generated images.

• Volkswagen: ChatGPT Integrated into Electric Vehicles

Volkswagen's electric vehicles ID 4 and ID 3 will be among the first vehicles to natively support ChatGPT. In addition, Volkswagen announced at CES that the fuel-powered vehicles Tiguan, Passat, and Golf will also have access to ChatGPT functionality.

Currently, Volkswagen's Ida assistant can accept voice commands through the "Hey, Ida" voice trigger. With the integration of ChatGPT, it is expected that the car will be able to respond in a more complex and detailed manner.According to reports, the ChatGPT feature will be accessed through wireless updates in the second quarter of 2024.

• Samsung: Industry First - AI Makes TV Clearer

Samsung's 8K QLED series will be equipped with AI image enhancement capabilities, which can directly convert standard definition content into 8K resolution.

Samsung claims that this technology is an industry first and will also support creating AI-generated images and automatically switching TV modes based on the content being played.

• Samsung: More User-friendly AI Robot

Samsung has updated its personal assistant robot, Ballie, with a new design, built-in projector, and AI capabilities.

• Asus: AI Features for Gaming Phones

The Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro gaming phone is equipped with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, which focuses on artificial intelligence.

In addition, Asus will support new features such as semantic search, which can process any input in the search box of the launcher, device settings, or photo library.

The Phone 8 Pro also has AI noise reduction for voice and video calls, as well as an AI wallpaper generator.

• Baby Cry Translator

Startup company Cappella has launched a "Baby Cry Translator" app at CES, which uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to interpret a baby's needs.

This technology is said to achieve an accuracy rate of 95%, far surpassing the current human accuracy rate of 30%.

According to Cappella's official website, "With the help of the Baby Cry AI Translator, we can accurately understand your baby's needs and use AI-generated sounds to soothe your little one without you having to constantly pay attention."

In addition, the app can also provide basic parenting services such as sleep tracking and diaper change reminders.

• One device to handle all smartphone tasks

The newly launched Rabbit R1 device can communicate with the user's smartphone tasks through an AI digital assistant: playing music, ordering takeout, booking flights, and more.

Moreover, the execution of tasks on this device is completely based on cloud servers, so there is no need to install related apps on your phone, greatly reducing the burden on your phone's memory.

Screen "refreshed"

Screen technology has always been a highlight at CES, and this year is no exception.

From large TVs to bendable smartphones, there have been surprising innovations in screen technology in various fields.

As CNET TV expert David Katzmaier puts it: "This year's TVs are bigger and brighter."

• "Brighter without a price increase"

On the basis of unchanged prices, both Hisense and TCL have doubled the brightness of their Mini LED product lines and introduced large and expensive models with eye protection features.

• A new trend: transparent displays

Transparent OLED screen technology has been applied in the commercial field for many years, and LG, which has been deeply involved in this field, plans to bring this technology to the consumer market this year.

The TV that applies this technology is called OLED T, which not only achieves a "transparent" visual effect but also adopts infinite transmission technology, eliminating the need for other physical connections. It can transmit content from other devices based on a single power line.

Samsung unveiled the first transparent version of Micro-LED display technology at the event, claiming that its performance is superior to other transparent screens.

Compared to transparent OLED, Samsung's Micro-LED display technology can produce brighter, clearer images and is more transparent than existing technologies.

• Display on the eyeball

Mojo's latest eye-tracking contact lenses (prototype lenses) can display text, graphics, and support eye tracking. Users can control the MicroLED display screen simply by blinking.

Although it has not yet been approved for daily use, this eyewear represents the first complete version of Mojo's technology.

• A "Curvier" Monitor

Samsung has launched the Flex In & Out Flip concept device, which can fold in both directions, achieving a 360° bend.

It is worth mentioning that Samsung's entire display booth is filled with various shapes and sizes of foldable concepts, which has always been Samsung's goal - to make scrollable, twistable, and foldable devices more interestingly integrated into daily life.

C Seed's latest TV product, NI, can achieve a "foldable invisibility".

According to the introduction, when NI is idle, press the button, and the screen will automatically fold into several parts in a butterfly shape, and finally hide behind a rectangular device.

The N1, which uses micro-LED technology, has a beautiful, bright, and seamless screen after unfolding, and the screen can rotate 180 degrees.

However, this custom TV model is expensive, with a price of $200,000 and limited global availability.

How else can games be played?

Game technology has also been a focus of attention at previous CES events, and manufacturers are exploring new ideas on two commonly used gaming devices: laptops and handheld consoles.

• More Powerful Gaming Laptops

NVIDIA took the lead and launched the new star of graphics cards: the RTX 40 Super series.

According to NVIDIA, the Super series graphics cards allow users to better utilize artificial intelligence on PCs without relying on remote services accessed through the internet.

New laptops from companies such as Alienware, Lenovo, ASUS, and Razer are all equipped with the new Intel 14th generation mobile chips and are expected to undergo a comprehensive update to achieve higher performance.

• More Portable Gaming Laptops

The HP Omen Transcend 14 meets the dual needs of daily commuting and gaming. It is lightweight, capable of running Intel Core Ultra 9 185 and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070, and features a 14-inch 2.8K OLED display with a variable refresh rate of 48-120Hz.In the balance between high performance and affordability, Omen Transcend offers a middle option with a starting price of $1,500 for the new 14 series.

• PC+ Handheld Console

MSI's new Claw handheld device will be equipped with Intel Core Ultra 5 or 7 processors, potentially making it the most powerful PC handheld console to date.

In addition to the processor, the specific specifications of Intel include: 16GB of memory; a 7-inch, 1920x1080 pixel, 120Hz IPS display; 512GB or 1TB of storage space; Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4. There is also a Thunderbolt 4 USB-C port, a microSD card slot, and a power button with a fingerprint sensor.

A New Highlight - Smart Energy Technology

The wind of global energy transformation has also blown into the tech industry. "Green technology" has become a major new trend at this year's CES.

Faced with unstable oil prices, frequent extreme weather events, and other uncertainties, the demand for "taking control of energy in one's own hands" has become significant, especially in the context of home life, where homeowners have higher requirements for "home + green".

Smart energy technology has emerged as a result. Thomas Husson, Chief Analyst at Forrester, said before the exhibition, "This is just a small step in the right direction. The next stage is to embed sustainability and circular economy principles into the design of new technologies and products."

• Glass Windows or Batteries?

As an emerging technology, transparent solar panels can use transparent quartz to capture light energy and convert it into electricity.

At the same time, these solar panels can also absorb ultraviolet and infrared light to generate displays, turning them into "colored glass" for a more aesthetic appeal.

Currently, inQs is producing this type of glass, but it is only available in Japan.

• Portable "Home Power Bank"

EcoFlow's new Delta Pro Ultra allows you to carry a portable power supply for your home's needs.

Like other home battery systems, this product is essentially a stack of lithium iron phosphate batteries with an inverter on top that converts the stored DC power in these battery units into AC power suitable for appliances.But what sets EcoFlow apart from other similar products is that its battery and inverter are located on the wheels, and the battery can be configured externally. The smart panel will display the power distribution between the battery and home electricity.

Therefore, when you go out, bringing the battery and inverter device is like bringing a "portable power station", which can be used anytime, anywhere.

• Collecting drinking water from the air

The WC-100 WaterCube floor model, developed by Genesis Systems, is able to collect humidity from the air and convert it into drinking water.

According to the introduction, in an environment with 50% air humidity and 80 degrees Fahrenheit (about 26.7 degrees Celsius), this product can produce about 100 gallons of drinking water per day. If the humidity is higher, the water production will be even greater.

Sharon Stuckenberg, CEO of Genesis Systems, believes, "This is a whole new way of thinking. It is changing the paradigm of water treatment."