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CES is where you need to be if you want to know where the future of technology lies. The show floor in Las Vegas was filled with buzzy, headline-grabbing products of the week, like a toilet sensor that can read your pee and a color-changing car with AI sass. But these are products you likely aren’t buying soon. The real value of the world’s largest consumer electronics trade show is how it lays out a vision for where tech may go not just in the coming months, but in the coming years too.
This show marked the first « real » year that CES was back in full swing. Yes, the show had a physical presence in 2022, but a lot of companies and media (CNET included) canceled their trips at the last minute as the omicron variant of COVID-19 surged. The Consumer Technology Association, which puts on CES, estimated ahead of the 2023 show that it would have about 100,000 attendees, making it the biggest such public gathering since the pandemic hit and adding up to more than double its 2022 attendance.
This year’s edition didn’t disappoint, with a flood of interesting products and announcements (you can check them out in our live blog). The regular big players like Samsung and Sony showed up with impressive TVs and concept cars, while newer entrants like Neutrogena and John Deere impressed as they made their pitches for innovation. The most fun part about CES, however, is reading the tea leaves and seeing where the tech world is going and how those changes affect you.
Here are the big themes we’ll be talking about long after the bright lights of the CES booths fade. Sustainability is the buzzword on everyone’s lips
If there’s one thing everyone at CES can agree on, it’s that sustainability is a priority. Virtually every company talked about how its products would be more sustainable, from Samsung’s partnership with Patagonia to reduce microplastics in the water supply to Asus’ boast that it has used 1,500 tons of recycled plastic in its products since 2017.
One of the CTA’s key priorities this year was highlighting the social and environmental impact on tech, and companies got the message. Companies often led with sustainability as the first topic out of the gate during their keynote presentations. AMD Lisa Su used her keynote to stress the energy efficiency that comes with her company’s more powerful processors. John Deere’s new robot planter is designed to reduce fertilizer and chemical use. The list goes on.
The climate crisis has emerged as one of the most pressing issues of our time, so it’s no surprise that it’s all over CES. That so many companies are taking this more seriously is another indication that consumers are starting to care. But this represents only the first steps for the tech industry.
« Sustainability is a key pillar for most consumer electronics organizations, but we’re just at the beginning of the journey, » said Maribel Lopez, an analyst for Lopez Research.
To learn more about sustainability and tech’s role in finding solutions to the climate crisis, check out our CNET Zero series. There’s a race to own the car experience
CES has increasingly turned into an auto show, with carmakers like GM and BMW routinely showing off concept cars in a bid to let us know that they’re actually tech companies too. But CES 2023 saw a number of traditional consumer electronics players make a bid to define how you’ll spend your time in a car going forward.
Perennial South Korean rivals Samsung and LG each pitched their own smart car platforms. Samsung’s system will be called ICX, powered by a platform called Ready Care from its Harman International business. The system uses sensors to measure driver drowsiness and will employ driver-facing infrared cameras to monitor their status. Naturally, the system is expected to work with Samsung’s family of products like its Galaxy Watch.
