Taking a peek inside the all-electric VW Bus at CES 2023 in Las Vegas.
This year’s CES is picking up where last year’s left off — with a continued focus on driving greater connectivity. Whether at work, at home, or in the car, consumers want a seamless connection to the digital world. And while covering the entire show floor was almost impossible, many tech companies used CES as a moment to land new products, partnerships, and more. This year’s major players are bringing that vision to reality.
Speed, Convenience and Power: Making Hybrid Work Easier
At this point, everyone knows that hybrid work is here to stay and at CES this year several major companies released new devices or upgrades with the home office in mind. Dell and Lenovo released new laptops and desktops for the work from home crowd. Dell’s XPS 13 Plus Laptop, the first 13 series built with the 12th Generation Intel Core 28W processor. This ultra-fast laptop was built for convenience and speed, but without jeopardizing power — something many past devices were lacking.
Lenovo released the ThinkPad Z13 which is built with the AMD Ryzen Pro U-Series processors with AMD Radeon graphics. This is one of the first laptops to be built with these technologies. AMD also made a splash with its new AI-Powered PC chips, which drew eyes to CEO Lisa Su’s opening keynote at this year’s event. Lenovo also showed a set of interesting innovations that included its X1 Fold, which caught my eye as folding technology is moving from mobile phones to PCs.
On the HP front, there’s a focus on making hybrid work a convenient norm. The HP Dragonfly Pro Chromebook, a 14-inch device, offers 8 MP camera and an ultra-bright touchscreen that allows content to show clearly, even in the sun. It also features Intel Evo for quick performance and — wait for it — connectivity, including seamless pairing between phone and device. Dragonfly Pro is also the first device to feature one-touch access to HP’s 24/7 concierge support, further illustrating that for HP, user experience is top-of mind.
HP seems to understand that work is happening everywhere—even on the go. HP’s Poly Voyager Free 60 Series pro-grade wireless earbuds allow up to five hours of talk time and include active noise canceling and WindSmart tech to block out background distractions. A charging case, offered standard with every model, allows for 10 extra hours of use.
In-home Devices Take Center Stage
Outside of the home office, there were several in-home technologies on display. There was big news regarding Ring capabilities this year, including a Ring Car Cam and Peephole Cam. The Car Cam features a dual-facing camera that records when the car is moving and when it is turned off. When parked, the camera’s sensors can detect what’s happening both inside and outside the vehicle. If a break-in is detected, the camera will start recording and send an alert to the Ring App in real-time. In addition, just by saying “Alexa, record,” the camera will begin recording what’s happening in the moment. It’s a super convenient way to keep your car safe, and honestly, I think it will become as standard as the original Ring Doorbell.
Speaking of: Ring’s new Peephole Cam offers the same smart doorbells people already use, installed over the existing peephole in one’s door. It offers 1080p HD camera, night vision, knock and motion detection, and two-way talk capabilities. Even better, it requires no long-term modifications to one’s door, which makes it a super easy option for those who rent. Again, companies are building on what works to make life even better for consumers.
Automotive Still a Driving Force
Last year it seemed like the convergence of chipmakers and automakers had found significant momentum. A bevy of automotive announcements grabbed the headlines, with announcements coming from a number of different companies including NVIDIA, Mobileye, Qualcomm, and more. This year continued that trajectory, solidifying the fact that automotive companies are tech companies and chips, software, and carmakers will be driving the future of connected and intelligent vehicles.
Qualcomm showed its continued commitment to expanding vehicle connectivity this year, building on much of what it showed last year. It brought a 3-D concept car to the floor to illustrate the power of its Snapdragon Digital Chassis. Building on Snapdragon Ride, Qualcomm debuted Snapdragon Ride Flex, which is deemed by Qualcomm to be the industry’s first automotive super-compute solution. It supports advanced drive-assist systems and expands Snapdragon Ride to provide digital cockpit ops on the same system. Its concept car demonstrated Snapdragon’s ability to add content like remote vehicle monitoring, voice assist and level three autonomy via the cloud. Snapdragon Ride Flex is expected to be available as early as 2024.
Luminar was also on-deck at CES, debuting the Volvo EX90, which will feature Luminar technology standard on every vehicle. Its Iris lidar is integrated in the roofline of the all-electric SUV, improving safety and allowing for greater autonomous driving ability. Also on display: Luminar’s Proactive Safety hardware/software solution, which can come to a safe stop for small objects on the road, rather than just pedestrians and other vehicles. The company held a number of demonstrations during the show to illustrate how Proactive Safety stacked up to other systems available in today’s market, including higher confidence detection capabilities, proactive collision avoidance and more.
Alternate Reality Tech Still Grabbing Attention
Lastly, Dell is taking connection to a whole new level with its Concept Nyx initiative, which was first introduced at last year’s CES. The Concept Nyx project explores pairing familiar devices like phones and computers with things like AI to create an accessible but immersive experience. In other words: Dell Concept Nyx is experimenting with reimagining everyday user experiences like meetings, messages, video calls, and collaboration tools to find new intersects between physical, digital and virtual. To bring the idea to life for consumers, Dell announced at this year’s CES Concept Nyx Companion, which is a lightweight device, sort of like a tablet, that can be used in both VR and XR environments without the need for goggles or headsets. Commercially, because it removes the headset barrier, I think it could be a huge win.
All in all, it’s a great year for CES, as we watch big tech bring big ideas to reality. For me, it proves that concept cars and devices are so much more than ideas; they’re real possibilities to make our lives even better, safer, and more connected.
