CES, the annual event showcasing the latest in Consumer Technology and innovation, took place in Las Vegas this year after a two-year pause. The show attracted more than 100,000 people and featured presentations from over 2,200 Companies. This year marked the return of in-person CES, and CNET editors were able to attend and see new products and services on display for the first time since 2020.

Among the notable items featured at the show were a “flying” electric boat, a large wireless TV, and a pee sensor for home toilets. CES is known for introducing innovative products and giving attendees a glimpse into what could potentially be the next big thing in the tech industry. 

Top Brand highlights at CES 2023

Companies at CES unveiled a broad range of products, catered to delight one’s every mood and fancy. While some products are years away from making an appearance, here are some of the highlights of jaw-dropping tech that gave us hope for a bright future.

Samsung

Not one to fall behind, Samsung debuted a host of things at CES 2023. The Samsung ViewFinity S9 is its latest addition to its monitor lineup. The ViewFinity S9 has a matte screen, supports HDR, and offers HDMI and DisplayPort connections, alongside USB-C/Thunderbolt 4.

The Samsung Smart Monitor M8 is another stylish addition, and comes in a 27-inch variant, along with the classic 32-inch. According to Samsung “The Smart Monitor M8 can connect, control and manage hundreds of compatible connected devices through the built-in SmartThings Hub, including lights, cameras, doorbells, locks, thermostats and more.”

Gamers looking for a dual gaming monitor can now feast their eyes on the Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 Gaming Monitor that offers an unparalleled field of view. With a 7,6820×2,160 resolution, it is one of a kind and packs quite a punch in one screen. The 1000R curved 57” screen has Matte Display and can handle the most intense gamer with aplomb.

In February, Samsung will release its crown jewel – Samsung SmartThings. The wireless fast charging station will help you arrange Matter-compatible gadgets in your smart home. It promises to make your home a connected space that can be easily managed and curated according to your needs.

Lenovo

By June, Lenovo will launch the dual-screen Yoga Book 9i that is built on the Intel EVol platform with all the bells and whistles. It runs on Microsoft Windows OS 11 and is expected to cost around $2,099.99. Customers can use both screens simultaneously. For example, they use one to attend a video conference and take notes on the screen.

Motorola, which is owned by Lenovo, showcased a ThinkPhone smartphone at CES 2023. ThinkPhones will be equipped with Microsoft 365, Outlook, and Teams and be made available worldwide in the coming months. It is built to handle heavy workflows and can withstand water immersion up to five feet for almost half an hour.

The Lenovo Tab Extreme grabbed quite a few eyeballs at CES 2023. A 14.5-inch digital notebook, with 120 hertz refresh rate and MediaTek Dimensity 9000 octa-core processor it will be available towards the second half of the year. Users can use its split screen feature to work on four applications simultaneously.

LG

At CES 2023, organizations made concessions for everything from your convenience to your mood. The new LG MoodUp fridge has color-changing door panels that can reflect your mood. The color themes come in Season, Place, Mood, and Pop settings. The new LG refrigerator will be available in late March or early April 2023.

L’oreal

Cosmetics giant L’oreal showed off its Brow Magic device and Hapta at CES 2023. Brow Magic prints precision eyeliner onto your eyebrows. Customers can choose from brow designs of varying thickness, shapes, effects, and lengths.

Hapta is an accessibility device for differently-abled people with limited motor-abilities. A selfie-stick-like device it can be used to apply lipstick. Hapta will be launched in the coming months.

Nvidia

A CES staple, Nvidia wants to give players an enhanced gaming experience.

At CES 2023, the company showed that it has what it takes to keep gamers hooked. The GeForce RTX 4070 Ti GP is meant for serious gamers who want maxed-out 1440p and creatives. Faster than its predecessor GeForce RTX 3090 Ti at nearly half the power, it can be yours for $799.

With Nvidia Canvas 360, users can take help from AI to turn amateur brushstrokes into landscape images. The software offers you a wide palette and creative input to assemble a realistic image. 

JBL

JBL had our ear when we heard that the JBL Tour Pro 2 earbuds have a touchscreen smart case. The case has a 1.45-inch LED touchscreen display, which offers controls for music and notifications for messages and apps. Its superior noise-cancellation features and ambient sound mode is sure to make it a favorite with customers.

The Tour One M2 is an over-ear model built with the company’s True Adaptive ANC and JBL Pro drivers. Its noise-canceling tech lets you enjoy the peace while adapting to your surroundings in real time. The company asserts that you can expect around 30 hours of noise cancellation when it is on. 

HTC

The HTC Vive XR Elite is a superior VR headset that impressed all those who saw it at CES 2023. It is now available for reservation on the company website and deliveries are expected to happen by late February.  The HTC Vive XR Elite offers customization options and the wearer can experience the headset with or without eyewear.

Sony and Honda Partnership

AT CES 2023, it was revealed that the Sony Honda Mobility car will be called the Afeela electric sedan. The car will always be connected to the cloud and use technology from Honda, Qualcomm, and Epic Games. Sony will open for pre-orders in the first half of 2025 and start deliveries in 2026.

TCL

There is no ignoring the fact that TCL Electronics won two CES 2023 Innovation Awards. It was recognized for its superior tech in TCL Mini LED 4K TV 75C935 and TCL Mini LED 4K TV 75C835. TCL reaffirmed its leadership in the television segment with its C-series models. The TCL Mini LED 4K TV 75C835 has deep colors, Google TV, and an AiPQ Engine that uses machine learning.

A history of companies pulling out of CES

CES 2021 was canceled because of the novel coronavirus pandemic.  The next year, for CES 2022 companies pulled out due to the prevalence of Covid-19.

Ravaged by the pandemic’s effects, many tech giants opted to pull out of CES 2022 citing concerns about the Omicron variant. Although organizers mentioned that there were less than 50 cancellations, a majority of the firms were international brands that brought in brand-power.

The major companies that dropped out of CES 2022 included Amazon, AMD, AT&T, General Motors, Google, Intel, Lenovo, Mercedes Benz, Meta, Microsoft, MSI, OnePlus, Panasonic, Pinterest, Procter & Gamble, T-Mobile (limited attendance), Twitter, and Velodyne Lidar.

CES 2023: A Muted Attendance

Many Chinese and Russian firms bore the brunt of geopolitical tensions and were forbidden from displaying their wares.

For CES 2023, it was a slightly different story. As the Russian invasion of Ukraine nears the one-year-mark, organizers barred Russian distributors from displaying tech. A social boycott, over the country’s war with its neighbor.

Apart from Russia, many Chinese firms chose to stay away as geopolitical tensions spill over into the tech arena. According to the CES website, close to 493 Chinese companies participated this year, in comparison to the 1,000 participants in 2020, pre-pandemic. The current US administration has imposed strict sanctions on the country, and the communist nation’s strict Covid-19 policy has prevented many merchants from traveling abroad.

Many of China’s top companies working on artificial intelligence were absent, as the US sanctioned chip and semi-conductor exports.

Why did companies pull out of CES 2023?

Over the last two years, companies have pulled out of CES citing reasons ranging from the pandemic to sanctions by the US. However, there are also some tech giants that do not participate in CES. For example, Apple has a set style of working and fans know how the Cupertino-headquartered company staggers its releases. Apple also has its own Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) that provides deep insights into its upcoming models and gives tech enthusiasts a space to bond over their passion.

For companies like Samsung, this is not the only event they are part of. They conduct their own exclusive sales and deals with other e-commerce sites and launch products accordingly. CES is used to highlight some of the best gadgets in development and pique the curiosity of the customer. Samsung Software Developer Conference is an annual gathering for software developers where experts share innovations and challenges in tech, and go back to the drawing room to hash out the chinks.

In the last two years, many companies have pulled out from in-person attendance citing Covid-19 concerns. Some even consider CES 2020 a super-spreader event and believe that the conference accelerated the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Chinese and Russian delegates often bring in frontier tech powered by AI but recent restrictions on travel and US sanctions have prohibited the match made in techno-heaven. Some of the biggest names in China’s technology sector have chosen to sit out or could not attend at all.

How will lack of participation affect CES in the future?

Participation is critically important for people to meet and discuss ideas. At CES people are given an opportunity to collaborate, find their next business partner or investor, and see how others are faring.

Karen Chupka, executive vice president of the Arlington-based Consumer Technology Association (CTA), which produces CES, told WTOP that CES brings together big brands and small companies with tremendous potential. CES offers a platform like no other for companies to showcase their potential.

A lack of participation at CES will slowly chip away at the opportunities this brings. Great ideas turn into reality when like-minded people connect and build something. Losing companies can negatively affect the brand and erode the purpose of the convention.

The 55^th edition of the conference, CES 2023 was a teaser of things to come, as companies gave people a taste of what to expect but refrained from revealing their hand completely.

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