CES 2024 is being held this week in Las Vegas, Nevada with an estimated 130,000 attendees and over 4,000 exhibitors, writes Semiconductor Intelligence.

CES (previously Consumer Electronics Show) has been held in Las Vegas every year since 1978, except for 2021 due to COVID-19.

CES is put on by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA). CTA is 100 years old, beginning in 1924 as the Radio Manufacturers Association.

Through the years the name has been changed to Radio-Television Manufacturers Association (1950), Radio-Electronics-Television Manufacturers Association (1953), Electronics Industry Association (1957), Consumer Electronics Association (1997) and the Consumer Technology Association (2015).

A major theme of CES 2024 is AI. The CTA Tech Trends session revealed the results of a U.S. consumer survey on AI. The positives were over a third of respondents characterized AI as being innovative and futuristic. However, most respondents were extremely or very concerned about:

Privacy – 65%
Disinformation – 63%
Safety – 60%
Job Loss – 59%
Also, 74% of the respondents believed the U.S. government should regulate AI safety.

The significance of AI at CES 2024 is reflected by the number of exhibitors classifying under AI and related categories. Note that companies can be classified under more than one category.

Artificial Intelligence                957
Smart Home & Appliances        885
IoT/Sensors                            818
Vehicle Tech                            726
Smart Cities                            449
Robotics                                 395
The Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) was the primary space for CES 2024. The largest area was devoted to Vehicle Tech & Advanced Mobility, which occupied the entire 600 thousand square feet of the West Hall and about another 100 thousand square feet in the North Hall.

The companies exhibiting included auto manufacturers (Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz, and Honda), farm and construction equipment companies (John Deere, Caterpillar, and HDHyundai) and numerous companies supplying components and systems for vehicles. Qualcomm had a large booth pushing its automotive technology.

Most of the North Hall featured the categories of Digital Health, Smart Cities & IoT Sustainability, IoT Infrastructure, and AI/Robotics. The Central Hall featured Audio Video and Gaming.

The largest booths in the Central Hall were from Sony, LG Electronics, Samsung Electronics, Panasonic, and TCL Corporation.

The AI theme dominated the major electronics companies press conferences and booths. The theme of Samsung’s press conference was “AI for All”. Samsung sells over 500 million smart devices each year.

The emphasis was on tying smart devices together and security. Samsung pushed its televisions as a digital hub for the smart home. It introduced a new line of TVs based on the Samsung NQ8 AI Gen3 processor. Other products introduced included a new version of its Ballie AI robot, new Galaxy Book 4 notebooks, smart refrigerators, and automotive heads-up displays. Interestingly, there was no mention of smartphones, Samsung’s largest sales category.

Oorion has an intelligent radar for the visually impaired which will identify and locate objects. It is available as a free app.

A box with a couple of phones

DeRUCCI introduced its T11 Pro smart mattress. It uses sensors and air bags to adjust for optimal sleep.

A person lying on a mattress

Shooter Detection Systems featured an indoor gunshot detector with acoustic and infrared sensors to identify shots fired within a building and send an alert to building security and police departments.

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Caterpillar introduced an electric mining machine to eliminate exhaust emissions in mines.

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Olympian Motors showcased its electric cars with retro styling. Its instrument panel uses old fashioned gauges rather than display screens.

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WIRobotics demonstrated its WIM wearable mobility device to assist with walking and load carrying.