What will people remember from this year’s Consumer Electronics Show? The biggest electronics show of the year always has a dizzying array of hundreds of shiny gadgets that may or may not ever make it into large-scale production and/or mainstream adoption. The tech eye candy was at maximum-hype this week, and here’s a sampling:
The robot you can cuddle to sleep:
Wowww! #ces2018 is insanity. We were picked as best of CES 2018 by the @WSJ
I've been dropping off prototypes around the Vegas strip for journalists to review. The responses are amazing! @washingtonpost @engadget @DigitalTrends We're here to bring some serious Zzz's! #somnox pic.twitter.com/9p5AZD1JwD— Somnox 🌙 (@somnoxsleep) January 11, 2018
The robot you can play ping-pong with:
We played ping pong against a robot https://t.co/oRZW5jkT3P #CES2018 pic.twitter.com/IUCcKfc1wm
— CNN Tech (@cnntech) January 11, 2018
The robot you can talk to:
"For now, I’d describe the whole experience of interacting with Sophia as anxiety-inducing at best." Sophia the robot is…odd. #CES2018 https://t.co/B3otWSp2LP pic.twitter.com/08oUxB061F
— Gizmodo (@Gizmodo) January 11, 2018
The robot that teaches programming: (Okay, this is the rare CES item that I can actually say, “I have this!” Or, my kids do. It was a Christmas gift ,and they have spent hours programming this thing to zoom around the house and crash into my feet, then tell me that it loves me.)
Wonder Workshop lets kids learn Javascript by programming robots (by @lucasmtny) #CES2018 pic.twitter.com/hRWRUgNHSo
— TechCrunch (@TechCrunch) January 11, 2018
The “air taxi” demo:
Would you take a ride in an air taxi? We tried out @BellHelicopter's concept at #CES2018: https://t.co/u1ShoaUFSn pic.twitter.com/NoYWNym3C4 pic.twitter.com/uSDG6RKDWz
— WIRED (@WIRED) January 11, 2018
Cisco’s high-flying synchronized drone display:
https://twitter.com/EdClowes/status/951340773919764480
The wristband that turns your hand into a phone:
This wristband that turns a finger into a phone is the most futuristic gadget we’ve used #CES2018 https://t.co/Wx3Bkwd4Uo pic.twitter.com/YgLAozu4DK
— Slate (@Slate) January 11, 2018
And the TVs. So, so many TVs.
I’m not sure if our next TV will be rollable or take up a complete wall, but I know it’ll be amazing! 📺#CES2018 https://t.co/M4DbvRALBq pic.twitter.com/qb13yT1rlZ
— Marcelo Claure (@marceloclaure) January 11, 2018
TV you can 'hang' on glass = @LGUS Picture-on-glass. #CES2018 pic.twitter.com/q9CuctHzHg
— CableLabs (@CableLabs) January 11, 2018
This is the one that jumped out at me as something I’m actually going to see in the near future: an under-glass fingerprint sensor for smartphones.
We tried world's first in-screen fingerprint reader at #CES2018 https://t.co/gwJvDVZBaQ pic.twitter.com/sKeE3uYt1P
— CNET (@CNET) January 11, 2018
All those things are nifty, but I’m going to go with the #CESblackout being the thing that lodges in the long-term memory. The lengthy power outage threw a huge wrench in the event — this is an “electronics” show, after all — and the supreme irony of a huge consumer electronics show being paralyzed by lack of power (apparently caused by condensation due to rain) was not lost on some observers:
"We see everything" @NSAGov
"We know everything" @Wikipedia
"We find everything" @Google
"We sell everything" @amazon
"We know everyone" @facebook
"We free everyone" @bitcoin"Without me ALL of you are nothing" @internet
"HODL MY BEER" @electricity #cesblackout
— Paul Schmitzer ن (@LiteBitCo) January 10, 2018
Coming back from #CES2018 the tech's biggest show #cesblackout pic.twitter.com/MHco3VPcd9
— Forest Interactive (@Forest_Int) January 11, 2018
The Consumer Electronics Show lost electricity because irony knows no bounds #CES2018 #CESblackout https://t.co/zVOXS2SoP3
— Fast Company (@FastCompany) January 11, 2018
Darkness has always been man's greatest foe. It hides dangers and fills us with fear of the unknown. However, thanks to modern technology, we can now create light on command and truly vanquish the night forev – oh. #CESBlackout pic.twitter.com/vpnRxI0hA1
— PCMag (@PCMag) January 10, 2018
Samsung’s “city” is half running on backup power. #cesblackout. #ces2018 pic.twitter.com/ulkkHl4Qih
— Click Beep (@clickbeepclick) January 10, 2018
@Tesla rocks it during massive #CES18 #CESblackout pic.twitter.com/h5EMvRdDOO
— Brian Lent (@BrianLent1) January 10, 2018
Most companies who commented tried to keep a sense of humor about it:
Introducing Blackout™: The biggest thing to hit #CES2018 since #5G. #CESblackout pic.twitter.com/xObxxxHvQe
— Intel (@intel) January 10, 2018
Our booth looks a little bit different this year… #CESblackout #CES2018 pic.twitter.com/W7Wtjy3Pqy
— Texas Instruments (@TXInstruments) January 10, 2018
DISASTER:
People who were charging their phones outside Central Hall don't have a way of getting them back. The screens are out, and there's no way to input the passcode #CESblackout #CES2018 pic.twitter.com/5txrTfoQWR
— Roadshow (@roadshow) January 10, 2018
When Oreo weighs in, I guess you’re just thankful that at least you can still eat cookies in the dark.
Lights on? No problem. #CESblackout pic.twitter.com/e1Dj0Z9XKr
— OREO Cookie (@Oreo) January 10, 2018
