CES 2019 Cheat Sheet

CES 2019 is a wrap. Now it’s time to report back and justify the trip. For all those who spent the week in “meetings” in lieu of hitting the conference floor, here’s a wrap report with enough talking points your co-workers who didn’t make the trip will think you were all over it.

Quick Facts

4,500 exhibitors across 24 product categories

180,000 attendees from 150 countries

11 venues covering 2.5 million sq. ft.

TV is Still the King

LG’s Curved OLED Screen Booth Display was a show stopper… and hall blocker. Photo credit: The Mac Observer

So many, many, many screens were on display. Curved screens, 8k screens , MicroLED & even a rollable TV that will actually be available this year (with Alexa and Google Assistant built in).

LG Signature OLED TV R9, 4K HDR Smart TV 65" It rolls up then hides itself away when not in use. Photo Credit: LG

The biggest thing in TV at CES wasn’t a TV. Apple announced it’s playing nicely with all the major manufacturers; Airplay & iTunes will soon be built into your TV. iPhones owners everywhere rejoice.

The Home Assistant Wars Are On

There was simply no avoiding the Google brand. Google Assistant and Alexa duked it out for show dominance. Alexa announced 100 million installs while Google’s voice assistant is now on almost a billion devices. Both can now be found on almost any device with an internet connection, including your car.

Hey Google, you were everywhere. Photo Credit: CNET

Hey Google, what was up with your Assistant booth? The Small World-esque ride was more than a bit over the top. The legions of “Google Assistants” dressed in all white were back and everywhere.

Get on board the Google Assistant Coaster. Photo Credit: C|Net

It’s a Small World themed Google Assistant booth. Photo Credit: The Straits Times

Vehicles 3.0

Forget self-driving cars. Let’s talk about self-driving helicopters. Bell Helicopters unveiled their Nexus concept autonomous air taxi in partnership with Uber. It’s straight out of Terminator.

The Bell Nexus. Your Uber has arrived. Photo Credit: MRO Network

Now check out BMW’s self-driving motorcycle.

Are you still talking about cars that drive? How about Hyundai’s walking emergency response vehicle.

Legs for days. Photo Credit: Hyundai

There’s some pretty cool autonomous cars too. Like this modular Urbanetic concept from Mercedes straight out of Tron.

Behold, the Mercedes Urbanetic Autonomous Modular Driving Platform. Let’s see if it ever makes it to market. Photo Credit: Mercedes

Audi and Disney teamed up for Holoride which will give passengers VR sets for gaming and “elastic” content curated for the length of the ride, while WB and Intel had their take by transporting drivers to the streets of Gotham.

No more backseat driving when you have Holodrive. Photo Credit: CNET

Alfred, take me home. Photo Credit: Intel

AR/VR/XR

Oculus debuted at CES in 2013. Six years later we get the Oculus Quest, a standalone with no wires headset for $399. Feels like VR should be doing something more exciting at this point, but the world will need to settle for the Vive Pro Eye which incorporates eye tracking in its headset for interesting UX potential. HTC was touting a new tethered headset called the Vive Cosmos.

Look Ma, no wires on the Oculus Quest. Photo Credit: Digital Trends

Vive Cosmos has its eye on your eyes. Photo Credit: Digital Trends

Nreal Light mixed reality glasses compared favorably with Magic Leap’s One and looked kinda normal. In the end, maybe the smartest AR glasses at the moment simply have Alexa built in.

nreal glasses are totally real. Photo Credit: Reality Technologies

Beauty products are a natural fit for AR and the technology is really paying off for consumers. With Perfect’s AR tech, now people can try multiple brands and styles of makeup and hair products without having to wait to wash it off.

Beauty isn’t even skin deep anymore. Photo Credit: King5

The Crazy Stuff We Love

I’ve been brushing my teeth for 2 minutes twice a day like a chump. Y Brush cuts the time needed down to 20 seconds.

Why brush more than 10 seconds a session? Photo Credit: Y Brush

Is it a home tech hub, or a robot butler? Temi Robot is both. But it’s not nearly as cute as the Grove X Lovot. Even your dog gets a robot in 2019.

But can it go up stairs? Photo Credit: Temi

Groove X Lovot, programmed for cuteness. Photo Credit: Las Vegas Review Journal

The wait for a fashionable anti-pollution mask is over thanks to the R-Pur Nano Mask.

Road warriors can breath easier with R-Pur. Photo Credit: CNET

Sure LG had some impressive screens, but of all the things I would buy immediately, LG’s capsule craft beer is the one.

Capsule beer, the source of, and solution to, all life’s problems. Photo Credit: TechCrunch

Controversy Update

Last year CES received some rightly deserved criticism for booking exactly 0 female keynote speakers and overwhelming featuring white males. This year half of the keynotes and many of the panels were delivered by women and/or people of color. Despite the big strides, the issue continued to echo as evidenced by an innovation award for a robotic female sex toy being revoked.

Ose, NSFW 2.0 Photo Credit Lora DiCarlo

Overall a Little ‘Meh’

It was a pretty sedate event compared to previous ones. No blackouts, no calls for boycott, just lots of consumer tech. But also, nothing stood out as incredibly breakthrough either. Voice assistants finally permeated everything, there were cool concept cars and TVs that were better than the human eye can see. It was all a bit more of the same, but a bit moreso.