You can one day use your tongue as a mouse for your laptop, tablet or phone, thanks to a new product that made its first public appearance at CES 2024. The MouthPad (an obvious spin on the word "mousepad") is what its makers call a tongue-operated touchpad that "sits at the roof of your mouth" and can be connected to your devices just like a standard Bluetooth mouse. I got to see the MouthPad here in Las Vegas, where it's making its first public appearance since its announcement last year, though, to be clear, I did not put it in my mouth to try out for myself. Instead, I watched as the company's co-founder Tomás Vega used the device to navigate an iPhone and open the camera as we took a selfie together. 

The MouthPad is basically like a retainer with a touchpad, battery and Bluetooth radio built in. It's made of a resin that the company says is the same "dental-grade material that is commonly used in dental aligners, bite guards and other oral appliances." The device's battery was made by a company called Varta, which MouthPad's makers also said has "a long track record of producing safe, medical implant-grade batteries." All this is to say that while it can feel strange to put a battery-powered electrical device in your mouth, at least it might be reassuring to know that this uses technology that has existed in the oral health industry for a long time.

I watched Vega place the 7.5-gram mouthpiece right on his palette, where it sat surrounded by his upper teeth. He closed his mouth and the iPhone he held up showed a cursor moving around as he opened apps and menus. I asked him to open up the camera and he obliged, and we took a selfie. This was evidently not a pre-recorded demo paired with good acting. 

Photo by Cherlynn Low / Engadget

Now, because I didn't try it myself, I can't tell you if it's comfortable or easy to use. But the specs sheet states that the MouthPad is about 0.7mm (0.027 inches) thick, apart from where there are capsules, while the touchpad itself on the roof of the mouth is 5mm (0.19 inches) thick. From what I saw, it didn't look much bulkier than my own retainers, and when Vegas smiled after putting the MouthPad on, I could only really see one small black piece on top of one of his teeth. 

You'll have to take out the MouthPad when you're eating, but you can speak while it's in your mouth. You might have a slight lisp the way you would with regular retainers, but I could understand Vega perfectly. The company said that the device currently lasts about five hours on a charge, though the team is working on improving that to eight hours by March. Recharging the device takes about an hour and a half, though Vega and his team said that, of the 30ish people that currently have a MouthPad, most users tend to charge theirs when they're eating and rarely seem to run out of juice.

The company explained that the MouthPad uses Apple's Assistive Touch feature to navigate iOS, but it can be recognized by other devices as a Bluetooth mouse. It's already on sale for those who sign up for early access, but general availability is coming later this year. Each MouthPad is individually 3D-printed, based on dental impressions sent in by customers as part of the ordering process. Early access users will also receive assistance from the company during setup and calibration, as well as throughout their use of the device.

Photo by Cherlynn Low / Engadget

Tongue-operated controllers are not new, but MouthPad is one of the more elegant and sophisticated options to date. It also works with a wide variety of devices and seems far enough along in the production process to be ready for sale. Whether the human tongue is a suitable organ for computer interactions, however, is something we can only determine after longterm use in the real world. 

We're reporting live from CES 2024 in Las Vegas from January 6-12. Keep up with all the latest news from the show here.

The show floor at CES 2024 is open, and people have been racking up their steps, canvassing Las Vegas’ vast convention centers and hotel ballrooms to see all the latest and weirdest tech products. The Engadget team has been getting our cardio in, braving both vehicular and human traffic to get face and hand time (and other body parts?) with the most intriguing demos here, while companies haven’t stopped holding press conferences and announcing new items. If you don’t have time to parse through every individual headline or are here in Vegas and want to know where to go, here’s a recap of the biggest news out of CES 2024’s second day.

One of the biggest booths at the show is, as usual, Google, and the company also had a fair amount of news to share. In keeping with the same theme it’s been doing the last few years of “Better Together,” Google shared updates to its inter-device software like Fast Pair and announced it’s working with Samsung to integrate and rename its Nearby Share feature to Quick Share, which is the current name of Samsung’s version of the same thing. This should hopefully simplify things for Android users, and give them a more cohesive alternative to Apple’s AirDrop. Details were pretty scarce on whether there are changes coming to Samsung users, but those who have Nearby Share should see a new icon pretty soon. 

Google also added support for people to Chromecast TikTok videos to compatible TVs and screens and is bringing its apps to some Ford, Nissan and Lincoln vehicles later this year. Android Auto will also be able to share your electric vehicle’s battery levels to Google Maps so it can factor in recharge stations, charge times and stops into your routes. This is, again, similar to a feature in Apple's next-gen CarPlay.

Speaking of EVs, Honda also debuted new EV concepts called the Saloon and the Space Hub. The Saloon is a sedan with an aerodynamic design and rides low to the ground, while the Space Hub is a minivan that is a little boxier and its seats has its passengers facing each other. Honda said it will develop a model based on the Saloon concept car for North American markets in 2026, with no word yet on the Space Hub.

In other transportation news, Hyundai brought an updated version of its S-A2 Air Taxi to the show. The S-A2 is an electric vertical take off and landing vehicle that has a cruising speed of 120mph when it reaches an altitude of 1,500 feet. It’s designed to fly short trips between 25 to 40 miles and the company envisions it as an everyday transportation solution for urban areas.

We also got more smart home news from companies other than Google, including Amazon, which said it will adopt the Matter standard for Casting, but it won’t support Chromecast or Apple’s AirPlay. How nice. We also saw new face-scanning and palm-reading door locks, smart outdoor lights by Nanoleaf and a new Weber Searwood smart grill that’s cheaper and more versatile.

There has been a smattering of mobile news, including the Clicks iPhone keyboard case and a surprising, adorable device called the Rabbit R1. It’s pitched as an AI-powered assistant in what’s basically a cute squarish walkie-talkie co-designed by Teenage Engineering. It has a tiny 2.88-inch touchscreen, an analog scroll wheel, two mics, a speaker and a 360-degree camera you can spin to face toward you or through the back of the handset. You’re supposed to talk to the Rabbit AI by pushing down a button (like a walkie talkie) and ask it to do anything like book an Uber or look for a recipe tailored to your specific list of ingredients.

There’s been a lot more at the show, but I wanted to take some time to shout out a bunch of intriguing accessibility products. We saw the OrCam Hear system that’s designed to help people with hearing loss isolate the voices of specific speakers in crowded environments. There’s also the GyroGlove, which is a hand-stabilizing glove for people with hand tremors, as well as the Mouthpad, which lets you control your phone, tablet or laptop by using your tongue.

We also saw an update to the Audio Radar system that provides visual cues for gamers who are hard of hearing to see where sounds are coming from and what type of sounds they might be. It’s very heartening to see all this development in assistive technology at CES, especially when the industry often spends so much time and money on less-worthy endeavors.

We’re nearing the end of the show and as we get ready to do our final sweeps of the show floor, the Engadget team is also looking back and contemplating the best things we saw at CES 2024. We’ll be putting together our Best of CES awards list soon, so make sure you come back to see what we decided were the winners of the show.

We're reporting live from CES 2024 in Las Vegas from January 6-12. Keep up with all the latest news from the show here.

A busy, stimulating convention like CES can exacerbate hand tremors for those living with Parkinsons. For Roberta Wilson-Garrett, however, a new wearable device has been helping keep the tremors at bay. Wilson-Garrett has been using the GyroGlove, which launched here at CES 2024. It's a hand-stabilizing glove designed to "counteract hand tremors by utilizing advanced gyroscopic technology," giving wearers more control over their mobility.

In the few days she has been wearing the GyroGlove, Wilson-Garrett says she's been able to perform certain tasks more easily. Things like buttoning up a shirt, moving a cup of coffee around or writing down a note had become easier with the device. One morning, she had forgotten that she didn't have the glove on and grabbed her coffee, only for her hand to shake and and the drink to spill over. 

It's in little daily activities like that where assistive technology can help give people with disabilities some sense of control and independence again. The current iteration of GyroGlove comprises of three parts: The fabric glove, the gyroscope in the stabilization module and a battery pack on the forearm. Though the company's reps said they designed the glove to be easy to put on by people with hand tremors, they wanted to help me get the device on. I held my palm out, and a representative slipped the GyroGlove on. 

The unit at the booth was too large for me, so my experience wasn't as effective or accurate. Though I tried to move my hand in a way that might be similar to tremors, I didn't quite feel any counteracting force or stabilizing effect. 

If anything, I just felt like there was a fairly heavy weight on the back of my palm and a constant low whir of the gyroscope spinning inside the module. According to the company's founder Faii Ong, the gyroscope is spinning at a speed that's over four times faster than a jet turbine. The device is powered by rechargeable lithium polymer batteries that last about four hours of continuous use, which Wilson-Garrett said was in line with her experience. She also said that she's heard of some people who manage to get two days out of a charge, if they use the device more intermittently depending on the frequency of their tremors.

The components were designed to be bulky and easy for people with hand tremors to grip and maneuver. Large buttons on the battery pack allow for power control and navigation of the screen on the power unit, which also displays the battery status in large icons and font. 

Photo by Liviu Oprescu / Engadget

All of these parts are attached to a comfortable harness, which felt stretchy, soft and spongy. The company said the fabric was "benchmarked against top yoga and athleisure brands" and "manufactured by the very same leading manufacturers." Altogether, the GyroGlove weighs about 580 grams (or about 1.27 pounds), with the stabilization and power modules each coming in at 200 grams. 

During my time with the device, I mostly held my hand up awkwardly in mid-air while gesturing at our video producer, and that prolonged strain might explain why the GyroGlove felt more heavy to me. Wilson-Garrett, however, said she found the glove comfortable to wear all day, and I noticed she was using her hand more naturally than I was. It's likely she had grown more accustomed to the GyroGlove's weight and presence, and had adapted to it. 

Ultimately, I'm not a person who lives with significant hand tremors and had tried on the wrong size of the device, so I cannot really criticize its effectiveness. Wilson-Garrett, who has been living with Parkinson's disease for at least six years, said she's happy with it and intends to purchase one. 

The GyroGlove is available for sale worldwide for $5,899 (though it's on sale for $1,000 cheaper for a limited time). Like many assistive devices, that's a high price that not everyone can pay. Ong said the GyroGlove is registered with the FDA and the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) as a medical device, and that the company is in talks with insurance providers in the US to consider covering the glove for those who need it. It's worth noting that GyroGlove is not meant to replace medication or other types of treatment, too. 

The company's reps said it has hopes for future iterations to be smaller and offer more sophisticated stabilization. For now, the fact that GyroGlove is an actual device you can buy (if you have the money for it) is a good sign of its potential ability to help the many people living with hand tremors.

We're reporting live from CES 2024 in Las Vegas from January 6-12. Keep up with all the latest news from the show here.

The first unofficial day of CES 2024 has come and gone and it feels like we’ve been run over by a giant metaphorical eighteen-wheeler full of press conferences. From home robots to electric vehicles to AI, laptops and processors, there was news from pretty much all areas of tech. There were pleasant surprises like Samsung’s cute new Ballie robot ball and Sony’s spatial content creation headset, and intriguing concepts like Razer’s vibrating cushion for gamers. We also got exactly what we expected in the form of new processors from the likes of AMD, Intel and NVIDIA, as well as the subsequent flood of laptops carrying the just-announced chips for 2024.

And for everyone else, this CES also saw the launch of things like headphones, electric vehicles, gaming handhelds, grills, gaming phones, e-ink tablets, strange hybrid devices, noise-suppressing masks, standing desks and more. It’s a free for all and we’re nowhere near done. Here’s just a small selection of the biggest news out of CES 2024’s press day, right before the show officially opens.

Samsung and Sony’s press conferences had some of the best surprises this year. Samsung showed us a new version of its Ballie robot, which is cute as heck. It’s basically a yellow bowling ball with a projector built in and can send you text messages and video clips of what’s at home while you’re out. You can ask it to close your curtains, turn on your lights or stream your favorite yoga video to your ceiling while you lie on your back for a meditative session. Samsung told The Washington Post that Ballie will be available for sale some time this year, but did not say how much it would cost. I guess that’s another surprise we can look forward to in the coming months.

Meanwhile, Sony brought us a few unexpected demos, starting by driving its Afeela concept electric car onstage using a PlayStation controller. Then, it showed off its mixed reality headset for “spatial content creation,” which sounds somewhat similar to Apple’s Vision Pro and Microsoft’s HoloLens. Sony’s does appear to target content creators, though, and looks like a pared down PSVR2 headset. It’ll be powered by a Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 chipset, sport dual 4K OLED microdisplays and have user and space tracking. The new Sony headset still has no name, no price, but it will be available later this year.

Also dominating our news feeds on Day 1 was the barrage of chip news coming from Intel, AMD and NVIDIA. AMD, for example, launched a new Radeon RX 7600 XT GPU, which is a slight upgrade from last year’s entry-level model. The company also brought processors with neural processing units for AI acceleration to its desktop offerings by announcing the Ryzen 8000G series. Meanwhile, NVIDIA unveiled the RTX 4080 Super, RTX 4070 Ti Super and RTX 4070 Super, which will cost $999, $799 and $599 respectively. It also announced updates for its GeForce Now cloud gaming service, adding G-Sync support and day passes for streaming. Intel kept things fairly tame and tidy, simply giving us its complete 14th-generation CPU family, including HX-series chips like a 24-core i9 model. It also launched the Core U Processor Series 1, which is designed to balance performance and power efficiency in thin and light laptops.

Speaking of laptops, most PC makers followed up the chip news flood by announcing all their new models containing the latest silicon. We saw notebooks from Alienware, Lenovo, MSI, Acer, Asus, and Razer, among others. MSI also had a new gaming handheld to show us, which is the first of its category to use Intel’s just-announced Core Ultra chip.

Asus also put that chip in a non-laptop product, debuting a new homegrown NUC. Meanwhile, Lenovo continued to challenge our notions of what a laptop with its ThinkBook Plus Gen 5, which is a weird gadget mermaid of sorts. Its top half is a 14-inch Android tablet, while its bottom half is a Windows keyboard and all of it is just funky.

Speaking of odd Android tablets, TCL was here with a new version of its NXTPAPER e-ink-ish tablet. This year’s model can switch between a matte e-paper-like display and a full-color LCD at the push of a button. The company also showed off a miniLED TV, which, at 115-inches large, is the biggest MiniLED TV with Quantom Dot technology to date.

We also got to check out Razer’s Project Esther, which is a proof of concept vibrating cushion showcasing the company’s new Sensa HD haptics platform for more immersive gaming experiences. That might be one of my favorite demos so far because… well... It vibrates. It’s a vibrating cushion for most office or gaming chairs.

There was plenty of car and transportation news, too, like Kia’s new fleet of modular vans and Volkswagen adding ChatGPT powers to its in-car voice assistant. The CES 2024 showfloor was also littered with piles of headphones, earbuds (and earwax) thanks to announcements from JBL, Sennheiser and less-known names like Mojawa, which put an AI-powered running coach in its bone-conducting headphones.

At the Pepcom showcase, we also saw some intriguing and fun products, like the Skyted Silent Mask that lets you talk in private in public, as well as the LifeSpan standing desk bike that lets you cycle really hard to generate enough power to charge your phone.

Intrigued? Check out our articles and videos with more details on everything I’ve mentioned and more. Or if you prefer, we’ll be back tomorrow to recap all the biggest news again to make your life easier. We’ve got plenty of press conferences coming up, and the show floor has officially opened, which means there’s still lots of stuff to check out in the days to come. 

We're reporting live from CES 2024 in Las Vegas from January 6-12. Keep up with all the latest news from the show here.

Imagine being at a crowded convention or noisy bar and trying to have a conversation with someone across from you. It's tough enough for people with hearing to focus on what the person is saying, not to mention those with hearing loss. Assistive technology company OrCam has rolled into CES 2024 with a host of new products including a set of devices and an iPhone app designed to help those with hearing loss deal with auditory overload. The platform is called OrCam Hear and after a quick hands-on at the show in Las Vegas, I'm pleasantly surprised.

OrCam Hear consists of a pair of earbuds and a dongle that plugs into any phone, and you'll use the app to control who you want to listen to. The system listens to voices for a few seconds (via the dongle) and uses AI to create speaker profiles for each person that then allows you to "selectively isolate specific voices even in noisy environments." This targets the issue sometimes known as the "cocktail party problem" that's a challenge for hearing aids.

During a demo, my editor Terrence O'Brien and I spoke to two people whose voice profiles were already set up in the app. We stood around a table with Terrence on my right and the two company spokespeople across us about five feet away. I put the earbuds in (after they were sanitized), and the noise around me immediately sounded a little less loud and a lot more muffled. 

Photo by Terrence O'Brien / Engadget

I looked at everyone around me and though I could see their lips moving, I couldn't hear anyone speaking. After OrCam's reps used the app to drag a floating circle into the ring surrounding me, I started to hear the person diagonally across me talk. And though the executive next to him was also moving his mouth, I could still only hear the voice of the person selected. Only after we moved the other speaker's icon into the ring did I start to hear them.

What impressed me more, though, was how the system handled relatively new participants like Terrence. He didn't have a profile set up in the app, and I initially couldn't hear him at all. A few seconds into the demo, though, a new circle appeared with a gray icon indicating a new "Anonymous" person had been recognized. When we dragged that into the ring, I was suddenly able to hear Terrence. This was all the more impressive because Terrence was wearing a fairly thick mask, which would have made him hard to understand any way. Yet, I was able to clearly make out what he was saying.

The OrCam Hear isn't perfect, of course. I was still able to hear the speakers as they talked, and the audio playing through the earbuds was slightly delayed, so there was a small echo. But people who have hearing loss, whom this product is designed for, aren't likely to experience that. There was also some audio distortion when the selected speakers were talking, but not so much that it impeded my comprehension.

OrCam said that the Hear platform is "currently in a technology preview phase and is expected to be shipped later in the year." Hopefully, that gives the company time to iron out quirks and make the app available on both iOS and Android, so that the assistive tech can be truly inclusive and accessible to more people.

We're reporting live from CES 2024 in Las Vegas from January 6-12. Keep up with all the latest news from the show here.

In the last few years, Google has used CES to show off new ways for Android, Chrome and all manner of non-Apple products to play nice with each other. At CES 2024 in Las Vegas, the company is also bringing updates to Chromecast, Fast Pair and Nearby Share, alongside some new features for cars. If you've always wanted to cast TikTok to your TV, because you're one of the handful of people from the TV generation that uses the app, you can now do that on Chromecast-enabled screens. Soon, though Google doesn't specify when, you'll also be able to cast livestreams from TikTok. 

In line with the theme of greater inter-device performance, this year Google is rolling out the ability to move what's playing on Spotify and YouTube Music from compatible Pixel phones to docked Pixel Tablets when within range. That's reminiscent of an Apple feature between Homepods and iPhones.

More devices with Chromecast built-in will also be launching this year, including the 2024 LG TV series. Later this year, LG Hospitality and Healthcare will also be getting Chromecast support so you can cast to TVs in, say, your hotel room without having to log into your own Google accounts. The company is also expanding Fast Pair support to Chromecasts with Google TV, which will make it easier to connect headphones to TV dongles. Google added that Fast Pair is coming to more Google TV devices later this year.

One of the best features on Apple devices is AirDrop, which allows different iPhones to easily transfer photos, files and contact information in person. Google's (attempt at an) answer to that since 2020 has been Nearby Share, though proximity-based versions of a file sharing tool on Android have existed for much longer. Samsung also introduced its Quick Share system in 2020, offering a very similar experience to Google's. 

In a move that should make things less confusing and more unified on the Android ecosystem, Google announced it's "collaborating with Samsung" to bring "the best of our sharing solutions together into a singular cross-Android solution under the Quick Share name." In a press release, Google said it's "integrated the experiences and created the best default, built-in option for peer-to-peer content sharing across all types of devices in the Android and Chromebook ecosystems." 

Google also said it's working with LG and other "leading PC manufacturers" to make Quick Share a pre-installed app on most Windows PCs. When Quick Share rolls out to current Nearby Share-enabled devices next month, you should see a new icon. Tapping it will show a list of devices available around you, and allow you to select who to send your media to. Like you can with Apple devices, you can go into your Android's settings to choose if you can be seen by everyone, contacts only or just your own devices.

It's worth noting that with last year's release of iOS 17, Apple upgraded AirPlay to make it possible to share files simply by putting the heads of two phones together. 

In addition to everything covered in this post, Google is also updating Android Auto and making more devices act as hubs for the Matter smart home standard to enable better uptake and integration. We have separate articles on each of those topics, so check them out for all the finer details.

We're reporting live from CES 2024 in Las Vegas from January 6-12. Keep up with all the latest news from the show here.

CES 2024 may not have officially started yet, but the news is already in full swing. The show’s official dates are January 9th to 12th, with the 8th usually being a day of press conferences ahead of the convention centers opening to attendees. Which makes this… Day 0 of CES 2024.

The announcements on this day usually gives us an idea of what to expect for the rest of the week, and this year we’re already seeing some emerging trends. Samsung and LG both brought us transparent display tech, we saw a slew of pet and kitchen gadgets, while vibrating and massage chairs have taken over the showfloor. Here’s a recap of the biggest news out of CES 2024 so far.

Let’s start with the companies that couldn’t even wait till we were in Vegas to share their news.

On January 3rd, just one day after people returned to work on the New Year, LG announced it would be bringing its new DukeBox smart speaker to the show. The DukeBox features vacuum tube audio placed behind a transparent OLED screen, allowing you to see the vacuum pipes for a retro vibe even as something is on the display. LG also teased a two-legged AI-powered robot, a 27-inch OLED gaming monitor that goes up to 480Hz, its latest 4K OLED TVs with AI processors, Gram laptops with AI features and the CineBeam Qube 4K projector.

We’ve now seen many of these things in person and I’ll tell you more about them in a bit, but other PC and gaming peripheral companies also teased their wares prior to the show. Dell, for example, showed its new XPS 13, 14 and 16 laptops alongside a curved 40-inch 5K monitor that it says offers “five-star comfort.”

Razer also told everyone to be on the lookout for its Blade 16 laptop at CES, because it’ll feature the “world’s first 16-inch 240Hz OLED display.” Samsung also teased its trio of Odyssey-branded anti-glare OLED gaming monitors on January 2nd! The day after New Year’s Day! I wish companies would stop just spilling their own beans ahead of the actual full reveal, because it gets in the way of actual news. And there was plenty.

For instance, Samsung had a whole truckload of new products to share. Yes, it did announce most of its news ahead of CES, but a lot of it was really interesting. The one that stole most of our attention was the world’s first transparent MicroLED screen — that's a screen you can see through even as it displays content, and is completely clear when nothing is on. According to our senior reporter Sam Rutherford, who saw the screens up close last night at Samsung’s First Look showcase, the transparent MicroLED panel was significantly brighter and noticeably clearer than the transparent LCD and OLED screens next to it.

Samsung also launched a new speaker version of its Frame TV, called the Music Frame. This is basically a photo frame that can hold a photograph or art print, while also hiding a solid speaker within. It basically masquerades as home decor, but that doesn’t diminish its capability. It has two woofers, two tweeters and two mid-range drivers, and also supports Dolby’s Atmos audio. You can pair it with your existing home audio system or use it standalone.

That’s not all Samsung unveiled. It also showed off Premiere projectors that can turn any surface into an interactive display, as well as its 2024 TV lineup that features plenty of AI.

Samsung’s main rival at CES is LG, since both companies tend to show off an incredibly similar portfolio of products. This year, LG also came to the game with transparency as its secret weapon, showing off the “world’s first wireless transparent OLED TV.” According to Billy Steele, who’s seen this OLED T TV, “some of the visuals are a bit unsettling,” but because the transparent background made it feel like things on display, like a singer, seemed like they were actually in the room. He said image quality was bright and sharp, though, and that it was comparable to Samsung’s MicroLED version. Though LG’s set seems more ready for public consumption, the company did not share pricing information, just that it’ll be ready to sell the OLED T this year.

LG also brought the other products I mentioned earlier and I was able to check out the new Gram Pro laptops in person at the Unveiled showcase last night. They’re impressively thin and light, as usual, and trying to do bicep curls with them is really not a challenge.

While we’re on the topic of laptops, a quick shoutout to HP and Acer. HP brought us the “world’s lightest 14-inch gaming laptop” and a new 4K 240Hz OLED gaming monitor, among other things, while Acer dragged out a massive 57-inch ultrawide monitor that will cost $2,500. It refreshes at 120Hz and has a Dual UHD resolution of 7,680 x 2,160. Acer also refreshed its Swift and Aspire laptops with Intel Core Ultra processors and dedicated Copilot keys for Microsoft’s generative AI shortcuts.

We also saw a slew of kitchen and pet products at Unveiled, including GE’s Profile smart indoor smoker that cooks meats and imparts a woody flavor without actually smoking up your apartment. The Flappie AI cat door, meanwhile, uses AI to see if your cat is coming back to your house with a rodent and automatically lock so it can’t come inside with the gross gift.

There’s so much more that I can barely cover in this single recap article, so I urge you to check out our liveblog, which we update all the time with the latest news. This has only been a collection of news from the day before the day before the show officially opens, and we’ve barely begun. Stick around as we continue to cover the biggest news and trawl through the convention to find you the most noteworthy developments from CES 2024.

We're reporting live from CES 2024 in Las Vegas from January 6-12. Keep up with all the latest news from the show here.

I don't like talking on the phone in public. Often, I'm gossiping about something I have no business discussing around other people, or I'm talking about some tech product that has yet to be launched. That's why a product like Skyted's Silent Mask entices me. The company launched its Kickstarter campaign today at CES 2024 for its noise-reducing wearable that would allow you to speak freely about confidential information anywhere without worrying about people around you hearing. It's already broken its $8,800 goal many times over, and as of this writing it's raised $54,000, meaning it's a concept that resonated with many people. 

I'm skeptical of most Kickstarter projects, given the high likelihood they're vaporware, but the Skyted prototype I checked out here at the show felt solid. It didn't have an elastic head strap for me to put it on my head, so I had to hold it to my face while I tested it, but that aside the mask felt well-made. More importantly, the device actually worked. 

I had to temper my expectations slightly, but otherwise I was impressed. The mask isn't made to completely eliminate noise or let you scream your primal rage out in the middle of a restaurant and still remain unheard. Or, if you're an aspiring Broadway singer like me, it won't completely mute your belted out ballads. It will, however, reduce sound by 25 decibels so if you're speaking at a normal volume, the person next to you won't hear what you're saying. 

Photo by Cherlynn Low / Engadget

My colleague Mat Smith was kind enough to join me for part of the demo so I could talk to him while putting the mask on and off my face. When I had the mask on, Mat, who stood right next to me, was sometimes unaware I was speaking. I kept my volume at a consistent level, which was slightly louder than I'd normally speak, given the noise around us on the showfloor. Even without Mat's validation, I could tell that what I was saying was noticeably muffled, to the point where if I had to talk about embargoed or confidential information in public, I would feel certain no one can hear the contents of my conversations. Now, I do need to point out that I did struggle to breathe at some points when trying on the Skyted mask, but that probably has more to do with how tightly I was pressing it to my face than the actual fit.

The mask uses technology similar to recent models of jet engines, which use resonators to draw sound away and into chambers. That way, the waves dissipate in a controlled environment instead of being leaked and overheard. There are little holes in the middle of the inside of the mask, and 12mm chambers on either side of the face. A microphone sits inside the mask, and, depending on the model of the device, can connect to your phone or laptop via Bluetooth or a wire. It has audio jacks onboard for input and output, so you can hear both yourself and the other people on your call. 

The Skyted is currently available for an early bird starting price of $299 on Kickstarter, though after the introductory period it will cost $100 more. There are quite a few applications for a mask that helps keep your realworld conversations private, like allowing people to take meetings on their commutes. Skyted CEO Stephane Hersen said that talking on the phone is illegal on some trains in Europe, which means passengers on longer routes can't take work calls if they need. With Skyted, they would be able to. Hersen, who says he previously worked as a VP at Airbus, believes there are applications in education as well.

We're reporting live from CES 2024 in Las Vegas from January 6-12. Keep up with all the latest news from the show here.

If your home is filled with Samsung and SmartThings-compatible products, an upcoming feature might simplify your life. At its CES 2024 press conference, the company unveiled a new service called Now+ that incorporates smart home controls into the TV's interface. With this, not only can you see and control your light switches or air conditioners from your television, but also use your phone as a remote control. The company also unveiled a feature called Daily+, which is customizable and will tap all the info Samsung and Bixby have on you via your SmartThings devices to make it easier to get to relevant apps. 

According to Samsung, this will allow TVs to detect smartphones that are within range and use them as remotes. A new SmartThings TV Quick Panel will slide in to show "core functions," so you can manage devices, view cameras and, say, ping your phone "without compromising content viewing." The company also described a feature where your TV will turn on as you approach it and show "critical information about your devices and appliances." The platform can also display "your home’s camera feed, temperature, and remaining time in your laundry cycle," if you have all the relevant compatible appliances.

Details were scarce on when these features can be expected, what TVs and devices are compatible and whether you'll need to be using Samsung smartphones if you want the remote control feature. It's worth noting that SmartThings is compatible with the Matter standard, so quite a large array of connected appliances should work with it. 

We're reporting live from CES 2024 in Las Vegas from January 6-12. Keep up with all the latest news from the show here.

It wouldn't be CES without Samsung showing off a strange and strangely lovable robot, and this year is the same. At its CES 2024 press conference today, the company showed off a robot named Ballie that has a projector built in. Interestingly, though, according to a report from The Washington Post, Samsung said the robotic sphere will actually available for sale within the year.

We first saw an early iteration of Ballie in 2020, when Samsung brought the device onstage, with an executive cupping the oversized tennis ball-like gadget in their hands. When it was introduced back then, Ballie was touted as a household assistant and potential fitness assistant, with such sophisticated skills as opening smart curtains and turning on the TV. It was supposed to also be able to call for help if it sees a person has fallen and not gotten up.

In four years, Ballie appears to have grown up. It's now "bowling-ball-size," according to the Post, and has a spatial LiDAR sensor and a 1080p projector. The latter has two lenses and allows the robot to display movies, video calls and "greetings" on its surrounding surfaces. In a video shown during the keynote, Ballie greets a user who returns to their home by projecting the word "Welcome," as well as displaying a conference call, workout video and the contents of a nearby PC, like a secondary screen. In an adorable scene, it also showed the robot projecting a video of greenery on to the floor for a golden retriever sat across from it. 

Samsung also showed people controlling Ballie by speaking to it, as well as via text messages. In its replies, Ballie was sending clips of what it saw, like the activity of a pet left at home. Like the earlier model, the newer robot can automatically switch connected lights and gadgets on or off, as well as non-connected appliances with its infrared transmitter. 

Ballie was reminiscent of a similar product that LG showed off in 2016 called the Rolling Bot, but that short-lived device never made it to market. It's quite hard to believe that Samsung will be selling these in 2024, but it hasn't shared any details beyond what it told The Post, and pricing has also yet to be revealed. Still, it's nice to see a product go from adorable concept to plausible prototype and possibly be able to buy it soon.

We're reporting live from CES 2024 in Las Vegas from January 6-12. Keep up with all the latest news from the show here.