Friends, I’m not what you would call an experienced overlandist, which is a word I have now learned exists to mean when you go camping in a truck. Part of the process of overlandering is that you actually sleep in a collapsible tent on the roof of the truck you’re driving. Now, I’ll be honest and say sleeping on the roof of a truck, even if there are elastic straps stopping you from falling off, is not what I’d call a fun weekend adventure. But it’s the market that Jackery is catering toward with its new concept solar roof tent, which it showed off here at CES 2024 in Las Vegas and will launch as a real product by the end of 2024.

The Jackery Solar Generator for Rooftop Tent is equipped with 1,000W solar panels (with a 25 percent efficiency rate). Unlike the flimsy panels you can currently buy, these are rigid slide-out units that should offer a sturdier canopy under which to sleep. Once you’ve parked up and opened the tent, the panels are wired up to an Explorer 1,000 Plus generator. That’ll hold 1,264Wh of power and can output at rates up to 2,000W, enough to power a 900W cooker for an hour. Plus, you can daisy-chain other batteries alongside to increase the storage further for longer trips away from an outlet and/or civilization.

Photo by Daniel Cooper / Engadget

There’s no concrete details — yet — about how much this will cost when it reaches retail, or how much will change from this initial demonstration. But if you’re a big fan of perching atop a tiny truck roof and trying to sleep, untroubled by the terrifying prospect of rolling over and plummeting several feet to the ground, then this might be the product for you.

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’ve been interested in solar generators for a long while, but very few of them ever felt worthy of specific comment. Many of them historically boasted of running laptops, TVs or coolers, but their constrained outputs made them incapable of powering kettles, washing machines or air conditioners. CES 2024 has shown that the industry has moved beyond those limitations, with newer units capable of fulfilling the promise inherent in their names.

Take the new EcoFlow Delta Pro Ultra, the company’s flagship whole-home backup, which can pump out 7,200W. The company claims the unit is strong enough to power a three ton central air unit, one of the most demanding appliances in the home. Plus, because it’s a modular design, you can add up to three of these units to the same home for a cumulative output of 21.6kW — and, with enough batteries, a total storage capacity of 90kWh.

Solix, Anker’s big battery division, was here at CES showing off its new F3800 portable power station. The company moved into the home battery market in the summer of 2023 but even something designed to be wheeled around is shorn of the older limitations. The F3800 can pump out a peak of 6,000W – a figure you can double if you buy two – enough to add juice to an EV in a pinch. And, best of all, it’s currently available to buy for $3,499 which, depending on how much solar you pair it with, should mean payback considerations are less than five years.

Jackery, which has been a name in this market for a long while, will sell you its 2000 Plus, complete with two 200W solar panels, for just $3,300. That small unit, if you use the right accessory, can be wired into your home’s breaker box and similarly has a surge peak of 6,000W. It’s not quite as muscular as some of its competitors, but the low cost means that it’s hard to argue against if you’re looking to dip a toe into this world.

Cost for solar panels and batteries have fallen dramatically in the last few years, with Our World in Data reporting that the cost of a panel has dropped from $2.32 per watt in 2010 to just $0.26 per watt in 2022. BloombergNEF reported that lithium ion battery prices have fallen from $780 per kWh in 2013 down to $139 per kWh in 2023. And it’s this that has enabled this surge in home battery uptake.

Emma Ross, who heads up communications for Jackery, says that customers are drawn to these falling prices. She added that, second to cost, the plug-and-play element of the gear is key, offering “the perfect combination of convenience and environmental friendliness.” The low cost and ease of installation means these systems “require less investment than other, larger solar options,” making it a “less intimidating” way for wary neophytes to get involved.

Nick Bowers, head of business development at EcoFlow in the US, says that consumers are frustrated with the domestic energy market. He claims rate increases, natural disasters, power outages and climate change have all driven people toward buying solar gear. “The pain points pushing people toward renewables,” he said, “will only grow more acute,” with users looking to “be less reliant on the grid.”

And the solar industry writ large is gearing up to address a surge in demand expected to come as these prices fall. Eric Villines, head of global communications at Anker, says that the only roadblock right now is the fact most homeowners aren’t investing in storage alongside their solar gear. “In 2022, only ten percent of installed home solar systems in the US included energy storage,” he told Engadget, “preventing homeowners from securing protection against blackouts.” To address this, the company surveyed users and found most were either put off by the high price, or didn’t even know that it was a viable option for them.

Which is why the knock-down prices on hardware the likes of which we’ve seen at CES 2024 is hopefully going to address some of those issues. After all, whereas some of this gear would have cost tens of thousands of dollars a few years ago, they’re now less than half that price. Perhaps these units will serve as a gateway drug to investments into more expansive whole home batteries further down the line. And that’s a good first step towards our bigger, and hopefully brighter solar future.

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.

Swarovski has turned up at CES 2024 in Las Vegas with its first ever pair of smart binoculars that will identify the bird you’re looking at. All you have to do is point the gear at a bird and make sure the view is in focus, and then press down an action button. Within a few seconds, the system will overlay a bird’s name over your view, using data pulled from the Merlin Bird ID database. That has over 9,000 species tagged, and will even let you know the degree of certainty it has if the bird in question is in an unexpected location. And if this was the only feature these binoculars had, it’d be enough to justify the purchase, but that’s only the beginning of what these things can do.

Between the eyepieces, there’s a function wheel similar to one you would find on a camera that lets you cycle between various features. That includes a Wildlife ID version which hooks into its built-in Mammal, Dragonfly and Butterfly ID databases. Plus, there’s a camera which lets you send pictures and video to a paired smartphone, which would similarly be plenty to justify the expense. But the system is also designed to be expandable, with the focus wheel including space for any future custom databases you might need. For instance, one idea could be to build a database for stars, or airplane types for aviation fans to spot the make and model of what’s flying overhead.

Then there’s the discovery sharing feature, which enables you to share something you’ve found with whoever you’re outdoors with. All you need to do is tag whatever you’ve found, and then hand the AX Visio over to them, where a series of flashing arrows will guide them to where you were looking. Even in the busy halls of CES, one of the company’s representatives was able to pinpoint a far-off fire exit sign before handing me the binoculars and asking me to find it. All you need to do is follow the arrows straight to what you’re meant to be looking at with a system that’s as elegant as it is useful. There's even a built-in compass that'll let you identify which direction you're gazing toward to help you navigate.

You might notice from the pictures that there are three lenses, with the central one holding the 13-megapixel sensor shooting HD-quality (1,920 x 1,080) pictures and video. There’s 8GB storage, which should hold up to an hour of video or 1,700 photos before needing to be cleared off. Beyond the smarts, the binoculars magnify up to 10x with 88 percent light transmission, thanks to the company’s high-end lenses. Swarovski says its glassware offers almost flat, distortion-free images with plenty of contrast and color fidelity.

Now, here’s the thing, my father-in-law is a serious ornithologist who is respected, at least among his peer group. His ability to spot the genus and species of a bird in flight is extraordinary and I’m often left bewildered at the depth of his knowledge. I don’t think I’d have the ability, patience or time to even get within a hundred miles of his capability. But, with a device like this, it might mean that I can at least vaguely keep up with him when we’re out on the trails.

The AX Visio is, however, not messing around with price, and Swarovski is charging €4,600 (around $5,000) for you to get this into your hands. While bird fans often have to be patient, this should start arriving at people’s homes at some point in February.

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 following article discusses medical procedures.

On the fringes of each and every CES, there are products worthy of attention, even if they can’t be called “consumer electronics.” A prime example is Adam-X, a medical training tool that takes the idea of a CPR dummy and dials it up to eleven… thousand. Unlike the dolls you learned basic CPR with, Adam-X is a fully-featured robotic patient used for a wide variety of medical training.

Adam-X is equipped with a realistic skeleton, muscles and lungs that’ll behave much like the real things do. Depending on the scenario, the dummy will give you physical feedback depending on how successful you are at treating it. For instance, the pupils will dilate, cheeks will flush, the tongue will swell and the extremities will turn blue, depending on what you’re doing at the time. Right now, Adam is even able to make some vague noises but his makers pledge that an update at some point this year will add in a GPT-enabled communication feature to train medics how to keep patients engaged and calm. 

As well as CPR training, you can use this device to teach intubation, administering an IV, applying a blood pressure cuff and using a defibrillator. And much as the system itself will respond to what you’re doing, its suite of sensors can examine your technique and offer feedback. For instance, Adam-X was set into CPR mode and required me to keep it alive, but I wasn't sure I was getting my chest compressions correct; after all, I'm not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV. But, by looking at the laptop Adam was connected to, I could see how far my hands were away from the ideal position. 

There's plenty of other things I wasn't able to test in the crowded show floor at CES, including the fact that Adam has pressurized blood vessels. Medics who need to clear the airway by cutting the trachea, for instance, may be surprised to see a spurt of (artificial) blood. Similarly, if one of the independently-pressurized lungs collapses, you'll be able to use a real needle to puncture the chest to reinflate it. Not to mention swapping out the regular limbs for ones that have simulated wounds, that require surgical intervention or to add in an intravenous drip to a vein. (Adam even has working genitalia and can pass urine or blood depending on the training scenario.)

Unfortunately, unless you're a medical school or other training facility with $70,000 grand or so lying around, you probably won't be able to buy one. But you should watch the video and see how very cool it is to practice keeping someone alive while getting a little more feedback than with the regular CPR doll. 

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.

Look, we can all sit around debating wether it’s worth teaching a dog to play the piano, or if that’s even something they’re capable of doing. But it’s also too late since, here at CES 2024 in Las Vegas, a Hong Kong-based startup has actually developed a device to do that. Zoo Gears was at the show demonstrating TheButter, a four-key instrument with light-up pads your pup can “play.”

Essentially, the pooch has to follow along the sequence of lights, each one triggering another few notes of whatever song you’ve equipped it with. Once done, you should reward their effort with a treat or some other form of encouragement, much as Dr. Pavlov would have done. The hope is that eventually, your beloved friend will get the knack of accompanying you during your next jam session.

Zoo Gears was a smash hit on Kickstarter in 2023, making more than four times its initial goal when getting backing for TheButter. That’s currently available to buy in the US for $99, and for that you’ll also get the companion app that’ll help you set your dog’s training routine. You know, so when they’ve mastered something fairly simple they can move onto harder songs like The Beatles’ Let It Be.

More importantly, the company is working on the second part of the product, TheBiscuit, priced at $299 which adds an automatic food dispenser to the setup. If your dog successfully learns how to hammer out some of The Beatles’ greatest hits, they’ll be able to feed themselves. After that, it’s only a hop, skip and a jump to being the next big name in whatever musical genre your best friend opts to specialize in.

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.

Here at CES 2024 in Las Vegas, a Japanese startup is worried about the mental health of all those dogs you bought during the pandemic. One By One Music believes those dogs who, while everyone was sheltering in place, got too used to their family being at home for most of the day. Now that everyone’s back to work, school or generally enjoying the outdoors, they’re getting lonely and stressed on their lonesome. That’s why the company conducted some research and claims to have discovered the secret to making dogs calmer. The answer is AI-generated downtempo music, which the company's representatives say reduces your pooch’s stress by 84 percent.

The general idea is that users will subscribe and leave the music running on their device at home while they’re away. It’ll cost ¥980 (around $6.70) per month, which you might think is a small price to pay if you think this is the most effective way to keep your dog happy. Now, I’ve only heard a tiny sample of the music the company is promising, so I can’t make any real comment on its quality. But, it does feel very much like the sort of generic downtempo synth music you’ll find in some spa music playlists that you’ll find on Spotify. But, as I say, what price can you put on your love of your dog?

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.

There’s a fact, discovered by Scientific American and popularized by Steve Jobs, that a human on a bike is the most efficient animal on Earth. Shift Robotics, a startup spun out of Carnegie Mellon, is hoping to disrupt that wisdom with its Moonwalkers, shoes with built-in wheels that speed up human walking. The company rocked up at CES 2024 in Las Vegas with the existing Moonwalkers and its new model, the Moonwalkers X, for us to have a play with.

Essentially they’re shoes that, when your foot strikes the ground, spin their wheels to push you a little further forward. Each step only offers a small extra distance but the cumulative effect can make your journey up to three times faster. The battery should give you around 7 miles of range, after which point you’ll have to grab a USB-C cable and wait 1.5 hours to recharge. And, if you’d like to own a pair for yourselves, you’ll need to stump up $1,399 for the privilege.

Now, much as the original model is designed to be used on the sidewalks of the United States, that may not be its ideal environment. That’s why the company has developed Moonwalkers X, which shaves a pound off the weight and reduces the number of wheels. These are instead aimed at warehouse and logistics workers who are walking around smooth concrete floors for hours at a time. It seems an ideal way to speed up transit while reducing fatigue in industrial environments where concerns about fashion are less prevalent. Unfortunately, there’s no price for these just yet, but we will expect to learn more before their release date at the midpoint of this year.

If there’s a problem with the world of ambient computing we’re all expected to live in, it’s that you can’t really be discreet. Most commands to your voice assistant of choice have to be spoken at a volume slightly higher than you would speak to another person. That’s the societal ill VTouch, a South Korean company, has chosen to tackle with its WHSP Ring. It’s a ring with a proximity sensor and microphone that activates when you raise it to your mouth. So when you want to talk to your assistant, you can simply mutter toward your knuckle and have it understand you.

The idea is that you’ll utilise VTouch’s own app, which will offer a number of AI assistants to aid you. This includes, in the example shown to me, an AI Art Curator or even a digital Psychiatrist, all of which can be accessed from your phone. You can also interact with your smart home, setting all of the usual parameters from the comfort of your hushed tones. It’ll last for around a day and a half on a single charge, while the charging case you can take around with it will extend the life by up to nine days. Any responses will, of course, be pumped through your headphones, enabling you to “chat” to your assistant. There’s even a button that, if tapped five times at once, will trigger a system to alert your contacts of an emergency and record ambient sound.

Touch is planning to launch WHSP Ring as a Kickstarter in the near future, but there’s no word yet on how much you could expect this thing to cost or when you can get your hands on one.

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.

EVs, like me after the holidays, have a tendency to bloat at the slightest provocation, which is why I can’t fit into those size 34 jeans. The big issue for electric cars is heavy batteries force cars to grow in size to accommodate them. Of course, the heavier the load, the more power is needed to keep going, forcing you into a vicious cycle. Even a small city car like the original Smart has, in its latest electric version, grown into a grotesque parody of its predecessor. Which is why there’s a lot of hope riding on truly small EVs, like Squad Mobility’s solar-powered car that’s designed not to grow too big to fit inside a city.

The company was founded by Chris Klok and Robert Hoevers, who met while working on the Lightyear solar car. Klok was chief vehicle engineer of that project, while Hoevers was previously involved with NIO’s Formula E team. But they left Lightyear to help develop a small, solar-powered car that would offer affordable and clean mobility for dense cities. And while it’s just got a few prototypes to show off, like the one here at CES 2024, it’s expecting to begin production in 2025. Even better, many of its existing pre-order customers are based in the US, given the need for a car like this in those communities that exclusively rely on golf carts to get around.

The Solar City car has a 250Wp panel in its roof, which is designed to generate enough power for a few short trips each day. The company says that, in Las Vegas, you could expect to travel for around 13 miles purely from the energy collected from the panel. (You can plug it in to an outlet if you really need to.) With a kerb weight of 794 pounds, it’s light and efficient enough to get you around short distances without much stress. Of course, the speed is limited — and you’ll only get around 25mph out of the 4kW motor, but if you live in a big city and just need to get to work, or pick up some groceries, that’s probably all you need.

You might expect the car to be poky, but the high roofline and low floor means it’s surprisingly comfortable. The prototype here has some quirks — like acceleration and brake pedals that are a bit too close to the seat — which will be eliminated in the production version. There’s even a rear load space big enough for a suitcase or a couple of decently-sized bags, and the prominent tyres mean you could even tackle rough terrain in short doses. The fact it measures just 6.6 feet long means you can park it sideways and it’ll take up the same amount of room as most cars, too.

We’re still a year out before we’ll see the production model of this car, but there are plenty of reasons to be hopeful. The company expects the retail price to be $6,250 excluding sales tax, making it ideal as a city runaround or second (or third) car. That said, the figure does exclude the cost of the doors which, like AC, count as an optional extra.

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.

EcoFlow has arrived at CES 2024 in Las Vegas to show off its largest and most useful home battery backup solution, the Delta Pro Ultra. It’s calling the hardware a “smart hybrid whole house battery generator and backup” that will draw power from a wide variety of sources. You’ll be able to charge it from either high or low-output solar panels, from the grid, or even juice it up from a gas powered generator. (But also, don't do that unless lives are on the line, please, the planet can't handle it.) The Delta Pro Ultra also vastly increases how much power you can keep on hand at any one time. The existing Delta Pro can scale — with additional batteries — up to 25kWh but, if your wallet is thick enough, you can equip the Ultra with 90kWh of batteries, which the company says should be enough to keep your home’s essentials running for up to a month.

In fact, the theme of this hardware is supersized capaciousness since every element of it has been built to service the most extravagant McMansions. For instance, the solar input can take up to 16.8kW of power at a time, letting you wire up to 42 400W panels at a time. Combined with the ability to draw extra power from the grid when energy costs are low and you should see the initial outlay paid back fairly quickly. And the company says output runs from 7.2kW — enough to run a Central Air unit — all the way through to 21.6kW with enough additional gear, which should be enough to power most key appliances in your home.

On its own, the Ultra is plug-and-play, although if you want to take advantage of its higher outputs and deeper integration with the home, you’ll have to buy its Smart Home Panel 2. That will of course require the services of a qualified contractor but, even so, the company says that installation is pretty clean and tidy. Not to mention that it’s nice and quiet when outputting less than 2,000W to help avoid complaints from the neighbours.

If you’re looking to splash out on a new whole house battery backup system, the Delta Pro Ultra is available to order starting today. For the first month, the inverter and battery will set you back $4,999, while the Smart Home Panel 2 costs an extra $1,599 when bought separately. Not to mention you can snag both in a bundle for $6,399 until February 9, when prices for all three will leap up to their RRP of $5,799 (Ultra), $1,899 (Panel 2) and $7,499 (bundle).

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.