9 More of the Bizarre and Wonderful Things We’ve Seen at CES 2024
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Today is the day the main CES 2024 expo halls will be thrown open to the general public. The masses of show attendees will crowd into the Las Vegas Convention Center to touch, ogle, and photograph the consumer tech industry's newest attempts to transport the future into the present.
Those of us in the technology press have been here in Las Vegas since the weekend, attending demos, watching presentations, and getting some hands-on time with the products that are debuting at this year's show. While some of these consumer tech products coming in 2024 are already finished, many of them are still prototypes. Final or not, all of these products signal where the next wave of tech is headed. We showed you a bunch of neat ideas yesterday. Here are some more.
Photograph: Alex WelshYarbo Yard Robot
Dads everywhere endure ridicule for their seemingly endless yard maintenance routines, but it is wild out there. In addition to snow, leaves, and unkempt grass, you also have nosy neighbors and your own complaining children who want to be able to play soccer and see dog poop. The Yarbo modular robot addresses all your outdoor grooming needs. Attach or detach three different modules—a leaf blower module, a snow blower module, or a lawn mower module—to the Yarbo body. Yarbo uses its own computer vision system and other AI smarts to navigate around your yard like an outdoor Roomba, complete with obstacle identification, virtual boundaries, and no-go zones. It will also return to its dock to auto-recharge when necessary. The only thing it doesn’t do is let you ride on it, but it does have an optional remote controller if you want to make it chase a neighbor cat or two. —Adrienne So
Photograph: Alex WelshGarmin Lily 2
After several years, Garmin has released an update to the most petite smartwatch in its lineup. The Lily 2 comes with a few upgrades from the last version, including a new metal case and the addition of Garmin Pay. It also comes with the full suite of Garmin’s top-notch health metrics, from activity tracking, sleep tracking, and blood oxygen tracking to the Body Battery measurement that lets you gauge when you should go all-out during activities and when you should rest. Moreover, Garmin will soon release a long-awaited update to the Garmin Connect app with a new, user-friendly design that will let you dive into all your customizable data insights. And like all Garmin watches, it works with both iOS and Android and has fall detection. Smartwatches like the Withings ScanWatch 2 and the Google Pixel 2 are only getting more and more beautiful; there’s no reason top-of-the-line fitness trackers shouldn’t as well. —Adrienne So
Photograph: Alex WelshFitXR Slam
I love working out in virtual reality, but it tends to be risky. When you get too in the moment, it’s all too easy to run out of the boundary zone, crash into your skinny, expensive TV, or accidentally punch a loved one (not that I have ever done any of these things). This year, virtual reality workout platform FitXR debuted a new experience called Slam. The game is specifically designed to take advantage of the huge hardware upgrades in the Meta Quest 3 headset, which has six outward-facing cameras that let you see your surroundings in full color even while immersed. Rather than punching or touching balls in a made-up virtual space, you can jump around, tapping lights in your own living room, while still interacting with any loved ones or inconveniently placed couches around you. Currently, you can play in either Timed Mode or Survival Mode, customizing the difficulty of your workouts or just tapping as fast as you can; you can also play with or without your controllers. It’s like Beat Saber, but with a 100 percent less chance of stepping on your cat or sideswiping your kid. —Adrienne So
Photograph: Alex WelshEmber Tumbler
Ember’s Tumbler isn’t brand new–it initially came out in September, but this is our first time checking it out. Like all Embers, it contains a battery-powered heating system that keeps your drink warm for hours. The 16-ounce tumbler is the biggest drinking vessel Ember makes, and is large enough to hold a grande Starbucks drink. It pairs with the Ember app, where you set the temperature you’d like it to stay at, and the battery lasts around three hours. It has a matte, slightly rugged finish on the outside, and is double-barreled. It felt like a heavy-duty water bottle when I picked it up, and while the finish was easy to keep a grip on, the Ember team says it’s strong enough to handle some drops. It charges with the included Charging Coaster. The Ember Tumbler has a different coaster design than older Ember models, with a smaller, thinner style to it, but it still works with previous Charging Coasters if you already own an Ember device. It costs $200 and comes with a sliding lid and a handle lid. The only bummer is that it only comes in black when the rest of Ember’s lineup is so colorful. —Nena Farrell
Photograph: Alex WelshRoborock S8 MaxV Ultra
A vacuum that can mop? Sign us up. Roborock’s latest vacuums are a one-stop shop of floor cleaning. There’s the new S8 MaxV Ultra robot vacuum, which packs several cool tricks, including a robotic arm that sticks out of the vacuum to clean corners and edges, a docking station that automatically empties and refills the mop, a built-in voice assistant named Rocky, and even video calling if you need to tell your pup to get out of the way of the vacuum. There’s also the S8 Max Ultra, which has slightly weaker suction power and no voice assistant or video calling. Both models have a variant you can connect to your home drainage system so that you don’t have to manually refill or empty the dock’s water tanks. The S8 MaxV Ultra will cost $1,800, and the S8 Max Ultra will cost $1,600, and will both be available in April. —Nena Farrell
Photograph: Alex WelshRoborock Flexi
We also saw Roborock’s Flexi Series, a lightweight handheld vacuum and mop that’s new to the US market. The vacuums can lay flat to go under low furniture, detects dirt levels and adjusts power as necessary, and includes the capability to dry and clean themselves with warm water and air. The Flexi Pro model also has a few extra bells and whistles, like adaptive wheels, dual-edge cleaning, and app compatibility. Pricing and availability are still to be determined. —Nena Farrell
Photograph: Alex WelshShokz OpenSwim Pro
Shokz’s line of bone conduction headphones—a design that transmits audio to your eardrums by vibrating the bones in your head, leaving your ears open to hear other sounds—has expanded to include the Shokz OpenSwim Pro. The IP68 waterproof headphones are an upgrade from the existing Shokz OpenSwim thanks to a few features, namely Bluetooth. You might be surprised to hear Bluetooth was added to a pair of swim headphones, but the Bluetooth is meant for use outside of the pool. Shokz OpenSwim Pro headphones still have the MP3 storage and playback capabilities of the original model, but with a larger 32 GB of memory compared to the OpenSwim’s 4 GB, raising the estimated number of songs the headphones can store from a little over a thousand to an estimated 8,000. The battery is also expected to last nine hours, an hour longer than the OpenSwim. The OpenSwim Pro also features a new generation of Shokz’s bone conduction technology that can deliver high-quality sound through your cheekbone while you’re swimming or working out. It’s expected to launch later in 2024, but we’re still waiting to find out how much it’ll cost. —Nena Farrell
Photograph: Alex WelshOtterBox Symmetry
Accessory makers are on the hunt for alternatives to leather. Apple notably ditched animal leather completely in 2023 for all of its mobile cases, and OtterBox is following suit starting with the latest version of its Symmetry case made out of cactus leather. OtterBox isn’t farming its own cacti; it’s partnered up with Desserto, which has been producing vegan leather from the nopal cactus for several popular brands—BMW, Givenchy, and Adidas among them. The plant leather purportedly requires less land and water to produce compared to traditional leather, and the cactus remains alive after harvesting, as fibers are only collected from mature pads.
But just because it’s made from a cactus doesn’t mean it’s completely ecofriendly. WIRED contributor Alden Wicker last year wrote about how some leather alternatives—including Desserto cactus leather—still have some fossil-fuel-based plastics in the layers of the material. Indeed, you’ll find polycarbonate in this case’s construction. It thankfully supports MagSafe, and otherwise has many of the same hallmarks of other Symmetry series cases in terms of durability and protection. It’ll be available for the entire iPhone 15 range in the spring for $60, and there will be an Apple Watch strap and MagSafe Wallet made out of the material too. —Julian Chokkattu
Photograph: Alex WelshZapbox
Can’t wait for Apple Vision Pro? Or maybe you just don’t want to fork over $3,500 for mixed reality? Well, Zapbox is an $80 plasticky headset that comes with two Bluetooth controllers—if you have an iPhone 11 or newer, you can effectively enjoy a rough-around-the-edges-but-fun mixed reality experience. You affix the iPhone to the headset, which is more of a head mount than anything because there’s zero tech in it. The experiences are powered by spatial videos on the iPhone (it’s not the first time we’ve seen this approach). Using the Zapbox app or third-party spatial video content, the headset positions the phone’s screen in front of your eyes, and what you see is the output from the iPhone’s ultrawide camera. It’s a bit jarring, but you can use the controllers to play augmented reality games like chess or even use Open Brush’s drawing app. Got an iPhone 15 Pro or Pro Max? You can create spatial videos on those devices and view them with the full spatial experience using the Zapbox. It looks wonky and you need to use world markers to track your mixed reality content with six degrees of freedom, but it’s hard to complain when you consider the price. —Julian Chokkattu
Photograph: Alex WelshPanasonic Palm Shaver
The Palm Shaver is the most attractive face and body shaver we’ve ever laid eyes on. Rather than arranging blades on the end of a skinny handle, the Palm Shaver affixes a compact five-bladed shaver onto a smooth, round blob that rests in the palm of your hand. It’s made from Nagori, a sustainable material made from sea minerals that feels like cool porcelain to the touch. It charges via USB-C, and the five blades, when combined with Panasonic’s advanced sensing technology, let the shaver adapt to the contours of every surface on the body—more like passing a smooth beach stone over your skin than attending to a tiresome personal hygiene task. It’s particularly useful if you’re older or have mobility issues, where manipulating a thin handle to keep yourself groomed might be too difficult. —Adrienne So
