Every January, the giant trade show known as CES takes over Las Vegas. It’s a global bazaar featuring the best and worst tech ideas the industry has to offer. The products on display are by different turns wearable, pocketable, audible, rideable, mountable, and—in some cases—digestible. There are also a few dozen new cars to ogle, with most major automakers present. Here on this page, we’ll be keeping a running report of everything we find interesting, from fascinating new EV concepts to bio-scanners to the latest smart home tech.
Live coverage kicks off around 8 am Las Vegas time—that’s 11 am on the East Coast, 4 pm in the UK—and will pause at the end of each day. We’ll be here all week, so check back often.
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Roku dives deeper into the TV market with new Pro Series TVs
Courtesy of Roku
Last year, Roku surprised the TV industry as it changed from a provider of streaming devices and TV software to a TV maker by launching a line of budget and midrange TV sets. This year, the brand takes another step forward with the higher-end Pro Series TVs to complement its Select and Plus lines. The Pro Series TVs check off all the right boxes for high-performance LED TVs, including quantum dots for bright and vibrant colors, local dimming, and mini LEDs for nuanced control between the brightest and darkest images. They also offer a slim frame, designed to sit flush with the wall when mounted.
The TVs will get Roku’s new AI-powered Smart Picture feature (alongside Roku-powered TVs from other brands), designed to detect the content you’re watching and adjust the picture accordingly, even turning off motion smoothing for cinematic content. Whether the Pro Series will help Roku better compete with top midrange offerings from brands like TCL and Hisense remains to be seen, but if the brand wants to stay competitive, this is a natural evolution that we’re excited to see in action when the models debut this spring.
Wi-Fi 7 Has Officially Arrived
There are sure to be splashier announcements at CES, but few will make as much of a subtle difference in your day-to-day life as the new Wi-Fi 7.
The Wi-Fi Alliance has released the official certification for Wi-Fi 7, enabling devices that pass its standards to be labeled “Wi-Fi 7 Certified”. We have already reviewed pre-certified Wi-Fi 7 mesh systems like the Eero Max 7 and TP-Link Deco BE85, but they are very expensive and likely overkill for most folks. With the official certification release, we can expect a fresh wave of more affordable Wi-Fi 7 routers and devices.
Wi-Fi 7 opens up the 6-GHz band and brings a host of improvements, including wider 320 MHz channels for increased throughput and multi-link operation (MLO), so devices can connect on more than one band at a time. The upgrade means lower latency, increased efficiency, and greater reliability.
While most folks can afford to wait, early adopters might want to take a look, but you will need Wi-Fi 7 devices to take full advantage. Only a handful of smartphones and laptops currently support the new standard, but with all the major chip makers including Qualcomm, Broadcom, Intel, and MediaTek, now pushing Wi-Fi 7 chipsets, that will soon change.
For a deeper look, check out our article from earlier this morning.