CES 2018 brought the Whoa! {2018 CES recap and trends}

DTYOb8IXcAAp-9DI can officially announce that I survived my first ever CES. I’ve been wanting to attend CES and see all the newest technology as it debuts ever since I started blogging, but it just never worked out since it always takes place in early January just before Sundance. Scheduling so much time away each January gets harder and harder as the kids get older, so having one big event on the calendar was enough for me each January. Thus I settled for consuming all of the articles and info I could from afar each CES season.

But, this year I was invited by CTA to take part in their Key Online Influencer program and I couldn’t refuse. So, I embarked on my first CES journey to conferences unknown and braved heavy rains, leaking roofs, never-ending show floors, and power outages.

What is CES? It’s the largest consumer electronics show in the world, put on each year by CTA. It takes place in Las Vegas in multiple different convention centers and halls, spreading out to the parking lots and into multiple hotel conference rooms. More than 3,900 exhibitors showcased this year in 2.75 million net square feet of exhibit space across Las Vegas – the largest show floor in CES’ 51 year history. New at #CES2018 this year was the Design & Source located in the LVCC, South Plaza featuring global design, sourcing and packaging companies.


After days of running from booth to booth, party to party, I have a created a clear image of where I see technology going over the next year, and let me tell you, exciting things are coming. Instead of giving you a break down of all the newest brand releases, I’m going to instead break down the trends as I saw them emerging across the convention centers.

Smart Home. 2018 was yet another big year for Smart Home fans. This year wasn’t so much focusing on announcing Alexa and Google Home integration, but instead jumping in under the assumption that most tech users are by now utilizing one or both of these services already. Instead the brand announcements were of new products they were adding to their Smart Home line or new features that integrated better with both systems. I saw everything from smart toilets to ovens that follow recipes for you, all controlled from apps or screens. I also saw complete Smart Home systems that are designed to predict users patterns and make home automation as easy as a few clicks in an app. Fitbit IonicWearables. Everything has a wearable these days, and this market was wholly saturated at CES this year. For the most part I am unimpressed with most wearables, finding them far too bulky and impractical for my uses. Until more brands have jewelry options instead of big manly watches, I will be staying away from most wearables unless they solve a major problem for me. That being said, there were certain wearables that got me excited about their potential, including one that can track your calories AUTOMATICALLY. No entering foods, no stressing about figuring out exactly what you just ate at a restaurant. I’m excited to see how this technology actually works in practice and if it adds much to my health snapshot.

TV tech. I saw Larger-Than-Life TVs that were thinner than poster frames and flex like wallpaper, TVs that are imperceptibly modular, some that look like art, and all with colors brighter than nature.

Drones. Yet again, drones dominated much of CES. This year we saw drones that can save lives, some that are aimed at kids, and drones that cost more than my car.

AI. Artificial Intelligence isn’t new in 2018, and as a society we’ve become very accustomed to seeing robots in our everyday life. But, 2018 is bringing AI leaps forward. Sure, there were dozens of booths with the unimpressive white robot that looks more like a kids’ toy than a thousand dollar investment, but I also saw very human-like robots, computer systems that can communicate like humans, and AI that solves problems for everyday life. But, as fun as these AI prototypes are, I can’t actually imagine most of these products will ever be on the market to general consumers and really just exist to show that the technology is there. Will some of the features in these robots eventually change our lives? Most likely, but not in the form that they are or in the ways you might think. Time will tell on that front.  

DTXmqQdVQAA2Mf2Smart transportation. We saw smart motorcycles, autonomous driving platforms, companies that tell you what your check engine light means via an app, lots of concept cars, public transportation of the future, and new driver-assistance technology, as well as integration of Alexa and Google Home in vehicles.

Personal enrichment. I saw apps and wearables that range from basic to utterly absurd; ones that tell us how many steps we’ve taken, what hours we achieved our best sleep, heart rate throughout the day and even how one might chart an orgasm {I wish I was joking about that one}, breaking down our entire day into bits of data that didn’t do much of anything. 2018 brought the announcement of even more sleep data tracking options, health information obtained from apps and peripherals that could potentially save you trips to the doctor, and more. At the end of my tour through these booths at CES I left uninspired at best and chuckling as I walked away from many booths. While I can determine uses in which these information-collecting apps and add-ons could be handy, they still seem novelty and at the end of the day don’t tell you much about anything. While it might be nice to pinpoint when your best sleep happened or how intense your orgasm was, chances are you aren’t going to actually do much with this data.

CES 2018 officially wrapped today, and you can now watch keynotes and conference sessions from #CES2018 online at CES.tech/live. Then, save the date for #CES2019: Jan. 8-11, 2019, in Las Vegas, NV DTOgum0UMAAb0k6What were your favorite things you saw at CES 2018?

56 thoughts on “CES 2018 brought the Whoa! {2018 CES recap and trends}”

  14. The smart transportation looks pretty incredible! I can’t wait to see how they further develop cars and trains, maybe someday we’ll finally have those hovering cars like in the movies 🙂

    Reply

  17. So many awesome things. I think the drones are amazing that saves lives and smart cars. We have smart tv and smart watches and now cars might be happening.

    Reply

  22. i am excited about all the smart home stuff..we have a google home that can turn on most lights in the house and slowly adding more smart stuff to add

    Reply

  24. Wow, a smart oven! I’d love to just push one button for my brownies or pies! Sounds like something I would be excited about.

    Reply

  31. My daughter gave me “Alexa” this year for Christmas. Love it! Not only can you tell her to set alarm but she’ll give you weather updates and play songs. Ultimately, my house with be set up with “Smart” devices.

    Reply

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