The best of CES2023
After canceling our CES plans in 2022 (and there wasn’t even a show in 2021), the Engadget team sent a dozen staffers to this year’s CES. Although the show was not as busy as it was in pre-pandemic years there were many events and plenty of announcements for companies to look into. What was the best part of CES? Check out the complete list of award winners right here.
Our Best of the Best winner wasn’t a car or a TV that sticks to the wall. No, it’s Project Leonardo. This is Sony’s first piece of gaming hardware designed specifically for people with limited motor control – and it’s rather eye-catching.
The controller kit includes two circular gamepads that can be swapped with third-party accessories ports or other customizable inputs. The controllers can be placed flat on a desk or mounted on a standard tripod. You can pair them with the DualSense to make all three devices one gamepad. This gives you a lot of flexibility.
Sony partnered with advocacy groups including SpecialEffect, AbleGamers, and Stack Up in order to deliver on its accessibility promises. It is similar to Microsoft’s groundbreaking Xbox Adaptive Controller. Sony finally sees an opportunity to grow the PS5 player pool, even though there is no price or release date for Project Leonardo.
– Mat Smith
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The company could lose its other products due to the launch.
According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple plans to announce its first mixed reality headset this spring, ahead of its annual WWDC conference in June. Apple shared its headset with a few high-profile software developers to give them a glimpse at the new xrOS software, a sign that a launch may be near. However, Apple’s new hardware line will likely affect its top hitters.
The next version of the company’s iOS operating system will likely ship with “fewer major changes than originally planned” due to Apple reassigning software engineers to the xrOS team. “The same goes for macOS 14,” Gurman adds. The company apparently has no updates “of note” for its iPad, Apple Watch and audio product lines.
Beautiful, but ridiculous.
Roland’s 50th-anniversary celebration included a gorgeous Anniversary Concept Piano, built in collaboration with Japanese furniture maker Karimoku. The exterior is made from Japanese Nara oak and conceals a 14-speaker system that covers 360 degrees. Roland also made speakers into drones that hover just above the piano. This can be controlled from the player. These couldn’t fly on the CES showfloor, unfortunately. SafetyRoland strung a pair of them from wires. Boo.
An event called Galaxy Unpacked is planned for that day.
Samsung may have inadvertently confirmed it’ll unveil its next flagship phones early next month. The company’s Colombian website posted a page that revealed its next Galaxy Unpacked Event is set for February 1st 2023. Before the page was taken offline, it said that “Epic moments were approaching”. Samsung’s showcase for its flagship devices has crept earlier in the calendar over the years: For the Galaxy S22 series, Samsung held an event on February 9, 2022.
You get the features you need in a smaller package.
HTC is hitting back at Meta’s Pro VR headset with the Vive XR Elite. The XR Elite matches plenty of the Quest Pro’s highlight specs, including support for 2K resolution to each eye, a 90Hz refresh rate and full standalone operation. The XR Elite is lighter than the Quest Pro at 625g and has a more comfortable headband. This makes it a portable VR/AR experience that’s even more enjoyable. Despite its great points, the XR Elite shares many of the same faults as the Quest Pro. Starting at $1,099, it’s a bit cheaper than Meta’s $1,500 rival, but still pretty expensive. We tested it on the CES showfloor in 2023.
Trend Alert: Urine analysis tech.
Engadget gave out a Best of CES award to none of the companies, but there was a boom for toilet-bowl technologies. This could be described as an evolution in fitness tracking, where you test your urine for many easily-to-identify diseases. Is this really the next frontier in consumer health tracking? Although these devices may not be as popular as Fitbits, they could prove to be a game changer for assisted living and medical facilities.