Best of CES 2025
CES can be incredibly overwhelming. There are thousands of products on display, which makes finding the good stuff especially hard, so we went with the opinion of a jury of experts for the CES Innovation Awards where they have vetted products. Here I’ll summarize the ones that are closest related to streaming.
CES 2025 saw “a record 3400+ Innovation Award submissions, from over 4,500 exhibitors including roughly 1,400 startups,” said Gary Shapiro, CEO and Vice Chair, Consumer Technology Association (CTA), owner and producer of CES.
One problem I encountered trying to separate the facts from the hype is there’s a lot of jargon floating around, like, “We are doing AI at scale, based on historical customer data to meet our customers where they are and create a compelling, sticky consumer experience. Plus, our product is at the intersection of technology and [fill in the blank].”
But on to the best of the best of what I saw:
Mojie has delivered what it touts as the lightest polychromic AR+AI glasses on the market, weighing in at 49 grams. These are designed to be worn all day, providing perceptual interaction in a mass-produced form factor. I tried them on the other night, and they were indeed lightweight. The functionality is still developing, but the hardware is there.
Moije AR+AI glasses
10kM is a mobile app that turns text documents into what they are calling “fully editable, professional-grade video.” This means CSS animations which can be edited in real time. Just typing this, it sounds questionable. I was unable to do a demo so try for yourself and see what you think.
10kM
Samsung’s ISOCELL All Lenses on Prism (ALoP) is a telephoto camera solution with new folded zoom structure which places the lenses directly on the prism rather than in-between prism and sensor. The result is improved brightness and reduced noise while decreasing the module shoulder height and length. Use this small bit of knowledge when you are shopping for your next device.
Samsung ISOCELL ALoP
Baseus' 4G MiFi Power Bank includes the two things you really need when you’re on location, a combo 2-in-1 mobile Wi-Fi hotspots and power bank provides a 4G mobile WiFi hotspot with a high-capacity 20,000mAh power bank and 65W charging. OK, maybe not 5G, but there are times when beggars can’t be choosers and someone handing you wifi and power should make you very happy when there’s a scarcity of both.
Baseus' 4G MiFi Power Bank
Nikon touts its Z6III mirrorless camera as the world’s first partially stacked CMOS sensor to deliver ultra-fast readout speeds and high frame rate in a mid-range mirrorless camera. The 24.5MP full-frame camera has an EXPEED 7 image processing engine, an extremely fast autofocus system with advanced subject-detection technology, and high-quality video capabilities, including internal 6K RAW capture.
Nikon Z6III mirrorless camera
Metis Compute Board is an embedded platform that combines the power of a high end embedded ARM SoC with Axelera’s Metis AI accelerator. Power efficient to run applications like multiple end-to-end AI applications on tens of video streams. This includes parallel computer vision and natural language processing tasks.
Metis Compute Board
xMEMS µCooling (XMC-2400) is the first all-silicon 1mm fan-on-a-chip provides active cooling to AI-enabled mobile electronics such as smartphones, tablets, laptops, wireless chargers and SSD which previously were passively cooled now.
xMEMS µCooling (XMC-2400)
XREAL OnePro gives consumers next-gen spatial computing, adding a built-in processor with low-latency 3DoF spatial screen experience, regardless of source device. FOV up to 57 degrees, universal 120Hz refresh rate, an improved spatial speaker system from BOSE, and adjustable Inter Pupillary Distance ranges, also debuting a unique RGB modular camera with multimodal Al support.
XREAL OnePro
The 3-axis Micro Gimbal Stabilizer (MGS) from Vista InnoTech is the world's smallest 3-axis gimbal camera with up to +8° compensation angle. The MGS is a patented motor structure consisting of only 4 ball bearings, 8 less ball bearings than the traditional 3-axis gimbal. The MGS can be embedded into various mobile devices, extending the exposure time by 16 times and enabling mobile devices to capture clear images even in low light and extreme conditions. With the latest 5G technology, this MGS enables sharp and smooth video live streaming.
Vista InnoTech's MGS stabilizer family
Lexar Professional DIAMOND CFexpress 4.0 Type B card has a 3700MB/s max read, 3400MB/s max write, and 3200MB/s minimum sustained write speeds. Designed to be temperature-proof, vibration-resistant, 5m drop-proof, shock-resistant, 7x more compression-resistant than SD cards, and bend-resistant and a VPG400 rating ensure seamless capture of 8K RAW video.
Lexar Diamond CFExpress 4.0
Hohem Technology's iSteady V3 is a foldable, intelligent 3-axis smartphone gimbal with a magnetic Al tracker, fill light, remote control, and extension rod.
Hohem iSteady v3
DIC Corporation HAGAMOSphere is a spherical drone with eight propellers mounted on a cubic frame, allowing it to move both horizontally and vertically. It is also designed to rotate on the ground by housing itself inside a geometrically shaped sphere guard. This is a new type of multicopter drone.
DIC HAGAMOSphere
The HOVERAirb Beacon, together with two detachable Joystick sub-components, features a patented Tri-state modular design that provides three-way joystick experiences for the flying camera. When used as a standalone device, Beacon activates HoverLink for high-precise tracking and offers up to a 1 km video transmission range. The 1.78" OLED display allows users to monitor camera footage and it supports Al-powered noise-cancellation sound recording. Users can also transform it into a one-handed controller or a two-handed controller.
HOVERAirb Beacon
Espresso 15 Pro ($699) is an extra lightweight 15" 4K monitor designed for traveling. Powered by a single USB-C cable for 550 nits brightness and 100% Adobe RGB color, Espresso says it will make you fall in love with your computer monitor--portable, touchscreens and something to really impress both you and your geeky, tech friends.
Espresso 15 Pro
Leo from Lionpower is described as "a multi-award-winning device which prolongs the battery lifespan of any USB-charged consumer electronic device by as much as 63%. Patent-pending hardware with proprietary software to optimize battery charging, prioritizing battery health. With over 20 battery-powered devices in an average household, it has the potential to save billions of batteries."
Leo battery life extender
While I like to think these products are at the intersection of practical and innovation, let us know your thoughts.
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