Connect with us

Technologies

We lost so much with a mostly virtual CES

The biggest losers at the massive tech industry trade show are the small companies you’ll never hear about.

This story is part of CES, where CNET covers the latest news on the most incredible tech coming soon.

Dave Morgan has been attending CES for 25 years and has seen all sorts of gizmos and gadgets along the way. If you squint at photos from past shows, you might find him gawking at the curved TVs. Or he might be in the background as someone’s controlling a computer through a headband sensing their thoughts.

But Wednesday, at the opening morning of 2022’s show, the longtime ad industry executive and investor saw something quite out of the ordinary while getting some early exercise. The sea of up to 180,000 attendees who typically flood into Las Vegas for one of the world’s largest trade shows was mostly gone.

«Early morning run on pretty empty Vegas strip,» he tweeted out, before adding he’s «actually looking forward to exploring the #ces floor without the crowds.»

window.CnetFunctions.logWithLabel(‘%c One Trust ‘, «Service loaded: script_twitterwidget with class optanon-category-5»);

Morgan’s experience of a quieter CES in Vegas is one that many people missed out on. But it wasn’t just that. The sharply reduced crowds — estimated to be less than half of the 150,000 who attended CES two years ago — meant an even bigger obstacle for the small companies that for years have relied on buzz from the show to serendipitously turn them into breakout stars with surprise products that grab the industry’s attention.

«When you’re a smaller company, CES could be your biggest marketing spend,» said Moor Insights and Strategy analyst Patrick Moorhead, who attended this year’s CES in person. «It can be a make or break event for you.»

The CES challenge illustrates another way the COVID-19 pandemic continues to upend the way we work and live. Not only has the pandemic led to 9.5 million confirmed cases and 5.4 million people killed around the globe, it’s also left many people wondering what a post-COVID world will be like, much less how we’ll hold large-scale events like CES.

Read more: The 5 big CES 2022 takeaways everyone’s talking about

The pandemic’s uncertainty has hit everyone, whether they’re working in education, finance or real estate. In the tech world, it means that small companies for which CES could be the ultimate launching pad may struggle a bit more to take off.

In the past, companies like the VR headset startup Oculus offered demos at CES 2014, building buzz mere months before Facebook bought the company for more than $2 billion. There’s also Impossible Foods, the plant-based food company that landed an agreement with fast food giant Burger King after a CES meeting.

«It’s hard to do that in a digital setting,» said Jean Foster, head of marketing at the Consumer Tech Association, which puts on CES.

After last year’s experiment with an all-digital show, she said surveys of attendees and media alike agreed that holding the event in person would be better. And so this year, the CTA decided to press forward with an in-person event, with the caveat that attendees must have proof of COVID vaccination and international travelers must provide a negative COVID test taken within one day prior to taking their flight. The CTA even handed out free COVID testing kits when people arrived.

As health experts have repeatedly noted, none of us has ever lived through a pandemic of this scale. That means companies are learning how to function in this environment without a clear game plan, backed by decades of business school studies and success stories.

«It’s a different model set up for people,» Foster said.

Blending the virtual and real worlds

For more than a decade, CES attendees have debated the show’s relevance. Is it up or is it down? Is it as exciting as it once was or is it just an empty spectacle?

The pandemic gave us some answers. Over the past couple years, tech giants like Samsung, Sony and Facebook have largely figured out how to hold all-virtual events that attract their own buzz. Apple has announced two years worth of iPhones through these events. Microsoft, meanwhile, used online presentations to unveil both its Windows 11 software and its latest Xbox game console.

But CES organizers needed to recalibrate for the more than 2,300 companies coming together over one of the tech industry’s busiest weeks of the year.

One thing the CTA changed was how long presentations ran. The organization noticed that people viewers tended to drop off about 20 minutes into presentations that were given for the all-online CES of 2021. So, this year’s press conference slots were shortened to about a half hour each.

The CTA also reduced the number of live streams offered through its site so visitors wouldn’t feel overwhelmed. And to help attendees communicate with exhibitors and chat and set up meetings, the CTA also leaned more heavily on social features built into its website and app.

«The importance for us is, just be flexible,» Foster added.

Finding the future

Tim Bajarin thought he’d be attending CES this year. But then, around Thanksgiving, COVID-19’s omicron variant began its rapid spread around the world.

A month later, Bajarin and his doctor together decided that his preexisting health conditions presented too much of a risk, despite his being fully vaccinated. Other major companies including Google, Panasonic, Amazon and media organizations scaled back plans to attend the event in person around the same time, citing health concerns.

«One of the reasons I’d originally been planning to go was we were going to have face-to-face meetings with a lot of companies that we had not been able to meet with over the last two years,» said Bajarin, a longtime industry analyst now with Creative Strategies. This would have been his 47th winter CES show. «Literally, it’s about trying to discover what’s next.»

Though CES began a half century ago as a way for product makers to speak with buyers like TV and radio stores, it’s evolved into a broad consumer electronics showcase. It’s also been the place Bajarin has caught on to new trends, like when companies began coming up with concepts for noise-canceling earbuds a little less than a decade ago, when over-ear Bose headphones were the must-have at the time.

«Now you have noise canceling everywhere,» he noted.

window.CnetFunctions.logWithLabel(‘%c One Trust ‘, «Service loaded: script_twitterwidget with class optanon-category-5»);

Morgan, who tweeted out the photo of the mostly empty Vegas strip, said he traveled to the show from New York because he values meeting people in person. After his morning run, he shared stories of technologies he saw over the years while running his own startups or working as an EVP at AOL.

Now the founder and head of TV ad tech company Simulmedia, he wants to see tech that could change his job up close, particularly the constantly evolving smart TV software. And with him and his family back home vaccinated and boosted, it’s worth the risks.

«I’ve been coming here for most of the last 20 years,» he said. «I love wandering into those areas with the tiny booths on one side with these different companies making stuff like connected forks and wondering how that’s going to work.»

Related Topics:

Technologies

Why Are Switch 2 Games So Expensive? Trump’s Tariffs May Not Be Sole Factor

It still comes down to money.

Wednesday’s reveal of the Switch 2 had a lot of buzz from Nintendo surrounding its successor to the Switch. One shocking bit, though, was the high price of its games. There’s a lot of confusion, especially with news of President Donald Trump’s increased tariffs on many trading partners, including Japan. 

After the Switch 2 Direct, Nintendo released the full details of the upcoming console and games on its website. The price of Mario Kart World shocked gamers and led to some disdain, as the $80 MSRP was $10 more than what most new games cost today. This led many to wonder if this would be a new normal for game prices due to Trump’s tariffs or if Nintendo was just being greedy. The answer, however, might be something completely different. 

Are Nintendo Switch 2 game prices hiking?

To start, some details need to be cleared up. Some people have posted on social media that the price of Nintendo’s Switch 2 games, at least in the US, will be $90. That is incorrect, as of right now. 

One X user posted Switch 2 EU prices for Mario Kart World, which start at 80 euros for a digital version and 90 euros for the physical copy. Typically, US and EU games match in price, which caused some to assume that this pricing would be the case for the US. 

US retailers, however, already posted their Switch 2 game prices, and Nintendo-published games are listed at $80.

Will Trump’s tariffs cause the Switch 2 to cost more?

As for Trump’s tariffs, that is unlikely to be a driver of this price bump. Tariffs are not applied to digital goods, and when the prices were published, there were no tariffs on Japan. Plus, games are similarly expensive in other countries like Canada and the UK.

With that cleared up, why are Nintendo games on the Switch 2 so expensive? One likely reason is game storage. 

Read More: All the Nintendo Games You Can Update to Switch 2 for Free

The Switch 2 uses what Nintendo calls game-key cards, which are Switch 2 cartridges that don’t have all the game data on the cartridge itself. This helps save on production costs as storage is expensive. The original Switch cartridges went up to 32GB of storage, which doesn’t seem like a lot these days, with some games taking up 100GB or more of storage, but this is for the original Switch. Only a few games, like The Witcher 3, went above 32GB because the graphics for the Switch weren’t on the high end like with a PC, PS5 or Xbox Series console, where a Witcher 3 install size starts at 50GB. 

Switch 2 games are going to be bigger in size — there is little doubt about it. CD Projekt Red confirmed it would put its Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition on one 64GB cartridge, and there will likely be other games to surpass that 64GB. With the max size of the cartridge doubling in size, it adds to the price of the physical card, as not only does storage have to be bigger, but they will need to transfer data faster. That can get more expensive for physical copies, unlike optical discs, which are still the same price whether it has 20GB or 100GB on the disc. 

What does all this mean for gamers?

This leads to a dilemma for publishers: Put the entire game on the physical card and sell it at a loss, increase the price of the physical copy with the full game on it or use the game-key card to have a card with minimal storage, requiring gamers to download the entire game.

Read More: The 17 Best Nintendo Switch Games Right Now

It appears that Nintendo went with door No. 2. This doesn’t come as much of a surprise, knowing the company. Anyone who wants to save money on games knows that Nintendo will seldom bring the price down of its own games. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, for example, is 8 years old and is still full price on Nintendo’s website. 

According to an industry analysis from Niko Partners, this new pricing could become the new normal in a couple of years when it comes to physical cartridges.

«While there has been some sticker shock regarding the price of games increasing from $60 to $70 or $80, these price points are set to become industry standard over the next two years, especially so for Nintendo first-party games,» Niko Partners said in a statement Wednesday. «One reason for the higher price is the increased cost of the new and faster Game Cards themselves, with higher capacities being more expensive to manufacture than a PS5 Blu-ray disc.»

Nintendo didn’t respond to a request for comment about the higher price of its games. 

That said, this doesn’t explain the lower price of Donkey Kong Bananza, which comes out in July; that’s listed on Nintendo’s site for $70. This could mean the game isn’t using a larger storage card, but that can’t be said for sure until the game comes out. It’s unclear how things will change in the future.

Continue Reading

Technologies

Nintendo Switch 2 Pre-orders in US Delayed Due to Trump’s Tariffs

The Switch 2 launch is still happening on June 5, and preorders outside the US seem unchanged.

Nintendo Switch 2 preorders in the US were to start April 9, but it appears those plans have changed due to the new tariffs imposed this week by President Donald Trump. It’s unclear if this means Nintendo will also have to increase the price of the Switch successor, which currently starts at $450. 

Nintendo said Friday that it’s delaying Switch 2 preorders in the US, but its June release date is unaffected. 

«Pre-orders for Nintendo Switch 2 in the U.S. will not start April 9, 2025 in order to assess the potential impact of tariffs and evolving market conditions,» the company said in a statement. «Nintendo will update timing at a later date. The launch date of June 5, 2025 is unchanged.»

Nintendo didn’t indicate if preorder dates outside the US would change, but Eurogamer reports that preorders are live at various retailers in the UK.

A tariff of 24% has been applied by the US to goods from Japan. Were that rate to be applied directly to the Switch 2’s announced price, it would rise to $558, but it would be up to Nintendo how much of the tariff it will pass on to consumers.

This is a developing story.

Continue Reading

Technologies

Twelve South’s Foldable Wireless Charger for iPhone and Apple Watch Is Up to 27% Off at Amazon

This handy accessory makes it easier to travel with your Apple gear and stay charged wherever you go.

Whether you’re traveling for business or off on a wonderful family vacation, charging your stuff shouldn’t be something you have to worry about. Taking extra chargers and cables can be a pain, and they all take up space in your bag. But the handy Twelve South Butterfly SE charger is a compact alternative that can wirelessly charge an iPhone and an Apple Watch at the same time. And it’s available with up to 27% off right now at Amazon.

That top line discount applies to the pink version, though the white model is only $7 more and other colors are seeing 15% off the usual $100 price tag if you have a strong preference. It’s not clear how long the discounts will last, though. 

Hey, did you know? CNET Deals texts are free, easy and save you money.

The charger itself offers a way to wirelessly charge a iPhone and Apple Watch from a single AC outlet, and you can even charge your AirPods when your phone is done, too. And because this is a Qi2 charger you’ll get a full 15 watts of wireless charging for compatible devices — including the best iPhones.

When you’re not using the Butterfly SE, it folds up so it can be slid into a pocket, bag or luggage without taking up too much space. It really is the perfect partner for people who like to travel light.

Unfortunately, this charger doesn’t come with an AC adapter in the box, so you’ll need to provide your own. Make sure it’s rated for 20 watts or more. If you need to buy one, Apple’s 20-watt USB-C charger is just $15 right now.

Why this deal matters

We all carry multiple devices around with us these days. Anything that can make charging them more convenient is a win in our books, especially when you’re traveling. This charger takes up little space when it isn’t being used and charges quickly when it is.

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © Verum World Media