CES

Nvidia’s Chat with RTX lets you train your own local chatbot with your own files for free, no cloud required. Seconds after I fed it the Epic v. Google legal complaint PDF, I got decent answers to questions like “What does Epic Games want” and “Which laws does Epic allege Google violated?”

But it also confidently hallucinated that Framework’s Nirav Patel is The Verge’s CEO after ingesting this YouTube transcript, LOL. Maybe I’ll just use it as memory aid for reams of old notepad files?

Phone makers keep experimenting with ways to incorporate E Ink, from secondary displays to relying on it as the only display, but its lower refresh rate can make experiences feel hampered compared to LED and OLED.

But Infinix put E Ink’s Prism tech on the back of a phone, leading to something very customizable and very pretty.

Kohler’s got an E Ink version of its Numi 2.0 smart toilet on the show floor — and it’s got the whole Verge crew in a tizzy. Jen has all the deets, which you can check out in this video! Rumor has it, that whooshing sound you hear in the distance is a rogue Alex Cranz making a beeline toward the E Ink toilet as we speak.

I’m in Samsung’s CES booth this morning, where I finally got to see the new Ballie robot in action. It was cool! Helping with workouts, tracking air quality, making calls. And then… it got very confused about how its projector screen worked, and eventually stopped showing anything at all.

Poor Ballie might need a nap after all this work this week.

There weren’t many, but most big names announced theirs last year.

New to buy are Ubiquiti’s UniFi U7 Pro PoE+ access point and several of TP-Link’s new (and some not so new) routers. Coming later are MSI’s Roamii mesh and Acer’s new 5G and mesh gaming routers. And that’s about it for CES 2024 routers. Read our Wi-Fi 7 guide before you buy one.

“Disrupt the bathroom faucet” was not on my CES bingo card, but on giant orange plinths in the middle of Kohler’s booth was the most bizarre-looking bathroom tap I’ve ever seen.

Kohler’s new angular, very orange, limited-edition Formation 01 faucet is a “revolutionary” new bathroom fixture, according to Wallpaper Magazine.

That’s a stretch; it’s just a tap — it doesn’t do anything fancy, it's not even smart. But full points for trying something new, Kohler!

The show floor only just opened yesterday, but we got a glimpse at a ton of cool new products, prototypes, and features:

• Asus made a portable monitor — and a laptop — with two screens.

• Sony and Honda showed off an Afeela EV prototype that puts Fortnite on your bumper.

• Amazon announced Matter casting support for Prime Video.

• Google and Samsung teamed up to combine Quick Share and Nearby Share into a single sharing solution.

• This AI startup made a little gadget that’s supposed to use your apps for you.

There’s still more to come! Stay tuned to our coverage, and make sure to check out The Verge’s TikTok and Instagram where we go hands-on with new devices.

I love bending nature to my will, but the Bon Voyage concept trailer is... something. LG’s experimental Labs group has fitted this beast with a bed and bathroom as usual, but also a wine bar, outdoor beer fridge, karaoke machine, an external TV revealed behind a fold-down table, a second pull-out table with integrated induction cooktop, that stupid Duobo coffee creature, and one of those clothing sanitizers LG has been bringing to CES for years but I’ll never understand.

I’ve included a few of DJI’s photos of the drone, called the FlyCart 30, below. It can carry as much 30kg as far as 16km when utilizing its dual-battery configuration, according to a press release.

The drone has already been released in China, but it’s now going to be coming out globally, DJI says. The company anticipates that it will be available by the end of Q1, spokesperson Regina Lin tells The Verge.

Jackery tells the The Bearded Tesla Guy  that the center solar panel of that expandable 1000W array will be capable of 400W when the rooftop tent ships in Q4. It will feature a removable power station (with optional battery expansion) integrated into the tent that’s “sleekly designed” to maximize interior sleeping space. There’s also an optional AC inverter to quickly charge those batteries off the vehicle’s alternator.

This is the Scosche Strikeline Cobra. Tiny magnetic strips woven into its thin braided jacket let it coil into a single solid object in your bag. Sadly, it’s a slow 480Mbps USB 2.0 cable, with 60W charging. Come on!

A firm called Supercalla pioneered magnetic coiling cables, and I owe the founders an apology — in the time since I wrote this story, I discovered they sell a 100W / 10Gbps cable that’s actually awesome, with strong magnets. Just wish it were longer than three feet!

We ran into her at Samsung’s booth, where she was doing... a SmartThings cooking show, I suppose you’d call it? Somehow I doubt Martha’s using a ton of Bluetooth appliances and smart ovens, but hey, you never know.

Hard to tell, by the way, who drew the bigger crowd: Stewart, or Ballie. It was close.

At CES, Eureka Park is where you’ll find a ton of smaller startups and tech companies working on next-gen ideas. It’s also where you’ll generally find a handful of companies trying to innovate the way we pee. Toilet humor aside, there’s a lot of valuable information stored in urine — which is why it’s an area of interest for the health tech community. Here’s a look at three urine-related tech startups that caught my eye.

AMD held its “advancing AI PCs” CES yesterday, and now Intel is ready to also talk about AI-powered PCs. You can watch the entire keynote over at Intel’s website, where it kicks off at 5PM PT / 8PM ET / 1AM GMT. Stay tuned to The Verge for all the latest news from Intel at CES.

I would totally use the new Asus ZenScreen Fold that’s on display here at CES 2024 — if the price were right. I'd hook up my Steam Deck and work laptop. Asus did not tell me if the price was right. Any bets?

Imagine no more: one of Samsung Display’s two new folding flip phone concepts at CES 2024 does that: the Samsung Display Flex In&Out.

The other is the Flex Liple, which I hear stands for “light” and “simple.” Since they both ditch the cover screen, perhaps it’s a way to manufacture less expensive flip phones, too.

Rabbit’s not shipping its new AI-powered R1 device until March, but the company just launched it officially today at CES. I got a few seconds with founder Jesse Lyu’s device, which didn’t do much thanks to crappy hotel Wi-Fi. But it’s a really nice-looking little device! The buttons feel good, the orange glows super bright, and the whole package is surprisingly light.

Rabbit’s vision is huge, and sprawling, and will be hard to pull off. But I love a good gadget, and I dig this thing.

Glasses-free 3D, anyone? Samsung is previewing a 37-inch 4K gaming monitor at CES 2024 that can automatically switch between 2D and 3D. It includes eye and head tracking tech to analyze your position and gaze to create the 3D experience without destroying the colors and brightness.

You can use it to watch 3D movies or play VR games since it’s also compatible with SteamVR. Samsung says more details are to come later this year.

The company announced at CES today that its “Premium Teeth Resin” has been registered with the FDA and enables 3D-printed dentures with “life-like aesthetics” that mimic “natural teeth translucency and opalescence.”

Dentists can order the resin now for $550 per kilogram.

I’m not even a little embarrassed a robot helped me walk around CES 2024. I kind of want to do it more!

The WiRobotics WIM is a $2,500-ish belt pack with fold-out roboarms that gently lift your legs up and down as you walk. It made me feel lighter, and only weighs a few pounds itself. The company says it reduces walking energy by 20 percent. Maybe when I’m older.

While CES is known for wacky displays, laptop concepts, and TVs galore, the show’s opening keynote this year is from L’Oréal. The beauty company kicked off the show talking about how AI, augmented reality, and gadget innovations can democratize beauty tools and lead to greater sustainability by saving water and electricity.

It also showcased some of its existing tech, like its HAPTA lipstick applicator for folks with limited mobility, a wearable headset that can deliver scents based on your emotions, and a Giorgio Armani skin profiler. L’Oréal also had Eva Longoria come out to talk about its Colorsonic at-home hair dyeing gadget because celebs — they get gray hair just like us.