ICYMI: The 5 Biggest Tech Stories of the Week, from CES to Apple Vision Pro
CES 2024 hit the tech world this week like some kind of mega robot, arms made of smart showers and smart telescopes, the body of a transparent OLED TV, neural headphones for ears and (of course) an AI brain. There was a lot to see.
We’ve rounded up our favorites from the Vegas show in a separate article of the 20 best gadgets from CES 2024 – although you’ll also find a few below – but there was other news this week too.
So if you need a catch-up, read on for your weekly recap, from our brains to your screen and to your brain like magic.
5. The OnePlus 12R came into view
The eyes of the smartphone world may be on Samsung Unpacked next week, but there’s another big launch to come.
OnePlus is launching the OnePlus 12 and OnePlus 12R globally on January 23, and while we already know everything about the former (it was unveiled in China last year), the latter remains a mystery.
Or at least until this week, when a few leaks gave us some extra details on its specs, including the fact that it could have 100W charging power, a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, and a triple-lens camera with a 50 MP main camera. sensor. Considering we already knew it would come with a variable refresh rate screen and a massive 5,500mAh battery, it sounds well equipped – yet it will reportedly start at just $499 (about £390 / AU$750) . If true, this could be OnePlus’ affordable Samsung Galaxy S24 rival.
4. The Mandalorian deserved a movie sequel
We enjoyed Disney’s Star Wars show The Mandalorian since its release in 2020, but feared that the adventures of Din Djarin and Grogu/Baby Yoda were over when season 3 ended last year. Well, we were wrong, because the pair are getting their own Mandalorian spin-off movie.
The Mandalorian and Grogu will go into full production later in 2024 with Jon Favreau directing and executive producing the film, although we have no idea yet when the film will hit theaters. But what we do know is that it will be the first of a series of new Star Wars films already in development at Lucasfilm.
Rumors suggest season 4 of The Mandalorian is also in active development ahead of a future Disney Plus release, so it looks like the Star Wars story will continue for a few more years.
3. The Samsung Galaxy S24 kept leaking
We’re now just a few days away from the big reveal of the Samsung Galaxy S24 series, but honestly, we’re not sure there’s much left to learn about the flagship phones.
This week alone we’ve seen a massive leak of every single spec for every Samsung Galaxy S24 model, we’ve learned about the key features of all three S24 phones in a separate leak, and we’ve heard rumors of a possible crucial upgrade to the S24 screen. And they all follow weeks of teases about the trio, which also includes the Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus and Galaxy S24 Ultra, as well as the vanilla model.
In short, we don’t expect many surprises next week on the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2024. But that doesn’t mean we’re not excited about it. Based on what we think we know, the S24 Ultra in particular will be another fantastic phone – just not a particularly well-hidden one ahead of launch.
2. Apple Vision Pro got a release date – and its first video ad
Apple does not attend CES – Naturally that’s not the case – so it did what it often does in these circumstances and decided to drop some big news instead. Hello everyone! Here! It’s me, Apple! Watch it…
In fairness to Apple, the story was a pretty big one: the Cupertino giant announced that the Apple Vision Pro will officially go on sale in February, with pre-orders starting soon.
It also released the first Vision Pro video ad, where we learned several other details about the mixed-reality headset, including details about the accessories it comes with. And that marketing spend may well be necessary, because with a price tag starting at $3,499 (which works out to about £2,755 / AU$5,225) the Vision Pro is hardly going to be an impulse buy.
But after spending some hands-on time with the Vision Pro when it was unveiled at WWDC 2023, and seeing what spatial 3D videos will look like before Christmas, we also suspect that those of you with deep pockets will be lining up to give it a try.
1. We went to CES – and we loved it
What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas, or so the saying goes – but that’s clearly not true when it comes to CES. And it shouldn’t be, because there was just so much exciting to see that we just had to tell the world about it.
Check out our top 20 best gadgets from the CES 2024 awards page for the full story – or follow us on TikTokwhere we have dozens of videos from the CES show floor – but let’s take a look at a few ICYMI highlights here…
More? Okay, we listened to Dolby Atmos music in a Mercedes-Benz, were fascinated by Celestron’s AI-enhanced smart telescope, were thrilled by the MSI Claw and decided that ‘Neural’ headphones are the next big thing in audio.
Oh, and we also lusted after Ottobot Brew’s beer-dispensing robot, stared at Helix’s personal vertical take-off and landing plane, tried the Evie Smart ring and almost showed ourselves in Kohler’s new smart shower – although less was said about the latter one the better.
In short, we saw everything we could and you can read about our favorites below.