CES 2025 unwrapped: gimmicky tech destined to fail?

"This is like the most anti-climactic video I've ever made," Josh Murphy, Cybernews creative producer, said after tasting soup with the flavor-enhancing salt spoon demoed at CES 2025 in Las Vegas.

The spoon is supposed to simulate the taste of salt by sending a mild electric current through the metal in the spoon.

Yes, not a "wow" moment. I wonder if they could electrocute us into feeling more sensations? Like the tingling sensation in your feet after your first smoke?

Cybernews has sent a crew of five people to CES 2025 to witness innovation first-hand, as well as cut thrugh the noise and hype to find true breakthroughs in technology.

Many exciting and weird consumer devices are showcased in Las Vegas every year. In fact, the conference is a true scavenger hunt for its 135,000 attendees, who try to find nuggets of true innovation among over 4,000 exhibitors.

Last year, Vegas was all about AI. Do you remember the hyped RabbitR1 flop? Or the AI-induced mirror designed to boost your mood that never even reached the shelves?

Last year, at CES 2024, we also got excited about LG's first transparent OLED display that looked straight out of a sci-fi movie. Now, do you or your friends have one of those TVs a year later? Well, just so you know, it was made commercially available only in December and for a whopping $60,000. All we can do for now is window-shop.

Yes, in the lab, tech can do wonders, but some of it will never reach the shelves and become mainstream.

As with every other new product in the market, you need to ask whether a new gadget is actually solving a problem or first creating a problem and only then offering an expensive solution.

Scientists are using wearable technology to help people quit smoking. Now, that's a needed innovation, isn't it? But what about heated tobacco systems and vapes? They have been marketed as tools for smoking cessation. Not only have teenagers gotten addicted to this mindless piece of technology (sometimes even Bluetooth-enabled), but some people reportedly resort back to cigarettes to quit vaping.

Among the really weird tech devices we noticed at CES 2025 was a stringless guitar. Is it really such a big inconvenience to touch strings that you need buttons instead? Maybe for some, what do I know?

I am a tech evangelist myself. If I had more money to spare, who knows what I would buy? I tricked myself into buying my first smartwatch, which, to be fair, has turned out to be really useful. Recently, I treated myself to a Garmin HRM-PRO Plus heart rate monitor for more accurately measured training sessions. I literally just bought a Sony PS4 Move camera just so I could play that one motion game (older versions of Just Dance, apparently, aren't supported by the app). And I'm trying to find a reason to buy Meta Quest VR glasses.

It's all very old-school technology that I mentioned here. New gadgets and inventions will surely find their place under the sun. But, as Wired aptly noted, just as long as new gadgets don't do what your phone already excels at.

Are you excited about technology? Make sure to follow us – we'll bring you all you need to know from this year's CES.