Holidays, check. New Year, check. CES, here we go!

The big one is back again –  the annual Consumer Electronics Show, held each January in Las Vegas, is one of the world’s most influential tech events. It’s where tech leaders converge to showcase the latest tech trends that will guide us through 2025.

For Liberty Global, it’s a key moment to connect with our partners across the industry, explore how emerging innovations are shaping the products and services consumers use, and – importantly – consider how our fixed and mobile connectivity will power this next wave of technology.

It’s also a time for scoping how we, and our operating companies, can make use of these technologies within our services, adding to our best-in-class customer experience.

Here are our five key takeaways for 2025.

Next generation smart glasses

From creating immersive visual experiences to mirroring your device’s screen, we saw the proliferation of smart glasses looking to provide the new interface to our digital world.

Stand out rivals to Meta’s Ray Ban glasses include XREAL, TCL and Rokid. And what has evolved is the fusion of AI into this wearable tech, allowing real-time language transition in-vision, digital voice assistants, and object recognition.

XREAL, for example, partnered with BMW to showcase an enhanced driver experience with AR glasses within the vehicle, while Rokid demonstrated real-time translation from English to Korean within their standard glasses.

With form factor and functionality improving dramatically, it’s great to see the progress made on the long-awaited AR technology. These glasses are lighter, with incredible resolution, device compatibility, and a growing list of advanced features all meant to elevate gaming, media consumption, even remote work – and all powered through wireless connectivity.

The robots are coming

Industry leaders have been promising a breakthrough in robotics for some time now, and this year seems to be the peak we have experienced in robotic innovation.

Once again, advances in AI are one of the key accelerators for robots. The humanoid robots on display by Realbotix are introducing what’s truly possible at the cross-section of AI and robotic technology – they demonstrated humanoid robots that can make eye contact, speak, and make a range of human-like gestures and movements. The robots operate on an open-source platform, meaning they’re compatible with third-party AI, such as ChatGPT.

For its part, Unitree, previously known for their robot dog, also showcased a humanoid robot to match. Meanwhile, SSI Schaeffer demonstrated their logistics robot, where we can see there may be practical use cases for large logistical operations that distribute the electronics this show is primarily about.

But it’s within the home that we saw the most use cases for robots: There were friendly AI-assisted robots, with examples from Samsung and TCL that keep you company while health assistant robots and exoskeletons boost accessibility and monitor health. The robot vacuum finally got an upgrade with an arm on top that picks up your socks before vacuuming. I need that in my life!

A return to entertainment on the global stage

CES became famous for its showcase of groundbreaking entertainment products, but in recent years other emerging technologies had overshadowed the latest in screen technology announcements.

While 8K was noticeably absent,  this year you really can’t ignore the screens because they have become so large, literally!

TCL showed screens of up to 163 inches, with even their “smaller” screens coming in at nearly 100 inches with a price point of less than $2,000 USD. Hisense demonstrated similarly massive screens while LG brought back their transparent screens from 2024 in a novel showcase as the centrepiece of their stand.

Other notable display tech included waterproof outdoor screens, and completely wireless TV paired with a new suction mounting system.

AI is still the industry’s focal point

Last year, we called out AI as the “uber technology enabler,” and this hasn’t changed. We’re seeing the technology evolve with ever-increasing maturity as it’s embedded into products and services consumers use on a daily basis.

We’ve seen its usefulness, uniqueness and purpose, from upscaling TV image quality to facial recognition for security, and improving health outcomes through personalisation.

AI is accelerating innovation across categories, but requires infrastructure to run. While CES 2024 highlighted the industry’s integration of Large Language Models (LLMs) into devices via voice assistants and cloud-connected robots, this year shifted the focus to cost-optimised, energy-efficient infrastructure to deliver fantastic AI products and services.

NVIDIA announced a focus on AI processors within its consumer product range while competitors, such as DeepX, looked to provide ultra-efficient AI processing capabilities within consumer software and devices. SK Telecom and Gigabyte showcased their own AI infrastructure propositions to improve the economics of AI delivery to all.

Automotive highlights steal the show

The term Software Defined Vehicle is increasingly being heard on the CES show floor as automakers are realising that the key differentiators for their vehicles will be the advanced infotainment systems onboard.

BMW teamed up with TiVo to produce an integrated infotainment system while Samsung collaborated with its subsidiary Harman to demo their infotainment system they say turns cars into intelligent, empathetic companions. These infotainment systems personalise your drive, synching with your phone, music preferences, GPS route and other tools.

Why is infotainment so important? Companies like Waymo and Mobileye are developing such advanced autonomous driving software that the car is increasingly about the ride experience and not the driving experience. Both companies displayed their self-driving autonomous vehicles with an array of sensors, each promising to rapidly expand to new markets.

Your Software Defined Vehicle will produce a large quantity of valuable data, continuing to increase demand for connectivity networks. Innovative companies, such as DIMO, are looking to exploit the data produced and share personalised insights with vehicle owners.

Lastly, I can’t write about CES without mentioning the flying car – it’s tradition. This year, Chinese manufacturer Xpeng showcased its AeroHT, what it describes as a “Land Aircraft Carrier” that’s a car with a passenger drone that combines and separates where required, using the car as a docking station and charger for the drone. European competitor Lilium has struggled with long term funding but Xpeng has secured backing from Chinese banks to continue development. The exhibitor even promised me they have actually flown in the drone!

That’s a wrap for CES 2025

CES remains the key innovation event in the tech industry, setting the agenda for the year ahead whilst offering a glimpse into what’s shaping the future of technology and the digital world beyond 2025.

And for us at Liberty Global, CES is not just an annual showcase of the latest tech gadgets, but a chance to explore what our connectivity is powering and how we can make use of these new technologies within our products and services.