Atari's 'Pong', VCRs, and CD players all launched at CES

Ten defining moments at CES through the years

Iconic CES devices like the Apple Newton, CD player, VHS VCR, Sony PlayStation, and Oculus Rift “Crystal Cove” didn’t necessarily seem groundbreaking at the time. Here's a list of some defining moments from the annual show.

Twenty of the coolest products from CES 2025

This roundup from Cybernews showcases standout CES 2025 innovations—from flying cars and robot dogs to VR headsets and AI-powered gadgets—showing the event’s most talked-about tech.

See a gallery of the early years of CES

This gallery showcases rare photos from the early decades of CES, featuring early personal computers and the first handheld cassette players. See how the world’s biggest tech show began and grew.

At CES 1996, Panasonic unveiled the first DVD player to the public

This demo disc from Panasonic’s 1996 CES reveal showed audiences how DVDs offered sharper video, interactive menus, and greater storage—introducing a new era in home entertainment.

Tetris was launched in the US at Summer CES 1988

Tetris first appeared in the US at the 1988 Summer CES, where Henk Rogers—who would later publish and market the game—first encountered it. This interview revisits that moment, with creator Alexey Pajitnov and Rogers reflecting on how the game gained global recognition.

The virtual reality era has finally arrived

The smartphone era has driven a large share of the consumer electronics market for almost 20 years now. But what comes next? Dominant computing platforms come and go over time, and there’s reason to believe that mixed reality devices like headsets and glasses might be the form factor that eventually replaces smartphones. This article presents a snapshot of where we are right now in the VR era, and what the future holds.

CNET previews CES 2026

This CNET preview outlines what’s coming at CES 2026—from major showcases by Samsung, Sony, LG, and Lenovo to expected trends in AI, chips, digital health, mobility, and robotics.

CES debuted in 1967 amid a wave of miniaturization in at-home electronics

The rapid development of integrated circuits—the basis of computing power—in the 1960s catalyzed an industrial shift toward miniature devices, including pocket transistor radios, smaller TVs, and more. This first consumer electronics trade show (with a slate of 117 exhibitors and 17,000 attendees) sought to make everyday electronics accessible and portable. See a timeline of early consumer tech with photos.

The story of the debut 1967 Consumer Electronics Show

Read an account of the origins of the first CES in New York in 1967, a story which is surprisingly difficult to find information about.

Hear about 20 years of change for CES

Longtime CES spokesperson Allie Fried discusses how the show has grown in scale, global reach, and ambition. The podcast also highlights recent tech innovations showcased at the show, including an AI baby panda that can sense emotions and robotic companions for Alzheimer's patients.

The moment Bill Gates and the Rock announced the original Xbox at CES 2001

At CES 2001, Bill Gates and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson took the stage to unveil the original Xbox. This memorable moment marked Microsoft’s entry into gaming and set the tone for its console brand.

A deep dive on everything you need to know about virtual reality

In the wake of Facebook’s purchase of Oculus VR, can the revolutionary technology triumph anew? These interactive articles chart the rise and fall — and rise again — of VR.

Visit the official CES site for event info, tech trends, and innovation awards

The CES Las Vegas site features everything from event schedules and exhibitor lists to coverage of emerging tech trends and highlights from CES Innovation Award winners across various categories, including AI, health, and sustainability.

Why VR/AR gets farther away as it comes into focus

Thirteen years after XR devices became a big tech obsession, VR/AR devices are not just behind schedule, they still seem far away. This article provides an overview of the hardware realities getting in the way of the vision.

The organizer of CES originated as the Radio Manufacturers Association in the 1920s

This centennial page explores the Consumer Technology Association’s 100-year history, from its founding in 1924 shortly after the invention of the radio, to its leadership of CES Las Vegas. Read through the history of the wireless age and how it gave birth to a growing consumer electronics movement.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s keynotes have become a main event at CES

Watch Jensen Huang’s 2025 CES keynote, where he unveiled major advances in AI and GPU technology. His presentations now draw global attention, blending product reveals with sweeping visions of the future of computing.

Explore 100 years of technological innovation at IFA Berlin

This retrospective highlights IFA Berlin’s century of innovation, including the unveiling of the world’s first tape recorder in 1935, the launch of color TV in West Berlin in 1967, and the first public look at HD TV in 1985.

A guide to what you need to get started in VR

From Oculus Rift to Google Daydream, VR is getting plenty of hype. But what system should you buy? And what should you play?

See how CES comes to life with a massive setup across Las Vegas

This behind-the-scenes video shows crews assembling the sprawling CES show—filling more than 2.5 million square feet of exhibition space with booths, lights, and tech from around the world ahead of the event’s opening.

'Super Mario Bros.' helped save the video game industry

A 1983 crash left the industry in tatters, desperate for a hit. Nintendo’s focus on a more immersive home experience was realized in “Super Mario Bros.,” bringing the industry from the arcade to the living room. The title eventually sold over 40 million units.

See a timeline of Silicon Valley's greatest innovations

Silicon Valley is home to some of the biggest innovations of the last century. From radio communicators in the 1930s, to personal computers in the 1970s, the Valley has been the center of technological innovation for decades.

See the schedule and headline keynote speakers for CES 2026

CES 2026 features keynote speakers including entrepreneur and "All-In" podcast cohost Jason Calacanis, and Lenovo Chairman & CEO Yuanqing Yang—part of a lineup spotlighting voices shaping the future of tech and business.

Nintendo began in 1889 as a playing card company

As a leading video game publisher, Nintendo has contributed to expanding the prevalence of handheld and console technologies for over a century. It has also developed franchise mascots that have appeared in other media, including Mario and Sonic.

Retrospekt is one of many companies making money by flipping old, fan-favorite technology like Polaroids, cassette tapes, and Tamagotchis.

Space travel sparked inventions we now use every day

Technologies developed for space exploration produced lasting spinoff innovations—from camera phones to memory foam—displaying how the space race reshaped everyday life here on Earth

‘Eureka Park’ is CES' startup hub at Vegas’ famed Venetian

For years, new ventures looking for funding and a network appeared alongside established bigwigs like Microsoft and Sony at CES. In 2012, CES created “Eureka Park,” a part of the convention where startups could congregate (some viewed it as being sidelined at the time). Producers of hit reality show “Shark Tank” scout new startups in the park every year.

Atari buried hundreds of thousands of video games in the New Mexico desert

The video game industry crashed in 1983, leaving the company with an enormous inventory. Looking to offload the excess, the company secretly had 800,000 cartridges buried in the desert in Alamogordo, New Mexico. For decades, the story was believed to be an urban legend, but documentary filmmakers pursued the story and, in 2014, unearthed the games.

CES has brought more than $6B in economic impact to Las Vegas since 1978

Since moving to Las Vegas in 1978, CES has attracted nearly 5 million attendees and generated more than $6B in local economic impact—boosting hotels, restaurants, transportation, and the city’s global profile.

Explore a breakdown of 18 influential Apple products

The launch of the MacBook Air in 2008 popularized the ultrabook category of laptops, while the iPad (2010) made large-screen mobile devices a technological norm. The iPhoneX (2017) introduced the notch, which has become a staple at the top of many smartphone displays.

Critics choose the 2025 ‘Worst in Show’ awards for CES products

Under the motto “Not all innovation is good innovation,” The Repair Association has selected products at CES that are the least private, sustainable, or repairable for consumers—as well as the “Who asked for this?” award. For example, the least repairable award went to the $2,200 Ultrahuman Rare Luxury Smart ring, which can only be charged 500 times—and replacing the battery effectively destroys it.

Virtual and augmented realities are paving the way for a more immersive future

Tech companies like Apple, Meta, and Microsoft invest heavily in immersive technologies such as virtual, augmented, and mixed reality. While VR transports users to a fully digital space and AR adds digital elements to the real world, mixed reality allows interaction with both at once.

Your iPhone started with a Cold War secret

Silicon Valley wasn't supposed to happen. A stretch of California orchard land somehow became the place that built the modern world: chips, PCs, the internet, the smartphone, and now AI. But the real story isn't the garage myth. It's a series of contradictions hiding in plain sight.

Mark Zuckerberg demos the Quest 3 VR headset

Meta, back when the company was still known as Facebook, once tried and failed to launch a smartphone. With the arrival of the mixed reality era, the company decided to make another hardware play again—and this time, it's having better luck. Meta's aggressively priced Quest headsets offer VR for the masses, and here CEO Mark Zuckerberg shows off the new mixed reality experiences and more available with the latest version, the Quest 3.

Watch a tech demo of the world's first consumer graphics processing unit, the Nvidia GeForce 256, released Oct. 11, 1999.

Famicom was the predecessor to the NES

Before the Nintendo Entertainment System was released in the US, Nintendo released a similar console in Japan with some interesting differences, including a Delorean-like exterior and a built-in microphone for karaoke.

Steve Jobs changed the world with Apple and Pixar

The devices Jobs introduced during his time at Apple, including the iPad and iPhone, were imitated by competitors, ultimately helping to create the numerous options consumers have today. In addition to leading Apple, Jobs also helped turn Pixar and the software startup NeXT into success stories.

The next technology epoch is here

From ChatGPT to DALL-E, 2022 saw the mainstream emergence of artificial intelligence for consumer use. Here's how these platforms will disrupt today's five biggest tech companies—Apple, Amazon, Meta, Google, and Microsoft.

AI expert shows the cyclical nature of AI hype—in 1988

Rodney Brooks wrote several decades ago about the boom and bust cycles of artificial intelligence. Starting from the 1950s excitement over ENIAC's multiplication through the second launch of then-novel neural networks, Brooks suggests AI progresses incrementally despite the hype.

Thousands of Atari cartridges were once buried in a New Mexico landfill

A waste management specialist unearthed a legendary cache of unsold games decades after they were buried, transforming one of gaming history's most famous disposal stories into an unexpected and lucrative salvage operation.

The iPhone's impact in 10 charts

It's been almost 20 years since Steve Jobs first unveiled the iPhone, the device that would come to define Apple for years and change not just the smartphone industry but the world at large. 10 examples of the iPhone's impact include its all-screen touch interface and the way it led to the rise of app culture.

Immersive technologies are increasingly being used in medicine, retail, and education

More accessible devices and user-friendly tools have increased the adoption of these technologies, which provide interactive, 3D environments that facilitate natural human learning. In 2018, Walmart purchased 17,000 VR headsets to train over a million employees in areas such as customer service and Black Friday preparation.

By 2024, Nvidia had become one of the world’s most valuable companies

Nvidia started as a graphics chip designer for PCs and consoles. This explainer traces its rise from early GPU innovation to powering AI breakthroughs and fueling the data centers behind today’s biggest tech platforms.

Car touchscreen debuted on 1986 Buick Riviera, but flopped

Preceding car infotainment centers by decades, the technology that was unveiled in the Buick elicited praise from auto journalists, but consumers did not make investments in the cars.

What's behind the cassette renaissance

Cassettes fell out of fashion in the late 1990s as the popularity of compact discs ascended. But in the streaming era, tapes are having a moment thanks to changing audio preferences, the desire for tangible objects, and a healthy dose of nostalgia. This article explores the recent resurgence, asking whether it's the future of music consumption or just another passing trend.

Microsoft's initial successes came from promising products that did not yet exist

In discussions with teams responsible for MITS's Altair 8800 and IBM's PC, Bill Gates and Paul Allen claimed to have created ready-to-use software. Code for the former was not completed until Paul Allen's flight to MITS' headquarters, where the software was successfully tested for the first time.

A vending machine run with Anthropic's AI went out of business after it was convinced to give away items for free and sell a video game console.

Video games are helping to preserve cultural heritage sites, further archaeological study

When Carmen Sandiego swept onto the video game scene in 1985, the deluxe version of the game included historic photographs from National Geographic and music from the Smithsonian. Read this article to learn about the overlap between gaming and ancient architecture.

Nvidia entered its AI era after learning that its chips could be used in industries beyond gaming

Its semiconductor chips were used in the automotive industry, for data centers, and by crypto miners. And starting in 2006, Nvidia took steps that would ultimately transform it into the AI company it's known as today. This podcast is the second part of a three-part series diving deep into Nvidia's company evolution.

Watch Steve Jobs introduce the first iPad

Apple's cofounder debuted the first iPad in 2010, framing it as a third category of personal electronics between the laptop and the smartphone. Steve Jobs showed off how thin the device was (for the time) and explained how it was better than smartphones and laptops for browsing the web.

A rundown of some of the wildest new tech inventions around the world

The US Patent Office approves roughly 300,000 new patents every year. Among these are some fascinating tech inventions, from high-profile robots and automated bike garages to kaleidoscopic shelves and laser-projected directions for scooters. Check...