CES 2025: Embedded Editor Roundup Report
February 03, 2025
Story

It’s only about a month out from CES and we’re already seeing the impacts of some of the news that was dropped in Las Vegas at the biggest show in consumer electronics.
We were there, meeting with as many folks as we could, trying to learn what’s going on and divine what’s coming (outlook looks good). Wireless data and power transfer through metal is finding practical applications thanks to innovations from TDK, while Rolling Wireless showed its first automotive-grade 5G Release 17 and NB-NTN Network Access Device (NAD) for connecting vehicles in remote areas outside of terrestrial coverage are just two of our favorite examples.
We definitely don't have space to hit everyone we saw, or everything that was cool, but let’s talk about some of the other highlights from the show.
Digi
Digi is always reliable for a powerful incremental improvement and the company’s complete solution on LoRaWAN, the Digi X-ON IoT Platform, is a major increment indeed. This is an end-to-end connectivity solution with IoT sensor nodes for nearly every likely use case, all connected via the company’s powerful xBee ecosystem.
Deloitte
The professional services giant, known best for financial and risk consulting, was at CES talking about the power of Generative AI tools to revolutionize their business, and everyone else’s too. The predicted pervasiveness of GenAI extends from sensors everywhere IoT through robots driven by GenAI decision trees and to basic chip fabrication and leveraging AI vision for inspection and flaw detection.
Elektrobit
It was all about Software Defined Vehicles and the story is that everything is tied to the SDV concept. It’s managed through a hypervisor onboard the vehicles, and a LINUX OS with ASIL-B security on top is doing the “driving” so the systems remain well-protected. In terms of driver experience, the company was also showing off a really cool, pillar-to-pillar digital cockpit environment that was both customizable and deeply comfortable.
Innatera
This company announced at CES 2024 its Spiking Neural Processor T1 ultra-low-power neuromorphic microcontroller SoC that is designed to bring intelligence closer to the sensor, and it’s been in the field for a year now. This year, they were offering evaluation kits, and SDK for engineers to get their hands on testers of this neural processing tool that can make AI at the edge much more accessible.
Innoviz
Innoviz was kind enough to show off its LIDAR visual sensor systems with a ride along in the loaded BMW i7, in which we were able to see how the low-latency, high-fidelity LIDAR system provides the car’s autonomous systems a truly real-time sensory array, with 9 total devices; three for long-range, and 6 for medium and short (down to about 15 cm distance). An impressive display indeed, and even aesthetically, the devices are subtle enough in the design that a casual looker might even miss that LIDAR is even on-board.
MathWorks
MathWorks is perhaps best known for its data science chops, but at this year’s CES, the story was all about the simulation platform they’ve deployed, known as Simulink. It is a block diagram design environment that’s designed to support simulation, automatic code generation, and continuous testing of embedded systems. The point is to be software-first in design, execution, and operation, and this platform makes that ideal, as the company sees it, a reality, especially in electrified technologies like battery management, vehicle autonomy, and connectivity.
May Mobility
In the arena of autonomous driving, much of the smartest thinking is being turned to fleets and public transportation-like systems such as May Mobility. This company partners with municipalities and private companies to deploy fleets of autonomous taxis that operate as an augmentation of existing local public transport networks. And it’s not theoretical, either, with successful running operations in several cities, including Ann Arbor, Michigan and Sun City, Arizona.
Oshkosh
It’s not about the b’gosh anymore, friends. Oshkosh had a huge booth, covering many major industrial areas, mostly in transportation. They said they’re looking for “moments of autonomy” in every space in which they work. For example, jetways at airports are extremely challenging for humans to dock with aircraft perfectly on the first try, whereas an AI driver can hit that mark exactly, every time, saving valuable minutes. In municipal sanitation, garbage trucks are critical infrastructure, but are deeply inefficient, so Oshkosh is deploying zero-emissions, electric drive trucks that can more precisely handle trash bins and keep human operators and bystanders safer.
QNX
With Software Defined Vehicle the watchword for so much of CES this year, it’s no surprise that QNX has a lot to say on the topic. The company rebranded to differentiate it from parent Blackberry, is still grounded in that top-end security from cloud-first tasking and software integration to open standards-driven mixed criticality systems for safety, security and reliability. From wheels to infotainment UX, QNX is all SDV and it looks very good.
Siemens
As one of the biggest and most influential companies in any industrial space, Siemens was doing everything you can imagine in their booth, but there was one big flow through: software defining hardware. These folks were deeply invested in optimizing hardware operations with the aid of software and designing with a software-first approach. Another key discussion point was in customization. Every solution is being tightly tailored to the application so it can be as efficient and productive as possible.
TI
TI has its fingers in many pies in the consumer and enterprise spaces, but we kept our discussions to the automotive sector, where the company is leveraging sensor fusion solutions to deploy next-level occupation sensors based upon radar and edge AI software. These systems can detect the condition of children in car seats and objects, even determining condition based on micro movements, they said. Similar sensor fusion systems are in play with the TI driver assist systems that are pushing toward full autonomy, linking camera, radar, and ultrasound data to AI for perception at incredible levels.
Tokbo
This digital platform company is doing asset monitoring on chip with Cloud SaaS, multi-tenant, time series data management and lots more, in remote environments or right at the center of town. They’ve got gateways (powered by Digi chips) that can run on solar or grid power, and although connectivity is right now dependent on wired hard lines, wireless is coming.