Sony will launch a new subsidiary in the spring called Sony Mobility to “explore” the company’s entry into electric vehicles, CEO Kenichiro Yoshida told a CES 2022 news conference Tuesday. He showcased a prototype SUV version of the Vision-S concept car he introduced at CES 2020 and that is being road-tested in Europe. The 40-minute conference paid tribute to Sony Pictures and Sony Interactive Entertainment but made no mention of Sony’s core consumer technology operations that dominate its booth at the rear of the Las Vegas Convention Center’s Central Hall.

Finnish audio company QuietOn is showing at CES what it calls the world’s smallest active noise-canceling earbuds. The company promotes the QuietOn 3 for use while sleeping to reduce low-frequency noise and help users have a restful night’s sleep. The buds’ form factor is small enough to fit entirely in the ear, making it possible for even side-sleepers to use them comfortably, the company said. The QuietOn 3s don’t use transmitters, receivers or other components typically found in music earbuds.

The world's first 97-inch OLED TV model is featured in LG’s new G2 series, said the company Monday. A new 83-inch model also is included to complement the 55-, 65- and 77-inch TVs already in the lineup. A new LG “brightness booster” enables G2-series TVs to render “enhanced brightness through improved heat dissipation and a more advanced algorithm,” said the company. LG will debut its first Micro LED TV later this year, said the company in its “World Premiere” video that aired in its customary CES time slot, offering few details about the product.

House Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., is “no longer participating” in CES 2022, nor are Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) or New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R), confirmed a CTA spokesperson Monday. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is still keynoting CES on Thursday but will do so virtually, not in person as originally planned, she said. The full slate of senators on a Friday panel called Women Leaders of the Senate will still appear live in Las Vegas, she said, including Sens. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev.; Maria Cantwell, D-Wash.; Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.; and Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va. The spokesperson sidestepped our questions about whether the speaker withdrawals were germane to CTA's decision to waive its $700-and-up Deluxe Conference Pass fees for in-person CES 2022 audiences (see 2201030034). Blackburn confirmed Monday that she will travel to Las Vegas for CES 2022 and looks “forward to collaborating” with tech leaders and the bipartisan group of senators on “key issues in the tech environment, including the current lack of accountability eroding the relationship between platforms and users.” A spokesperson in Clyburn's office confirmed Tuesday "that the Congressman had a scheduling change and will not be attending CES this year."

Qualcomm is working with Microsoft to develop a “custom” augmented-reality Snapdragon chip for “next-generation, power-efficient, very lightweight AR glasses for the Microsoft ecosystem,” Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon told a CES 2022 news conference Tuesday. “We’re integrating into that chip platform software from both companies,” including Microsoft Mesh and the recently developed Snapdragon Spaces XR developer platform. he said. “We’ve been talking for years about the possibility of having wearable augmented-reality devices that will gain scale,” said Amon. “I’m very excited about this partnership as a step in making that a reality.” Qualcomm was one of the few CES 2022 Media Day companies to livestream its news conference from a Mandalay Bay ballroom with an in-person audience. “I have to tell you I’m super-excited,” said Amon as he opened the 11 a.m. PST conference. “I thought there’d be like five people here. I have 75 to 80% of a full room.”

CTA was vague when we questioned it about how health and safety criteria factored into its New Year’s Eve decision to shut down CES 2022 a day earlier than previously planned (see 2112310001). “We have consulted with outside medical professionals and health experts in the State of Nevada to develop our health and safety protocols,” emailed a spokesperson Monday. It’s unknown for how long the decision was in the making to shut down CES 2022 at the close of business Friday. CTA released the announcement about 2:15 p.m. EST. Roughly four hours earlier, when CTA announced that “130+” exhibitors were signed on for the CES Unveiled Las Vegas media-only event Monday at the Mandalay Bay, CES 2022 was still on as a four-day event. CES crowds customarily are already home or headed out of town when day four rolls around. CTA’s explanation was similarly murky about its decision, disclosed Thursday without much fanfare, waiving its Deluxe Conference Pass fees for in-person CES 2022 audiences. We wanted to know if CTA’s rationale for a fee waiver was as an incentive against in-person CES audiences dropping out or because participating speakers or workshop panelists had decided in the end not to travel to Las Vegas. Instead, the CTA spokesperson said: “We are excited to offer all registered attendees that are attending the live show in Las Vegas with access to the great line up of speakers and sessions (100+) we have planned. Therefore we have made the decision to no longer require a paid conference pass to attend our conference sessions.” Those who paid for the $700 pass through Dec. 8 (and $850 after Dec. 9) will get refunds after the show, said CTA. We found noticeable gaps in the CES 2022 conference schedule Monday, compared with the content that was displayed there when we checked over the weekend. Gone from the schedule is a Friday session at 9 a.m. with House Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., on making high-speed internet more affordable and accessible. There also no longer appears a previously listed session on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. with Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) and New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) on how innovation is shaping their communities. On Dec. 21, CTA publicized a Jan. 7, 12:30 p.m. session in which Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., would lead a panel that included Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., with Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va. The schedule Monday afternoon still listed a session on that date and time slot called Women Leaders of the Senate, but the page listing of possible participants was blank.

If a CES 2022 attendee who's not a Clark County resident tests positive for COVID-19 after returning home from Las Vegas, it routinely doesn’t get reported to Clark County but to the patient’s state or local health department, emailed a Southern Nevada Health District spokesperson Monday. It’s the same protocol that was in place two years ago when no direct link was made between CES 2020 and COVID-19 infections throughout the country (see 2004240041). The protocol is common to local health jurisdictions throughout the U.S., and points to the difficulty of confirming whether COVID-19 can be traced directly to CES 2022.

Another autonomous-driving lidar company, AEye, bowed out of the in-person CES 2022 for health and safety considerations amid the spread of COVID-19's omicron variant, it said Thursday. AEye instead will stream a live webcast Jan. 5 and 6 on YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook, emulating what it would have shown on the CES 2022 show floor, it said. “Creating this virtual platform enables us to adhere to our commitment to the health and safety of our customers, partners, and employees, while encouraging active engagement and dynamic communications,” said CEO Blair LaCorte. Velodyne and Cepton were among the other lidar companies withdrawing from in-person CES 2022 participation earlier in the week (see 2112290002).

Canon USA will use its CES 2022 booth in the Las Vegas Convention Center’s Central Hall to showcase “new collaborative visions” through the launch of its new corporate theme, “TogetherNext,” said the company Thursday. Canon will enlist actor and filmmaker Joseph Gordon-Levitt and his online media platform HitRecord “to show first-hand how Canon's new hybrid collaboration technology in development can help him and his company create through a virtual, real-time writers' room experience,” it said.

Despite an exodus from the show of major exhibitors and media outlets, including keynoter and sponsor T-Mobile (see 2112220003), the in-person CES 2022 will “go forward” Jan. 5-8 in Las Vegas because “important innovation for world health and safety, mobility and solving problems will be exhibited” there, said CTA Wednesday. “Thousands of smaller and medium sized companies rely on CES for their business,” it said. “We have increased our official count to over 2200 exhibitors.” The 42 exhibitor cancellations CTA recently got are “less than 7% of our exhibit floor,” and 60 new companies joined since Friday, it said. “Digital access” to CES 2022 is available “for people that don’t wish to, or can’t travel to Las Vegas,” said CTA. “Registrations for both our digital access and our Las Vegas event are continuing to show strong momentum, with thousands more registrations in the last few days.” CES 2022 will have “comprehensive health measures” in place, including mandated COVID-19 vaccines, a Las Vegas indoor-masking requirement and onsite COVID-19 testing, said CTA. But the show is not requiring booster shots, and adherence to the Abbott Labs BinaxNOW rapid antigen self-test kits it’s distributing free to all badge holders will rely on the individual honor system (see 2112170033). With the health and safety protocols in place, “coupled with lower attendance and social distancing measures, we are confident that attendees and exhibitors can have a socially distanced but worthwhile and productive event in Las Vegas, as well as a rewarding experience on our digital access,” said the association.