CES 2025 First Impressions and Audio AI

A Celebration of the Art of the Possible. CES 2025 was extremely successful. Even with the impression of fewer people because of the show being even more dispersed. In this first impressions report we discuss how Edge-AI (on-device) is transforming what is possible in audio processing. And of course there was MagSafe and Qi2. USB4. Bluetooth LE Audio. Auracast. Wireless Multichannel. And much more. This is necessarily a brief first impressions editorial to follow up on a very intense edition of CES, where the business-to-business aspects of the show have intensified as predicted.

The elusive dream of an hearable device that provides real time translation between any language continues to get closer due to consistent global R&D efforts. Timekettle, a company from Shenzhen, China, is approaching that goal in a determined way, with actual products and solutions that are available in the market. Now the company announced the release of its latest software upgrade with AI Semantic Segmentation, which Timekettle believes sets a new standard in real-time language translation using earbuds.

While many Chinese companies have focused on developing true wireless earbuds with a combination of features that emulates the most popular models in the market, the young team of developers at Shenzen-based Timekettle have focused instead on one of the most hyped features for hearables: real time translation. After multiple models and several campaigns on crowdfunding platforms, Timekettle has now confirmed its WT2 Plus model ($239.99 USD) will support offline translation.