The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas is gadget heaven, and it opened on 6th January. This is a huge circus of gadgetry with some fantastic super cool, innovative tech on display. You really need to hunt out the winners, as needless to say there is also a considerable amount of rubbish. Here are some of my favourites.
Stanley Smart Measure Pro
Say goodbye to the days of having to pull out an uncontrollable, flailing metal “tape”, which shoots back into its sheaf at high speed, scything through the air, cutting your hand and forcing abusive language from previously muted lips.
When used with the app on your mobile device, the Stanley Smart Measure Pro captures height, width and area of targeted locations simply by taking pictures.
It has a working range of 145 metres with +/-3% accuracy so you can measure large areas such as buildings. All you need to do is attach it to your smart phone, download the app and take photos.
“Here” earbuds
This is a Kickstarter project that has been pledged $635,189 to date. The Here buds may be a big part of how we interact with the world in the future. It is a wireless interactive listening system.
Through two wireless, in-ear buds and a smartphone app, Here allows you to instantly control real world audio so you can hear what you want to hear – no matter the situation – and, as a result, be fully immersed in your audio environment.
Here acts as a studio in your ears by providing you with a volume knob, equalizer and effects to transform real world audio. It’s a “remote control for your ears” and it gives you to an optimal listening experience.
It has been engineered to give you control of live listening experiences. You can suppress the noise of jet engines on an airplane or a baby crying, boost the bass at a club or live mix a concert by adding reverb. You can enhance your senses and personalize every listening experience.
Stack – the future of lighting
I predict that this product together with the Li-Fi technology, which I wrote about last month, will no doubt be combined together sometime in the future. Very simply, Stack is a responsive light bulb system that is also controlled by a smart phone app.
Among other features, it means you never have to flip a light switch again as it has an occupancy sensor to detect whether there is anyone in the room. It automatically dims and brightens according to natural light in the room and adjusts the colour temperature to the time of the day, helping you sleep soundly and wake up alert. It’s also efficient and maximises energy savings.
Parrot Disco Drone
Remember making paper planes as a kid? Parrot is recapturing some of that childish glee with its new Disco drone. Only a prototype currently, but it blows anything you ever made as a kid out of the water.
It’s the first single-wing drone. To get it off the ground, all you have to do is grab hold and give it a throw. It will automatically take off, almost like it were a bird taking flight, and ascend all on its own.
The Disco is controlled by autopilot, so it will keep flying – for 45 minutes – before you summon it home. The autopilot prevents it from performing manoeuvres that would bring it down, while sensors like an accelerometer, barometer and gyroscope along with triple-axis digital stabilisation keep it steady during flight.
It’s powered by an 8-inch propeller and a high-speed engine. You can fly it without any flying experience using the autopilot, however radio control experts can take over.
The drone is fixed with a 14MP front-nose camera, capturing a bird’s eye perspective of the flight. It also sends back real-time telemetry and flight data. When it’s time to touch down, the Disco can land automatically on its own.
SCiO food scanner
How about this new pocket-sized Bluetooth-enabled gadget called the SCiO that promises to reveal the nutritional value of your meal by scanning its chemical makeup?
It’s from the French start-up DietSensor, and developed with the help of Consumer Physics. The device uses near-infrared spectroscopy (the analysis of how molecules interact with light) to determine fat content, carbs and other elements in food and drink. It will hit the consumer market later this year.
This may sound like a dream tool for dieters, but the SCiO is primarily aimed at helping those with conditions such as diabetes or cardiovascular diseases keep a close eye on their diet.
Although the scanner only reads homogeneous food (such as cheese, crackers, bread) and wouldn’t be able to pick up all of the ingredients in a sandwich, the app allows you to input more complex meals manually. So this will add to the irritation of people looking at their smart phones at the table, especially if they start scanning food you have prepared for them!
Ehang passenger drone
It was only a matter of time before we saw the first drone transport for people. A Chinese drone maker, Ehang, unveiled a high-flying 225 kg drone, which in theory will provide autonomous transport for people.
The elegantly designed drone can fly one person at 100 km per hour on a 23-minute trip.
I could see this, literally, taking off on large motor yachts.
You use an app to plan your trip by simply selecting your destination, get in, and the drone takes off. A fail-safe system will protect the passenger, and if any of the systems fail, backup systems cut in and the drone will either go into hover mode or find a safe landing spot.
It has four arms, eight propellers, eight motors and two sets of sensors — as well as a redundancy to ensure safety in bad weather (or perhaps in case one set of sensors fails). Its website says that although the device is thunderstorm-proof, the command center will prohibit the vehicle from takeoff during extreme weather conditions.
LG 8K TV
CES is the place to be to see the quintessential TV of excess for the year! And this year it was from LG.
The 98 inch 8K LED TV is a prime example of that premium luxury. With a resolution of 7,680 x 4,320, the flat screen has four times the resolution of a 4K TV and eight times the resolution of a full HD TV. Like so many new TVs at CES, the 8K LED TV boasts a number of picture-enhancing features like High Dynamic Range (HDR), increased brightness and ultra deep blacks.
The new super high-resolution standard superMHL was only defined on 6th January 2015, and this is one of the first TVs designed to that standard. There is as yet no word on how much the 8K LED TV will cost, but the Sharp 85 inch 8K is $133,000, so it is likely to be extremely expensive. You also might have a problem finding any media to watch on it.
As we are all aware, a smart phone is essential today to control virtually every new device and almost all those I have selected. So the march of smart phones to take over our lives continues!
Roger Horner of e3 Systems
For further information on any of the above, please contact us.
email on info@e3s.com and website www.e3s.com
Tel: +34 971 404 208
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