CES2019

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A CES 2014 Flashback: The Folly of Curved TV Screens

John Martellaro ·

At one time, five years ago, curved TV screens were all the rage. Every TV manufacturer jumped on the bandwagon, fearful of being left out. Today, we know it was a fad. A folly. A technical dead end. Recently, ars technica took us back in time, via Twitter, to their prescient analysis. After a good technical roundup, “The flat-out truth on curved TVs” ars concluded:

The mishmash of arguments for a curved TV isn’t necessarily an indictment of the value of curved TV. This would not be the first time that manufacturers obscured the technical or scientific reasons for a decision because they think it’s too hard to explain to consumers. It may be easier to latch onto words like “immersive” and “theatrical” and hope no one asks the hard questions.

But, it would also not be the first time that manufacturers assigned value to some spec based on the idea that it qualitatively improved a viewing experience in some way, only for consumers to find the end result is underwhelming and, more importantly, not worth paying for.

CES – Scosche BaseLynx Modular Wireless Charging Station Organizes and Charges Your Devices
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CES - Scosche BaseLynx Modular Wireless Charging Station Organizes and Charges Your Devices

Dave Hamilton ·

Scosche’s CES booth was again full of great new devices for managing your devices in both your home and car, and the highlight to us was their new BaseLynx modular wireless charging station. Available modules include a Qi fast-charge dock, an Apple Watch dock, powered end-cap, and a vertical power station which holds three wired devices. The end-cap has a 12V USB-A and 18W USB-C PD outlet, and the power station has that plus a second USB-A port. You can mix-and-match modules to serve your needs – including just using one if you like – and BaseLynx is engineered to prevent over- or under-voltage, surging, and overheating. Pricing has not yet been announced, and BaseLynx is due to be available this coming spring.

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CES - Ultrahaptics Uses Ultrasound for Touchless Gesture Control, Haptic Feedback, and 3D Viewing

Dave Hamilton ·

One of the coolest things I found at CES this year was Ultrahaptics technology, allowing for gesture control and haptic feedback using only ultrasound. Touching nothing, I was able to control and manipulate an on-screen “object”, and even feel it all through the magic of ultrasound waves. They also had a demo using their tech that tracks your face and eyes to project and focus a 3D image without the need for any glasses. I talked a bit about it on the show floor:

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LG's CES 2019 Curved OLED Screen Booth Display [Video]

Dave Hamilton ·

Every year at CES one of my favorite things is to visit the Central Hall to see all the new TV technology. This year LG again won my vote for most impressive display (no pun intended!) with its array of curved OLED screens. Showing a rotating series of nature videos, this array of curved displays was both immersive and astounding. The video doesn’t do it justice, of course, but it’s worth a quick look just to get an idea of what the future looks like. Enjoy!

CES – QDOS Infinity Glass Encases your iPhone in Tempered Glass
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CES - QDOS Infinity Glass Encases your iPhone in Tempered Glass

Dave Hamilton ·

At CES Wednesday, QDOS was showing off Infinity Glass, a case unlike any I’ve ever seen: both the front and the back are made entirely of tempered glass, and the two halves fit together with magnets to completely encase your iPhone. The case snaps on quickly and without any alignment required, and the metal edging fits perfectly together around your phone. Once on your iPhone, the seams between the two halves disappear, and everything feels smooth and silky, just as you’d expect from tempered glass. QDOS Infinity Glass cases are priced at $49.99 and are available for all current iPhones.

CES – Hyper’s New Wireless AirPods Charging Case
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CES - Hyper's New Wireless AirPods Charging Case

Dave Hamilton ·

At CES 2019 on Wednesday, Hyper was showing off the new version of their AirPods charging case. Due to be made available imminently, the case completely encompasses your current AirPods charging case, and contains a Lightning connector in the bottom. Simply place your existing AirPods charger inside the Hyper case and lay that down on a Qi pad (or mat, like the one coming in Q2 shown in the picture here) and, boom, your AirPods wirelessly charge. Retail price is said to be just US$20.

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HTC Shows Eye-Tracking Tech in Vive VR Headsets

Bryan Chaffin ·

HTC showed off a new eye-tracking tech in its Vive VR headset line. Vive is aimed at the VR world, rather than the AR world being targeted by Apple, but AR and VR are kissing cousins, and this is interesting. The idea is simply that the headset can track your eye movements, which can then be used to activate menu and navigation controls. I think Apple is right to focus on AR, but there is obviously a big future in VR, too, and if HTC can bring this to market, it will make them a real player in that space. TheNextWeb has a good writeup from CES on this:

The biggest splashes came in the form of the new Cosmos hardware (an Oculus Go/Quest competitor) and a new eye-tracking system to be debuted in an update to the Vive Pro called “Vive Pro Eye.” Eye-tracking is a big deal for VR. The Vive Pro Eye, according to HTC, will accurately monitor users’ eye movements inside the headset.

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Providers Tout 5G Claims and Names Before the Network Exists

Charlotte Henry ·

5G is the talk of Las Vegas at CES this week. However, there is mounting controversy about what cellular network providers are actually declaring as 5G. The superfast network will not actually be launched until 2020 or even 2021, but the cellular providers are still keen to brand things as 5G now. A piece on the Associated Press noted that “AT&T has drawn ridicule by relabeling the network used by some of its phones as ‘5G E’,” for example. This main seem a relatively superficial issue but in terms of been clear with customers, it matters.

There’s a history of carriers being murky about network claims. AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint started calling an enhanced 3G network 4G in the early 2010s. There’s more pushback this time because people are now more aware of what a next-generation network can do.

CES – Netgear’s Nighthawk AX12 Brings Wi-Fi 6 and Enhancements to Wi-Fi 5
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CES - Netgear's Nighthawk AX12 Brings Wi-Fi 6 and Enhancements to Wi-Fi 5

Dave Hamilton ·

Netgear took the opportunity Monday at the CES Pepcom event to show off its latest dual-band router, the Nighthawk AX12. Billed as a 12-stream router, this device includes some significant Wi-Fi enhancements over its predecessors. First, of course, is support for 802.11ax, a.k.a. Wi-Fi 6. This operates over the same 5GHz band as Wi-Fi 5 (a.k.a. 802.11ac), but uses OFDMA signaling to fit more bandwidth into the spectrum. Full utilization will require Wi-Fi 6-compatible clients, and nothing from Apple currently supports that. However, this 5GHz radio also supports Wi-Fi 5, and has a couple of benefits: first, with 8 streams for that antenna your chances of getting connected to the best streams double over even the top-end routers out there. Second, the Nighthawk AX includes the very latest Wi-Fi chipset which now truly supports full, 160MHz connections, delivering real-world speed and range increases to existing Wi-Fi 5 devices. Pricing hasn’t been announced, but we expect it to be north of $400. Interested users can sign up to learn more through NETGEAR’s upcoming Premier Beta program.

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CES Organizer Thinks Sex Toys are Immoral and Obscene

Andrew Orr ·

It seems as though the CTA had a problem with a sex toy. Company Lora DiCarlo planned to present its product, but its award was revoked and the company had to remove its exhibit.

But after ranking high enough and winning the designation, Lora DiCarlo was apparently told that its product didn’t comply with the rules. The show’s and award’s organizer, the Consumer Technology Association, allegedly cited rules saying products that are “immoral, obscene, indecent, profane or not in keeping with CTA’s image will be disqualified.” It then backtracked and said the product simply didn’t fit in the robotics and drones category.