Four Overlooked Tech Trends From CES
January 12, 2010 |
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By Guest Blogger Brent Butterworth, Contributing Technical Editor, Sound + Vision Magazine
Websites and cable TV channels are packed with news from the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. But with thousands of exhibitors spread out through several convention halls and hotels, there are always lots of stories that go overlooked. Here are four we found especially exciting:
Energy-saving innovations: The electronics industry has come up with some entirely new products that help save energy without sacrificing convenience. One of our favorite examples is the Klipsch LightSpeaker (www.klipsch.com). The LightSpeaker combines a 2.5-inch speaker with a powerful LED lamp. It fits in a standard recessing lighting fixture, and it installs just like an ordinary light bulb. A wireless transmitter sends sound from an MP3 player, a TV, etc., to the speakers, and a remote dims the light and controls the sound. Klipsch says the LightSpeaker’s efficient LED consumes only 10 watts but puts out the same light as a 65-watt incandescent bulb. A package with two LightSpeakers, a transmitter, and a remote costs $599.
Another great green product is the Regen ReNew Audio Dock (www.regenliving.com). The dock has a solar panel/battery pack that you can hang in a window to change. Place the charged panel in the dock, insert an iPhone or iPod, and you can listen to music for up to 60 hours on a single charge. A backup power supply assures the ReNew will never fall silent. The solar panel/battery pack costs $199 and the Audio Dock costs $249.
Skype on your TV: Lots of people now sit in front of their computers when they want to make video phone calls through Skype. Now LG (www.lge.com) and Panasonic (www.panasonic.com) make it possible to see and hear distant family and friends from the comfort of your couch. Both companies will soon offer Internet-enabled TVs with Skype built in. Using Skype through these TVs should be super-simple. As with many new laptops, the TVs feature a built-in camera and microphone. And you’ll enjoy a much bigger picture than you’re probably getting on your computer monitor or laptop.
Ciao, CDs: More and more consumers are using less and less “physical media” (i.e., CDs and DVDs). Instead, they’re streaming their audio and video entertainment from the Internet, through home networks, or from iPods and smartphones. Many new products at CES were designed specifically to suit these trends—they don’t even have CD slots. One that caught our eyes was the Pure Sensia (www.pure.com), a desktop audio/video system that looks almost like a big Easter egg. Each end of the Sensia has a speaker, and touchscreen fills the middle. The $349 Sensia plays any of thousands of Internet radio stations, and also streams content from computers and hard drives that are connected to your home network. The only concession to old-fashioned media is the built-in FM tuner.
Alpine (www.alpine.com) and Sony (www.sony.com) took the bold step of launching new auto sound head units that have no CD capability. You get your music from a docked iPhone or iPod, or from the units’ AM/FM tuners.
Pencil-thin TV: TVs are rightly getting lots of attention at this year’s CES, but our favorite new models—the Samsung 9000 series—got a little lost in all the hubbub about 3-D and Internet connectivity. According to Samsung (www.samsung.com), the 9000 series TVs measure only 0.3 inches thick, which is about the same thickness as a pencil. An ingenious stand (which doubles as a wall mount) provides all the connections. Not only is this slim, silvery set incredibly sexy, it also includes a touchscreen remote control/video screen that lets you keep tabs on the ball game while you’re watching the latest DVD. The sets are 3-D capable, so when the new 3-D Blu-ray Disc players come out later this year, you’ll be ready.
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January 15th, 2010 at 12:30 pm
Overlooked? These 4 have been splashed over the airwaves, blogs, etc. for the past 2 weeks!! Nothing new here…
January 19th, 2010 at 5:55 am
iPod docks with fair size speakers and tuners for table top are actually commonplace now. They’re out in consumers homes and have been for several years. My housekeeper shows up with an iPod to plug into mine and get her groove on, get the work done.
As for the Skype in Cinerama thing? Simple hookup even without iSight TVs. That’s just trailing the market and aping all those consumers with a webcam and headset on cables long enough to use the big screen. Given how wonderful some of us look hanging about the house I bet that the tiny pic on the pc remains pretty primary…
3d TV? How ridiculous. Even if the TVs become widely available the costs of producing media for them will be prohibitive for a long time to come. It’s a gimmick. In addition to the little discussed fact that a lot of people don’t react well to 3D. Awful headaches.
The industry in general is still buying into the new tech that shoots, edits, and distribute HD/ Blue Ray. Not to mention a whole supporting crafts infrastructure still perfecting the make up, lighting, set creation needed for media so much more demanding of detail. Infrastructure in both equipment and people takes time and costs vast amounts of money. Where do you toy heads think TV shows come from? Now, even schlocky TV demands the abilities of high end film crews. Maybe those demands will boost the writing along the way, but a whole new level of tech and mad skills to do enough 3D TV is asking a whole lot way too quickly.
That is, if glasses aren’t required. Few people will do those as a lifestyle.
The public is still buying their first digital TVs. An awful lot of people are still on rabbit ears and converter boxes; The cost of the new TVs is prohibitive for many people yet. I had to save for a year for mine. The greater part of the public is not going to run out and buy yet another heftily priced TV set. We just got brand new ones, and 3D isn’t going to interest that many people who are still trying to find antennas that work. Or TV stations needing to pay off new broadcast tech.
3D? So what? Existence doesn’t equal feasibility. It’s a convention, and Samsung built a show car. Get a grip. If 3D were feasible tech they’d just import it from Japan or Europe where TV has been on a standard way past ours for decades. We’re the last industrialized nation to get TV this good because we’ve held on to standards from the 1940’s. And probably held Canada back.
January 19th, 2010 at 4:58 pm
The 9000 series Samsung sounds great. But what happened to the 8000 series which is has great reviews. Has the (local dimming) 8000 disappeared for the (side lit) 9000 series?
January 27th, 2010 at 7:50 pm
Well today is the day that Steve Jobs blessed us with the the glorious Apple iPad. Personally it’s exactly what I knew it was gonna be practically a modified iTouch, I’m actually gonna wait to pick an Apple iPad up. I want to see one with a USB, microphone, camera and multitasking before I’ll make the jump. I especially think that multitasking is the most important feature it is missing. What do you guys think?
February 1st, 2010 at 10:49 am
There were more gadgets at the 2010 CES that went greener this year for consumers to check out. They are definitely worth checking out to help us all become more energy efficient! Check them out here: http://yourupdate.tv/technology/cea_at_ces?autoStart=true?autoStart=false
February 6th, 2010 at 1:30 am
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