The Consumer Electronics Show is an annual electronics show held in Las Vegas, NV. It was January 8-11 at the convention center. The first CES was held in 1967 in New York City and the conference is invite only. Throngs of geeks from all over the world invade Vegas once a year to discover what technology companies have been working on the past six months and what they can expect in the next twelve months.
Some of the booths that garnered attention were the intelligent home, fuel cells, new behavior technologies, and home electronics.
The same lab that created the HD TV’s in 2003, NHK Science and Technical Research Laboratories, has created the 4k and 8k HD television, also referred to as Ultra HD. 4k or Ultra HD TV, shows four times the pixels (3840x2160) as the current 1080p TV in your living room (1920x1080). 8k will show the clarity of an IMAX picture with even more pixels and clarity than the 4k. With the introduction of higher resolution TV’s it still takes a while for the consumer market to catch up so don’t expect the prices of the Ultra HD TV’s to be anywhere close to the current floor models at Best Buy or Costco.
Power cells are another group of technology that stood out this year. With the current challenges in developing fuel cells that last long enough or are eco-friendly. Fulton Innovation, a wireless power innovator has developed a battery charger for your phone that only requires you to be in the vicinity of the charger -- no contact. PowerTrekk created a concept a little more aggressive by providing the customer with their own personal hydrogen fuel cell . The fuel cell works by scooping some water and adding it to a cartridge with filled with basic chemicals. These chemicals extract the hydrogen to fuel a small battery -- leaving sand remnants behind. This technology will be available at REI this spring for about $200. It is fascinating to watch companies all over the world looking to improve the efficiency of the battery.
Over the past few years , we have witnessed tablets, the wireless mouse and the retina display. This years convention featured Tobii which developed a USB device that allows you to control the computer mouse with your eyes. After an eye calibration, Tobii Gaze allows you to navigate a computer screen with by eyesight, selecting and scrolling items with ease. They demonstrated the device at CES by allowing users to play games with their eyes.
Next years Consumer Electronics Show is January 7-10.
Comments