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Zspace created a virtual reality browser
Browsing the web just by clicking a mouse is so 2015. It's the new year now, and to go along with that, zSpace has come up with a new way to browse the web: via virtual reality. The browser is simply called zBrowser, and it's designed specifically for zSpace's new line of all-in-one VR computers, which have so far largely been deployed in schools for educational purposes. These unique Windows PCs come with high-speed head-tracking, a pair of special AR/VR glasses (or clip-ons if you already wear glasses) plus a "virtual reality stylus," which lets you control what's on screen by hovering it above the display. The browser, as you might expect, operates in much the same way.
Zano's tiny drone wants to make aerial photography cheaper
If there's one problem with using a drone for aerial photography, it's that the cost of buying one is prohibitively high. It's not likely that regular folks are going to splash out the better part of a thousand dollars on a drone and more for an action cam to accompany them just for noodling around. That's the issue that the Torquing Group is aiming to remedy with the Zano, a nano drone that wants to bring the price down to under $300, enabling many more people to take the plunge.
Pepcom's '80s-themed news conference in less than 60 seconds
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-108998{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-108998, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-108998{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-108998").style.display="none";}catch(e){} Neon pink spandex, automated baby rockers and a Bluetooth speaker that can chill six bottles of Champagne: This is Pepcom's '80s-themed news conference in less than 60 seconds. For more from Pepcom and and beyond, check out our 2015 CES Field Guide.
Would you pay $1,099 for a Bluetooth speaker that keeps your beer cold?
One of Kickstarter's biggest successes was Coolest Cooler, a beer cooler and Bluetooth speaker that, inexplicably, raised more than $13 million in funding. Presumably it was that eye-watering figure that prompted Thomas & Darden to try and produce the Kube, which aims to outdo its rival in every way. Firstly, there's capacity enough to hold two cases of beer or six bottles of Champagne; a Bluetooth range of 50 feet; and sound that could be heard above the general cacophony of a CES trade show floor. That, however, is not the most eye-popping thing about this massive device; it's the price. If the headline hasn't given it away already, Kube will set you back $1,099.
mamaRoo's electric baby rocker can now soothe by Bluetooth
While baby care gear isn't what you'd traditionally expect from CES, 4moms was on hand to demo a new version of its mamaRoo baby rocker. Gone are the days of having to sneak up on your resting child commando-style to switch modes or slow the device down. The mamaRoo rocker now packs Bluetooth connectivity, a snazzy display and an improved rocking mechanism to help keep junior snoozing while you sip a glass of red... for heath benefits. The iOS and Android apps will also let you select from a variety of white noise presets or enable play of your media player via a 3.5mm connector. Devices cost between $239 and $269 depending on your plush fabric choice and are slated to ship soon.
Tonino Lamborghini's 88 Tauri phone is leather, steel... and $6,300
Having a lot of money entitles you to buy expensive things, but fast cars or Bel Air mansions aren't the only ways you can showcase your wealth. Companies like Vertu and Tonino Lamborghini make smartphones for people with -- let's be honest -- more money than sense, and because I have neither, industry events are my only opportunities to check them out. And it's at just such an event that I've come across Tonino Lamborghini's latest smartphone, the 88 Tauri. Crafted from calfskin leather and "automotive-grade" stainless steel, it's big, heavy and basically exactly what you'd expect a $6,300 status symbol to be. This particular model, as you can see, is a blue and gold number, but there are three finishes of metal and five colors of cowskin to choose from. But why limit yourself? Might as well get one of each.
Getting around on Inmotion's not-a-Segway
Tired of walking, but can't quite cough up the scratch for a Segway? Say hi to the Inmotion R2 in the gallery below. It's a two-wheeled, personal electric vehicle that glides along at a leisurely 9MPH for around 18 miles. It's self-balancing -- you lean slightly forward or backward to move in each direction. Harder leans mean faster speed; tilt the removable handle left or right and you'll start doing donuts -- something Honda's similar contraption does hands-free. Even for this writer, who's never gotten on one of the contraptions before (nor anything even remotely similar), it took about four or five minutes to get the hang of it. After that? No real problems. If you get tired of riding, or perhaps there are too many people around to weave around, you can pull it behind you with the motor assisting -- you won't be dragging dead weight. Perhaps the most interesting aspect, though, is what it can do when connected to your smartphone via a companion app.
Schlage's new smart lock lets you open your door with your voice
Smart locks are starting to become big business, with even Sony (Sony!) muscling in on the action. If, however, you'd like to buy a model from a company with any sort of reputation for security, then Schlage Sense might be the door furniture for you. Simply bolt this thing onto your front door and cram in four AA batteries and you'll almost instantly be able to access your home, either with your key, a four-digit PIN or your smartphone.
Guess the name behind this high-fashion smartwatch
Traditional watch manufacturers, by and large, have been caught flat-footed by the whole smartwatch thing. That's why established fashion brands are now racing toward tech companies, collaborating in the hope of remaining relevant. Guess is one such company that needed a helping hand from some geeks in the know, which is why it has teamed up with Martian Smartwatches for the Guess Connect. From a fashion perspective, the Connect uses Guess' most popular design, Rigor, while Martian's voice control and notification systems are lurking in the background.
Seek Thermal helps your smartphone see in the dark
For as long as humanity has existed, it has sought to banish the darkness that surrounds us for half of each day. Fire, candles and the electric lightbulb have all done their part, and it's now time that thermal cameras join our pantheon of weapons. We've already seen some smartphone-based modules last year, and now Seek Thermal has joined the fray with its Android and iOS unit that joins to your smartphone and helps you see in the dark.
A closer look at TCL and Hisense's Roku TVs
It's only been hours since the little black box maker introduced Roku-loaded TVs and now we're getting our first look at a few sample sets from Hisense and TCL. The sets we saw were of the 48 to 55-inch variety and were all accompanied by standard Roku remotes. The company's representative pointed out that we can expect the standard 20-button remote, with different manufacturers controlling the overall design. The 48-inch TCL set that we saw has a 1080p, 60Hz display and contained a Sigma UXL processor. Roku has yet to release pricing details, but said we will be seeing that closer to launch. For a closer look, check out the gallery below.
Acer Iconia B1-A71 hands-on
For the past few months most of the tablets we've seen have been running Windows 8, but at CES this week Android tablets have seen a resurgence of sorts, starting with two from Vizio and now the Iconia B1-A71 from Acer. It's hardly a flagship tablet. Quite the opposite actually: it has a dual-core Mediatek processor, 512MB of RAM, 8GB of built-in storage, a 7-inch 1,024 x 600 display and a single 0.3-megapixel camera. Overall, the build quality and screen aren't nearly as nice as what you'll get on the Nexus 7. Still, for $150 it could be tempting for folks who think even $200 is a lot to spend on a tablet. We're told this won't go on sale in the US, so for all of our readers in the states this is nothing more than gadget tourism. For the rest of you, though, we've got hands-on photos and video below to help you decide if this is worth any further consideration.%Gallery-175392%
Lenovo ThinkPad 2 pegged for October 26th release, with a $799 price tag
In the land of tweets and tell-alls, keeping privileged information on the down-low is next to impossible. Oddly enough, pricing and release details for the ThinkPad 2 didn't require much espionage. At last night's PepCom event, Lenovo reps told WP Central that the Windows 8-powered slab will be available on October 26th for $799. This price point might be a tad on the high side for some, but it does include the tablet's optional keyboard. As a refresher, the ThinkPad 2 sports a 10.1-inch IPS display, an Intel Atom processor and NFC, all powered by an alleged 10 hour battery. For the data gluttons out there, AT&T's LTE is on the menu stateside. Whether or not this pricing and release information holds true, we'll still have to see what else surfaces before making a final decision this holiday season.
ZTE Anthem 4G hands-on (video)
Metro PCS' first American LTE phone may be fast when it comes to download speeds, but not so much when it comes to basic functionality. The ZTE-built Anthem arrives next week at MetroPCS providers for $249.99 ($219.99 after a mail-in rebate), and it comes with an aging OS -- Gingerbread. Yes, when we got our hands on the device this evening, the very first thing we noticed was the decidedly elderly operating system that ships with it -- so, it's not the freshest Android device on the block. The Anthem's touch functionality didn't give a good first impression either, not responding on the first try for a handful of basic functions, and slowly dragging from pane to pane. The phone sports a 4.3-inch WVGA display that's decent enough, especially when compared with other recently introduced mid-range smartphones and runs on a dual-core 1.2GHz Snapdragon CPU (the company wouldn't specify which precisely). The phone itself is on the excessively chunky side, but given its off-contract berth and $249 pricing, that lack of design finesse is to be expected. MetroPCS reps wouldn't confirm whether an upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich is on the books for the Anthem, but if you're plunking down for this clunker, it's probably not much of a concern. Check out the gallery below for additional shots and head on past the break for a brief video tour. %Gallery-166202%
Plantronics M55 and M25 bluetooth headsets ears-on
Plantronics has launched two headsets at this year's CTIA: the M55 and M25. Sure, we'd bet dollars to donuts that piles of companies offer more bells and whistles but the M55's $49 and the M25's $39 price tag will likely garner some fans. The M55 features voice activated answering, 11 hour talk time, 16-day standby, DSP noise reduction, a physical barrier on the mic to reduce wind noise, and one free year of the Vocalyst service. The M25 apes its pricier sibling except it lacks the Vocalyst service and voice activated answering. Both devices feature a deep sleep mode that extends standby time out to 150 days once your device steps out of range of your mobile for longer than 90 mins. Best thing? You can barely notice when you're wearing one, though the rubber parts are a bit grippy and might tend to pull hair when being put in and removed from your listening place. Zachary Lutz contributed to this report.
Corning Gorilla Glass 2 hands-on (video)
Corning's got some new Gorilla Glass on display here at CES, and it's really, really durable. How durable? Durable enough to stonewall our best attempts to crack it. And we lift weights. We got the chance to test out the latest Gorilla Glass 2 during a demonstration at Pepcom this evening, and found out that the company's fresh glass is about 20 percent stronger than its predecessor. In fact, it didn't even crack under 120 pounds of pressure, which is like, a third of what we bench. Do yourself a solid and check out the gallery below, followed by the olympic video, after the break.
Lantronix xPrintserver mobile printing system hands-on (video)
It's been nearly a month since Latronix announced its xPrintserver mobile printing solution and today, we finally got to see it in the flesh, here at CES. With this little white box, users can wirelessly print photos or other documents directly from their iDevices. All they have to do is hook it up to their network, select an image from their iPhone or iPad, and just click the print option in iOS. That kind of convenience will cost you a mere $150, and it's about as simple as it sounds, as we found out during a demonstration here at Pepcom. Check it out for yourself, after the break.
Belkin WeMo Home Control Switch and Motion Sensor: hands-on (video)
Belkin announced a pair of new WeMo home automation devices ahead of CES yesterday, and at today's Pepcom event, we managed to get a little experience with them for ourselves. First up is the succinctly titled Home Control Switch -- a humble-looking electrical outlet that you can turn on and off with an accompanying WeMo smartphone app. This effectively allows you to leave your appliances and gadgets plugged in and control them from afar. When coupled with the surprisingly petite WeMo Motion Sensor, the two devices can be programmed to turn devices on and off based on movements within your lair. Both accessories sport pretty unassuming aesthetics, and are slated to hit the US market this fall, with the Home Control Switch priced at $50 and the Motion Sensor sitting at $60. Head past the break for our brief hands-on video, and be sure to check out our gallery below for a closer look.
Canon ELPH 520 HS camera: hands-on (video)
We just stopped by Canon's booth here at Pepcom, where we got the chance to get a brief hands-on experience with the company's new ELPH 520 HS point-and-shoot camera. Announced this week at CES, the 10.1-megapixel 520 HS is the higher end of two new ELPH devices Canon Unveiled at CES this week, featuring a high-sensitivity CMOS sensor and sensitivity levels of up to ISO 3200. There's also a three-inch LCD around back, along with support for 1080p video capture, and a generous 12x (28mm) optical zoom lens. During our brief experience with the device we were impressed with its slim build and lightweight construction, though at a retail price of $300, it's definitely within mid- to high-range budgets. It's slated to hit the market in March, but you can get a sneak peek at the 520 HS in the gallery below, and in the video after the break.
3M Shoot 'N Share does just that: shoots 720p, shares with its built-in pico
3M may have snuck out two pico projectors for the guy in the boardroom yesterday, but its latest handheld is clearly designed for after-hour usage. Figuring it can leverage its projector roots and jump right on into the camcorder / camera side of things, the company's Shoot 'N Share packs a 5 megapixel sensor that can capture 720p MP4 video as well as take stills. Once you're done recording, you can tap the capacitive projector button and display it on the wall (or in our style, on someone's forehead). We figured with only 14 lumens of brightness it would be fairly dim, but some recorded video was actually bright enough to make out in a fairly light room. However, it only projects at 640 x 480, though we guess for $299 we didn't expect much more. The projector... er, camera, has a microSD card slot and HDMI jack on its edges, but it's definitely chunkier than we'd like. Hit the shots below to decide for yourself and the press release after the break for a few extra details. %Gallery-102474%