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Mercedes goes all in with in-car natural-language control
Infotainment systems are a mixed bag. There are very few truly good ones, but even if an automaker can pull off a solid interface, it's mired by latency thanks to a slow processor. Typically these in-car systems usually aren't up to par with the offerings from Apple and Google. Mercedes is trying to change that with a new UX that's quick, voice controlled and may keep you from defaulting to Android Auto or CarPlay when you get in the car.
Samsung is teaching Bixby to count the calories in your food
Samsung has made it clear that it wants to get its Bixby virtual assistant on nearly every product it makes, but it hasn't forgotten about the AI's smartphone roots. To that end, the company dedicated a corner of its cavernous CES booth to a surprising new Bixby feature: the ability to identify your food and spit out a calorie count.
FITT360 is a 360-degree camcorder you wear around your neck
Imagine if you could snap 360-degree photos and videos without holding a camera. That's the promise of the FITT360, a 360-degree camcorder you can wear around your neck. It's one of the first products from a Samsung spin-off called LinkFlow and was made as part of Samsung's C-Labs, the company's creative labs program.
Will.i.am’s tech company bought headphone maker Earin
Will.i.am's tech company i.am+ revealed to TechCrunch at CES today it had recently purchased headphone maker Earin. The company didn't disclose how much it paid for Earin and Earin's name might not make it through the acquisition, but Earin's products fit with those of i.am+ for the most part, and the purchase seems to be a more logical move than others recently made by the company.
I learned how to drive in a VR traffic school
Autonomous cars are coming, but there's still going to be folks who need to learn how to drive. That's why VR Motion is building a VR driver's ED system to better prepare newbies for the roads.
Toyota is the latest automaker to add Alexa to its cars
Using Alexa in your car is getting more ubiquitous. Ford, Hyundai and Volkswagen all have plans for Amazon's voice-controlled tech, and third parties like Anker, Panasonic, Garmin and Logitech have their own strategy to help you use Alexa while you drive. Now, Toyota has plans to include Amazon's intelligent assistant in select Toyota and Lexus vehicles starting this year. The company also announced at CES that more models will include Alexa via the Toyota Entune and Lexus Enform in-car app systems in 2019.
S-Ray neckband lets you blast out tunes guilt free
Directional speakers are nothing new, and the principles of using ultrasound to push audio waves to your head and nowhere else are fairly common. But now, a team here at CES is demonstrating a wraparound neckband that uses directional sound to avoid bothering others when out and about. The S-Ray Neckband is one of a trio of products, which includes a smartphone speaker case and a display speaker, that's being shown off at the show.
Matrix shows off its battery-free smartwatch and IoT platform
Matrix is the company behind both the PowerWatch and the PowerWatch X, two timepieces that don't require batteries to work. Both were announced at the same time, but it's taken the X slightly longer to get here, but that's okay because there's a reason for being patient: The PowerWatch X, while still using the heat from your wrist to generate power, is also capable of offering up smartwatch notifications.
Sony's totally wireless sports earbuds are surprisingly good
During last night's press event, Sony revealed its latest sports earbuds with totally wireless and wireless models -- two of which feature active noise cancellation. Now that CES is officially open, I stopped by the company's booth to try out the in-ears that interest me most: the totally wireless WF-SP700N. After a few minutes of listening, I was quite impressed.
Lululab’s skincare assistant peers deep into your pores
Getting clearer, healthier skin could soon be as easy as taking a selfie. At CES 2018 in Las Vegas on Tuesday, Lulu Lab — a member of the Samsung-C accelerator program — showed off its novel skincare camera designed to capture and analyze facial features with a single picture.
The Blocks modular smartwatch will always be a concept
It's been several years since Blocks had its initial 15 minutes of fame, capturing the internet's attention with the idea of a modular smartwatch. The first prototypes were about as rough and ready as they could feasibly get, but the public's appetite for the ambitious product hadn't waned by the time the crowdfunding campaign started over a year later. More than $1.6 million in pledges and another few years of development, and the Blocks smartwatch is kinda, finally here. But so much has changed in the interim. Project Ara is dead, modularity isn't the buzzword it once was and we've gone from not knowing if we really need a smartphone accessory on our wrist to a saturated smartwatch market. But the founding fathers of Blocks still believe they have something unique to offer.
Honda reveals more details about its companion mobility robots
They're really (mostly) real! At CES in Las Vegas on Tuesday, Honda officially debuted its four newest mobility and companionship robots, part of the company's 3E (Empower, Experience, Empathy) program. Though they are currently only in the conceptual stage, Honda plans to develop the platforms with a variety of like-minded partners as part of the company's "open innovation" approach.
LimeBike adds e-bicycles to its dockless sharing service
Renting and riding a bicycle from a dockless bike-sharing scheme can be tough work. The two-wheeled transporters are built to last, which means they often have thick, heavy frames and chunky tires. If you're out of shape or intending to ride uphill, they can be a little off-putting. Thankfully, LimeBike has a solution — electric-assist bikes. The company unveiled the Lime-E today, a green machine with a rechargeable lithium battery and a 240-watt motor. It can help you reach speeds of 15 MPH and will, the company claims, adapt to your individual riding style too.
Dell XPS 15 2-in-1 hands-on: A sleek showcase of firsts
Last CES, Dell unveiled its first XPS convertible -- the XPS 13 2-in-1. This year, the company is expanding its hybrid lineup. In addition to being the first convertible of its size for the series, the new XPS 15 2-in-1 is also one of the first laptops to pack Intel's Core processor with Radeon graphics. That chipset was teased in November, and incorporates an AMD Radeon GPU with dedicated RAM and Intel's CPU, allowing for smaller motherboards and thinner devices overall.
Alienware's control hub redesign folds in your game library
It's "New year, new me" for Dell's Alienware Command Center. The software control hub that comes preinstalled in Alienware computers now has a unified gaming library that pulls all your titles regardless of source, so you can see them all in one place. You can also set profiles for specific games, tailoring your system's thermals, power management, overclocking, lighting and peripheral controls to your favorite first person shooter or RPG. Those who have been curious about overclocking but worried about breaking their computers can also experiment with the redesigned tool that lets you toy with clock speeds and voltage. Before you can save your custom overclocking profiles, Alienware's system will test your settings and won't let you use your new setups unless they're safe.
Dell’s new Mobile Connect software puts your phone on your PC
Having to look at your phone while you're in the middle of writing an important report can be incredibly distracting. You pick it up to see who texted, and end up browsing the 300 other alerts that accumulated. There's tools that lets you receive your text and call alerts on your Macs or PC, but it's mostly limited to Apple and Samsung devices. The rest of us don't have a good catch-all solution yet. Dell hopes to change that with its new Mobile Connect software, which will come preinstalled in all new XPS, Inspiron, Alienware and Vostro laptops in 2018.
Pioneer’s autonomous driving tech includes LiDAR and driver monitors
Pioneer is well-known for its audio devices, but at CES, it's showing off some of its other, and maybe less expected, tech. The company has been working on Level 3 and Level 4 autonomous driving technology -- or conditional and high automation, respectively, meaning the driver still has to be prepared to take over from the automated system at some point -- entering an already very populated field while making sure to bring along some of the entertainment products its already known for.
Dell and Nikki Reed harvest gold from old laptops for jewelry
Dell's no longer just an electronics company -- it now makes jewelry too (sort of). It has teamed up with actor and activist Nikki Reed on the Circular Collection, which comprises pieces made from gold recovered from Dell computer motherboards. These are 14- and 18-carat gold rings, earrings and cufflinks, mind you, and don't look like they've been remade from waste material at all.
Catch up on all of Sony's CES 2018 news in 5 minutes
The big names at CES had rather tame press conferences this year, but that doesn't mean they didn't make any important announcements. If you missed Sony's event yesterday, don't worry: We've distilled all of the noteworthy news down to a 5-minute clip. Catch up on all the info around TVs, cameras, headphones, autonomous cars and, of course, that cute little robopup. Click here to catch up on the latest news from CES 2018.
Ford and Postmates team up to deliver orders with self-driving cars
Ford announced at CES today that it has entered a partnership with delivery service Postmates and will begin piloting various programs to see how self-driving vehicles and on-demand delivery can work together. This is the first on-demand delivery app to partner with Ford on a pilot like this and the two will be looking at what both merchants and customers need when it comes to sending and receiving deliveries via self-driving cars.
