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Sex toys came to CES, and the sky didn’t fall in
This story discusses adult themes. If there was a trend at this year's CES, it might be how relaxed everyone was about sex tech at the show. Especially after controversy over adult devices and, by extension, the taboos around female pleasure mired the 2019 event. You'd be forgiven for thinking that 2020 would be a pitched battle between the show's organizers and its exhibitors. Instead, it was fine. Aggressively fine.
8K at CES 2020: The future or a waste of time?
It was hard to escape 8K TVs this year at CES. Sony, Samsung, LG and TCL all showed off new 8K models, with the full intention of actually selling them to consumers. That's a big shift from previous years, when it's always seemed like some far-off technology awaiting industry support. So what's the point of buying an 8K TV in 2020? Our TV nerds, Devindra Hardawar and Richard Lawler, have two very different stances on the matter.
Canon's Robotic Camera System controls multiple DSLRs from afar
Pro photographers who need to control multiple cameras at once just got a useful tool -- if they have the right camera. Canon has introduced a CR-S700R Robotic Camera system that lets you remotely steer multiple DSLRs from a PC. You can only use it for still photos, but you can zoom, pan, tilt and roll when you're trying to capture a sporting event from multiple angles. The absence of video is an advantage, if you believe Canon -- it allows for a "more compact and lightweight" design that doesn't need wires (if you have a companion CR-G100 controller).
Six ways to 'win' at CES
With more than 4,000 exhibitors, if you want attention at CES 2020, you have to work for it -- or at least give the herds of media, analysts and attendees something for paying a visit. This year, it was an unusual mix of approaches that won the crowds and the headlines here in Las Vegas. Whether you're in charge of a multinational tech company, a startup or a research group, here's how to grab all the headlines and hype at the Consumer Electronics Show.
Weber Connect will be a useful tool for grillers of all skill levels
If you haven't been keeping up with the latest in backyard-barbecue news, Weber is tackling smart and connected grilling in a big way this year. The company announced its WiFi-enabled SmokeFire pellet grills back in November, which will be available later this month. This week at CES, it debuted the Weber Connect Smart Grilling Hub: a standalone device that can equip any grill with Bluetooth and WiFi smarts. Both of those products tap into Weber Connect, a powerful mobile app that will help grillers and aspiring pitmasters of all skill levels cook without worrying they might ruin dinner.
Thermaltake's latest gaming headset works with Alexa and Razer Chroma
Thermaltake just introduced a gaming headset that's as much about showing off as it chatting with your gaming buddies. The Riing Pro RGB 7.1 steps up the competition against rival headsets with two-zone lighting you can control with both Alexa and Razer's Chroma system. You'll need a separate Alexa-ready device or Razer's Synapse software to make those respective features work, but this lets you color-coordinate without having to delve into settings between matches. You can even have Alexa match the headset color with the local weather conditions, in case you'd like your headset to be as blue as the sky.
The future of foldable tablets got clearer at CES 2020
Déjà vu hit me in a big way at CES 2020. As one of Engadget's PC-beat reporters, I had been taking briefings with laptop makers to check out their news for the conference. From Lenovo and Dell to Intel, companies showed off devices with folding screens that were bigger than the Galaxy Fold's 7.3-inch panel. As it turns out, a bigger foldable actually makes a lot more sense, and at CES we saw the industry begin to work out the broad strokes of what a foldable PC would do.
CES 2020: In pictures
That's it. We're done. Finito. Another Consumer Electronics Show is officially on the books. Before everyone leaves Las Vegas and inevitably morphs into sleep-deprived mush, we wanted to take one last look back at the convention center chaos. We're going to keep the words to a minimum though and let our best images -- captured by a slew of Engadget editors and photographer Will Lipman -- do the storytelling instead. The highlights, the lowlights and the simply absurd: Scroll down for a taste of them all.
Podcast: Quibi and Lioness on the future of streaming video and sex tech
In this special interview episode from CES 2020, Devindra chats with the minds behind Quibi -- founder Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO Meg Whitman, Chief Product Officer Tom Conrad and CTO Ben Post -- to see how it's attempting to disrupt streaming mobile video. Meanwhile, Cherlynn speaks with Lioness founder Liz Klinger about the vibrator that finally got to officially display at CES after years of controversy. Listen below, or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you've got suggestions or topics you'd like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcasts, the Morning After and Engadget News! Subscribe! iTunes Spotify Pocket Casts Stitcher Google Play Music Links Quibi's secret weapon: Videos that work in portrait and landscape mode The Lioness 2 vibrator adds AI-assisted orgasms to its feature set Artgasm turns the female orgasm into a literal work of art Credits Hosts: Devindra Hardawar and Cherlynn Low Producer: Ben Ellman Music: Dale North & Terrence O'Brien
An exclusive look at Samsung Ballie
The first thing I notice when I pick up Ballie is how light it is: It's about the size of a hefty grapefruit but much less dense. Ballie's plastic, scalloped frame gives this otherwise nondescript ball a sense of playfulness, one that might not have been possible if Samsung had gone with the cloth finish it first considered.
The nicest shark in Eureka Park
A lot of people at CES know Mindy Zemrak. On Thursday, she strode no further than five meters into Eureka Park, the show's startup section, when someone heard her voice and turned around. It was Dmitri Love, founder of a crypto-investment platform called Bundil that appeared on the TV show Shark Tank two seasons ago and earned an investment from Kevin O'Leary. Zemrak is the head of casting, and hence the main gatekeeper, for Shark Tank. She has been with the show, where budding entrepreneurs make their best pitches to a panel of business giants, from its very first season until now, when it's preparing for its 12th. For the past few years, the start of every season's casting has begun here, with a trip to CES.
Sonarworks brings a personal touch to headphone calibration
Sonarworks has been helping people improve the audio from its headphones since 2018. The company's True-Fi app is loaded with more than 300 headphone-sound profiles that tune the model you're wearing so it's closer to what the producer heard in the studio. Sonarworks built its reputation by creating calibration software for studio monitors and headphones, so it knows a thing or two about audio correction. Despite offering some customization options on top of the profiles, the company admits that True-Fi never took off, so it went back to the drawing board and created SoundID.
Ubtech's updated Walker robot does 'yoga' and pours drinks
As with many international trade shows, CES is a place where you're bound to bump into familiar faces. In my case, I regrouped with Walker, Ubtech's humanoid robot, who was kind enough to grab me a can of Coke and Pringles last year. Today, this five-foot-tall machine doesn't look any different, though it has gained a software update that not only lets it walk around more quickly but also gives it a robust self-balancing capability, which in turn allows it to lift heavier objects.
Engadget Podcast: CES 2020 and a chat with technologist John Maeda
It's that time of the year again, CES! This week, Devindra and Cherlynn discuss some of the best (and worst) things they've seen at the show, including ultraportables, cars and a variety of truly weird stuff. Plus, you'll hear about a strange Westworld dinner that freaked them both out. And be sure to stay tuned for our chat with the noted designer and technologist John Maeda, who gave his thoughts on CES, the bad design choices companies like Samsung make, and discussed his new book, How to Speak Machine: Computational Thinking for the Rest of Us.
CES 2020 recap: It's a wrap!
CES can be predictable, but what devices blindsided us in 2020? The Vision S EV did because Sony isn't known for building cars. While meant to show off Sony's automotive tech chops, it was far more practical than other CES concept cars (*cough* Mercedes AVTR). Another delightful surprise was Samsung's Ballie, a rolling robot meant to capture our hearts like Star Wars' BB-8 droid. Samsung has grand plans for Ballie as a home assistant, fitness coach and even safety monitor, but all it really did at CES was, well, roll. Finally, we got to see the killer feature of the streaming service Quibi. Called Turnstyle, it allows videos to be played in either vertical or horizontal orientations with no black bars. All of these things managed to surprise us and that's saying something because a flying car didn't even make the list. For more, follow our complete CES 2020 coverage.
The best true wireless earbuds we listened to at CES
The year 2019 was when true wireless earbuds became ubiquitous, so it makes sense that there were a lot of new models at CES. Those include new options from Audio-Technica, Jabra, JBL and more. I spent the week listening to new products from the companies that had working units to demo. Some of the more interesting ones, like Klipsch's T10, were on display, but there wasn't a functioning model to try. As CES draws to a close, I've compiled my list of the best true wireless earbuds I tried this week so you'll have an idea of what's coming soon and if they're any good.
Presenting the Best of CES 2020 winners!
Find the best products from CES 2020 per category chosen by technical experts at Engadget.
A closer look at Mark Zuckerberg’s ‘next decade’ manifesto
Every year, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg writes a letter outlining his goals for the coming year, including personal challenges. These missives talk about his own growth, as well as acting as a manifesto for Facebook in the coming year. Often, you need to spend a little time reading between the lines to understand what's really being said here. This year, Zuckerberg highlighted five issues he sees dominating the next decade of tech. Let's dig in.
Watch us reveal the official Best of CES Award winners today at 8 PM ET
We came, we saw, we got hands on. By Thursday, January 9th, CES 2020 will be winding down and Team Engadget will getting ready to pack up and go home. But before we do, we need to unveil to the world the winners in the official Best of CES Awards, which Engadget has been judging since 2014. We'll reveal the winners in 17 categories, including Best of the Best, People's Choice and a new environment-focused Best Sustainability Product award. Check back here on Thursday at 5 PM PT / 8 PM ET to watch a livestream of our awards ceremony, taking place at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
Panasonic's compact VR glasses see the future in HDR
2020 will be a key year for the future of virtual reality, and if things really take off then we should see a lot more stylish headsets like these goggles from Panasonic. The company says that these are the first VR glasses to support HDR video, and in some of the demo reels I saw the advantages were apparent. One video showed high-res video of a beach captured from a drone, and in HDR a lot of annoying gradation in the sky disappeared and overall quality improved.
