The Best of CES (2018)
The Consumer Electronics Show, the annual industry showcase for all the latest and greatest in consumer technology, has wrapped up for another year in glitzy Las Vegas. So what did we learn, and what impressive new tech will be tempting us in 2018?
Lenovo Smart Display
Amazon’s Echo Show – that’s the Echo with a screen - may have a Google Assistant-powered challenger in 2018 with the Lenovo Smart Display. The voice-activated “home companion” features a larger 10-inch touchscreen and a sleek, minimalist design.
As well as calling up news and weather, directions and traffic updates and just about anything else you can search for with Google Assistant, the Smart Display acts as a hub for your connected home devices, with built-in support for Nest smart technology and more.
In another plus, it supports video calling with Google Duo and streaming via YouTube. Interesting, as Google services have recently hit a rocky patch with the Echo Show.
Samsung’s The Wall
A 146-inch TV for your home? It’s a reality, according to Samsung. Pitched as the world’s first modular TV, the gigantic screen can be adapted to any size while delivering high-definition images. The device uses MicroLED technology, which are much smaller than the LEDs used in most mainstream TVs, as well as removing the need for backlights and colour filters.
If your budget will stretch, thanks to the bezel-less design you can even buy multiple Walls and join them together into one seamless home cinema unit. Considering a single Wall measures 12 feet in width, you’ll need some pretty big walls of your own to make the most of this.
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HTC Vive Pro
Could this be the future of VR hardware? The Vive Pro certainly looks the part: ergonomic and high-resolution, first impressions suggest it improves on the Vive in almost every way. VR fans can look forward to a 2880 x 1600, 615ppi display – that’s 78% more pixels – along with built-in headphones, dual mics, a redesigned strap and a lighter, more comfortable chassis.
Hands-on reviewers came away impressed, praising the sharper visuals, substantially comfier headset, improved tracking and all-round more immersive experience.
Most excitingly, a wireless adapter featuring Intel WiGig technology will let you play completely untethered – no wires at all. Considering it’ll also support a larger maximum play area of 10m x 10m, it’s easy to see the potential in this one.
Huawei Honor View 10
It wouldn’t be CES without an exciting smartphone launch, and the Honor View 10 – from China’s favourite brand Huawei – is a budget-friendly new handset that’s packed with cutting-edge features.
AI-assisted dual cameras, fast charging, face unlock, a 6-inch, 2160x1080 display and the same powerful Kirin 970 chipset found in the Mate 10 series are just some of the things that got the tech press fired up at CES. It’s dual-SIM capable and packs 6GB of RAM and a massive 128GB of storage.
With an expected UK price of £449.99, it could comfortably undercut a lot of the high-end competition.
While we’re talking phones, Vivo deserves an honourable mention for its demo of a fingerprint sensor housed seamlessly within a phone screen – could this be the shape of things to come?
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Honda 3E Robotics
Robotics were all the rage at CES 2018, from the return of Sony’s Aibo robot dog (now boasting smart home features and pettable touch sensors) to the floor-sweeping, coffee-making Aeolus servo-droid. But it was Honda that offered the most compelling window into the future, with its 3E Robotic concepts (Empower, Experience, Empathy).
There was the 3E-D18, a four-wheel-drive workhorse for use on construction sites and search-and-rescue operations, alongside the smaller “smart wheelchair” robot 3E-B18 and the more general-purpose transporter 3E-C18. All use GPS and sensor-based AI to navigate their environments.
Representing “empathy”, the 3E-A18 has an expressive face, a huggable body and can respond to people’s emotions. Honda envisions it acting as a compassionate helper-bot for public spaces like airports, shopping centres and parks.
Has CES 2018 got you thinking about the tech you want to see in your life this year? Stay up to date with all the latest mobile releases at Mobiles.co.uk.