The Consumer Electronics Show just wrapped up after a week of innovation, conversation, and exhibition in Las Vegas. This conference happens yearly and acts as a world stage for everything electronic for the coming year. Everything from heath and wellness to startups to robotics to product design is discussed via speakers like US Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao and Beth Smith, General Manager at IBM. Visitors to the conference can also peruse tech tables or attend specific sessions. Here’s what CES showcased for 2018:
Televisions
Popular TVs this year come from Samsung (“The Wall”), LG (“Signature” and “OLED”), and Panasonic (“FZ950” and “FZ800”). What makes these televisions new and exciting are in their form and function. Some have voice technology built in to allow for ease of use without a remote. Others can be rolled using flexible glass that makes the TV easy to move and hang. Other televisions have OLED, meaning organic light-emitting diodes, which allows for greater color contrast and faster response time. If you are looking for a new television for 2018, decide on what features you are looking for and how much you want to spend because there are plenty of options!
Computers
Whether you prefer a laptop, tablet, 2-in-1, or desktop, CES has options for you. Dell’s line of XPS laptops was ranked in the top Windows devices available. Acer’s Swift 7 won the award for thinnest laptop coming in at 8.98mm thick. Razer’s Project Linda created the biggest buzz around a prototype for a laptop powered by a phone. Essentially the laptop acts as a larger screen, but since the phone is inserted into the laptop, it also acts as the track pad. This new type of tech made waves, though some questioned whether or not it would actually make it to market.
Robots
Robots can simplify your life in so many ways. Most are voice activated or connect to a smartphone app to make programming even easier. They can vacuum, answer your questions, play games or music, check on your house while you’re away, and even act like a pet dog. Sony’s Aibo is the robotic dog that responds to facial expressions, picks up toys on the ground, and even monitors your house through the camera on its nose. While this may be one of the more frivolous prototypes coming out of CES, many attendees were wowed and fell in love with the little robotic dogs.
Voice Assistants
You may have heard of Siri for Apple products, Cortana for Microsoft, Alexa for Amazon, or Google’s Home Assistant. Each of these voice assistants connects to physical devices like phones or speakers to allow you to ask questions, play music, order products, and control smart home features like light switches or security devices. This year Google came on strong at CES by offering a monorail service branded completely by Google Assistant. Since Amazon’s Alexa still holds a greater popularity, Google is working to improve and corner the voice assistant market.
Hearing Aids
Hearing aids were also featured at CES this year. Hearing aid technology improves every year, so it is always worth double checking with an audiologist whether or not you are wearing the best pair for your hearing needs. This year Oticon introduced a hearing aid that connects to the Internet or a smartphone, increasing functionality and simplicity. CES also named Signia as an Innovation Awards Honoree for their work on rechargeable hearing aids and their myHearing app. Additionally, Audicus remains on the cutting edge for hearing aid technology and affordability.