High points as CES 2017 ends
HERE are some key highlights of the 2017 International Consumer Electronics Show, which concluded Sunday:
Amazon’s virtual assistant Alexa was the surprise star of the show, with dozens of new products and services integrating the voice-accessed machine smarts into appliances, TVs, speakers, lamps, cars and more.
Analysts said the gains for Alexa could help unify a fragmented market for connected devices, and bring artificial intelligence to more people, from young to old.
Robots showed off new skills and “personality.” Hanson Robotics unveiled its life-like “Professor Einstein”, which has realistic facial expressions and can engage in informative conversations such as lessons in math and science.
Other robots acquired intelligence from the internet cloud, giving them the ability to chat person-style and tend to monitoring homes or other tasks. A robot from Taiwan played chess – moving pieces against human opponents – to showcase how able it was at making sense of what it “sees”.
The secretive electric car startup Faraday Future, backed by a Chinese billionaire, showed its first production car, the FF91, aimed at taking on Tesla. The company showed how fast it can accelerate – getting to 60 mph (100 kph) in 2.39 seconds.
The other major carmakers were not idling, instead showcasing moves towards autonomous driving, electric power, and better connections – including integrating with smart home systems.
LG Electronics showed off a “wallpaper” thin TV, while rivals Sony and Samsung unveiled technology for more realistic displays.
Sales of televisions globally have been slipping, a seeming result of viewers turning to smartphones, tablets, and computers for video, according to the US Consumer Technology Association trade group behind CES.
Those who do buy televisions, however, are expected to prefer high-definition models.
CES featured a surprising number of smartphone launches, including one from Taiwan’s Asus that can use Google’s Project Tango 3D technology and virtual and augmented reality.
This came as the industry prepared to mark the 10th anniversary of the launch of the iPhone on January 9 and with some participants noting that much of the industry revolves around the smartphone.
New mid-range handsets were unveiled by South Korea’s LG, China’s ZTE and Huawei, which also revealed its ambi- tion for a greater share of the US market by launching its flagship large-screen handset.
While not appearing ready for prime time, virtual reality sought its stride at the show.
Show floor space devoted to virtual reality abounded with companies diving into the market with headsets, content, or tools for better creating or delivering immersive experiences.
Taiwan-based HTC announced initiatives aimed at getting developers to create more VR experiences and unveiled plans for arcades in public venues.
Vive is up against PlayStation VR and Facebook-owned Oculus Rift. Each company has been wooing software developers and refining its hardware to better entice users.
Emerging technologies for fitness, health and improving life for the handicapped flourished, including those harnessing brainwaves for the physically disabled; helping the visually impaired with “artificial vision,” and getting insightful data on sports endeavors.
BrainRobotics, a Massachusetts-based startup, showed its prosthesis that can be controlled by residual muscle strength of an amputee with better efficiency than similar devices, and which may eventually be controlled by brainwaves.