CES IN BRIEF
What’s on display at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas:
Device makes trash can smart
Smart devices are everywhere in your home — including your trash can.
Eugene, from the French startup Uzer, attaches to your garbage can. Scan the barcodes of the rubbish as you’re throwing it out to learn whether it can be recycled. Eugene will also build a shopping list of replenishment items.
The device is expected to cost about $100 when it goes on sale in the U.S. at the end of the year.
It's being shown at the CES gadget show in Las Vegas this week.
New phones from Samsung
Samsung is releasing two mid-range devices as it returns to smartphone releases after the disastrous launch of the Galaxy Note 7.
Samsung recalled the Note 7 phones after they started exploding and catching fire. Samsung executive Mark Notton says the company has done a lot of tests and is confident with the new phones.
Gartner analyst Brian Blau says that to restore trust, Samsung needs to release phones that consumers will get excited about — but the mid-range A phones being released don’t have the same star power as Samsung’s S and Note series. The Galaxy S8 isn’t expected for a few more months. The Galaxy A3 and A5 phones will come out in February. As with the Note 7, Samsung is ditching traditional USB ports for a newer type called USB-C. That means new cords and accessories — or adapters.
Is Alexa spying on you?
It’s a fair question in light of attempts by authorities investigating the slaying of an Arkansas man to obtain voice recordings collected by an Amazon Echo speaker and its Alexa digital assistant.
Yet the popularity and capabilities of voice-enabled products such as the Echo continue to grow. At the CES show, Whirlpool, Samsung and other manufacturers are unveiling new ways to use voice services to control laundry machines, refrigerators and other home systems.
Consumers are apparently willing to trade a certain amount of privacy for convenience.
The issue first grabbed headlines a couple of years ago, after Samsung said sensitive conversations could be captured by its voice-controlled smart TVs.
Based on the flood of new voice-controlled gadgets headed to market, tech companies are betting that consumers will get over their fears. Comcast’s Derrick Dicol likens it to people getting used to sharing their banking information online.
Better than a keyboard
Who needs a keyboard? Dell is introducing a new way to interact with your computer.
The Dell Canvas 27 is a 27-inch glass surface that sits flat on a desk in front of a monitor. The touch surface is where a keyboard would normally be. Various widgets are available to manipulate items on the monitor. The Canvas also comes with a pen for sketching and creating.
Dell envisions people using the device to edit photos and video, work on music and even work with financial tables. The goal is to replace clutter generally found on a desk. Instead of working with paper on a desk, just use the touch surface.
The device launches in the spring and is expected to cost less than $2,000.
Lenovo has a similar concept in last fall’s Yoga Book. It’s a laptop that replaces the keyboard with a touch screen for both typing and doodling. But the screen is smaller, measuring 10 inches diagonally.
Pokemon Go top app of 2016
Apple’s app store closed 2016 with 2.2 million apps, an increase of 20 per cent from 2015.
Apple says New Year's Day 2017 was the biggest day ever for app store purchases — people bought nearly $240 million of stuff in the digital marketplace.
Nintendo’s Super Mario Run was the most downloaded app on both Christmas and New Year's Day. The app is free, but costs $10 to play the full version.
Pokemon Go was the year's most popular app.