International CES 2015 New Tech and Trends (Part 2 of 3)
Written by: Christian Pena
To continue our coverage of all things tech related coming from International CES 2015. There has also been significant improvement made to other home based and mobile appliances. Technology that makes our experiences that more vibrant, connected safe.
Television
The major television manufacturers were also in full force for this years’ event, with the emphasis on being able to handle 4k displays.
Sony showcased their thinnest 4K TV display the XBR X900C (55in and 65in in size) and the XBR X910C (75in). The new models use the Android TV operating system, which in my opinion is far better than the Play Station style operating system the current models come with, the new models come with a voice search function using Sony’s PlayStation Now network. TV models can also play PS3 games from Sony’s gaming network.
LG, the Korean electronics giant also released about 7 OLED TV models at the event. The sizes range from 55in to 75in and is expected to have amazing color reproduction and deeper blacks than the current models. They also showed of their flexible OLED display when they previewed a flat TV screen which with a touch of a button becomes curved. We are pretty certain that this technology will not come cheap.
Samsung premiered it line up of “SUHD” which they claim has deeper blacks and is 2.5 times brighter than anything currently in the market. It comes equipped with “Tizen” which is and opens source operating system which lets everybody create apps for the system. Samsung is now competing head to head with Google’s Android TV operating systems.
Audio tech
The audio technology segment was also well represented in this year’s show.
Sony released the latest incarnation of the iconic Sony Walkman, the original gadget that ushered in mobile music players. Targeted to the higher end of the music market the new Walkman promises to be an excellent music player with very accurate sound reproduction.
Audio-Technica has also gone down the way of Hi-Res audio, premiering a new set of headphones called the MSR7 alongside the AT-PHA100 Portable Headphone Amplifier also targeted to the high end consumer. When combined the set is designed to offer high-end hi-fi performance without the need for a huge, hulking hi-fi systems.
Sennheiser also launched a couple of new iteration to their existing model line-up. The Sennheiser Momentum 2 can now be used via blue tooth. It comes in 2 variants the on ear and the over ear variants. The Urbanite XL also gets a similar treatment and can also connect wirelessly via blue tooth and NFC.
Cars
Automobile manufacturers are currently increasing their presence in the event.
Ford pioneered this with Microsoft in 2007 with “SYNC”, now they are showcasing “SYNC 3” which offers more connectivity in the infotainment systems of the car. Ford President and CEO Mark Fields also gave a key note speech where he reinforced Ford’s commitment of integrating more and more technology into their cars.
Toyota is spear heading the use of hydrogen fuel cell technology in vehicles and is offering to grant the use of its 5,680 patents and other related technology royalty free from now until 2020. That is indeed a great boon to other automotive manufacturers, if they want to go into hydrogen fuel cell cars.
BMW on the other hand showed off it technology packed BMW i3. The car features 4 laser sensors that give it a 360 degree view of its surroundings. This means the car can navigate its way and park itself without any input from the driver. The car also features a Batman like interface where you can voice activate you can and have it drive up to you, now that is a great way of having a driven to you without a driver.
Stay tuned for the final part of our look at CES 2015.
