NEW YORK: The range of gadgetry at CES gets wider every year CES is officially no longer an abbreviation for Consumer Electronics Show, just a name in it. That’s because washing machines, business devices and cars take up as much floor space as TVs and music players.
TVs
The best screen was Panasonic’s 65-inch OLED telly, due out later in the year. OLED (Organic LED) has long been a desirable TV type thanks to its exceptional contrast, deep black levels and keen responsiveness which reduces motion blur massively so fans don’t see multiple footballs flying into that goal mouth. But it’s always been very pricey; not least thanks to poor yield rates that meant eight out of ten panels coming off the production line were no good. That’s largely been fixed, so prices will come down, though they’ll still carry a price premium. Panasonic’s model looked staggeringly sharp maybe no surprise given the company routinely made the best plasma screens.
Other contenders were Samsung’s gorgeous S UHD models, likely to be the first to market with High Dynamic Range with its rich shadow details and great colour fidelity.
And the emphasis on curved TVs, which also began with Samsung, continues. LG has a model which bends so users can convert it at the touch of a remote from flat to curvy. LG’s stunning web OS smart TV operating system remains the most advanced though other manufacturers are upping their games. Sony’s Android TV system is immaculately easy to use. If 2015 turns out to be the year Apple releases its much-rumoured TV, though, everything changes.
Audio
The thinness of flat panel tellies and some are now ridiculously anorexic has led to poor TV audio, so sound bars are increasingly important. LG has built one in to the bottom of its TV and Samsung has a model designed by Yves Behar with a cube speaker underneath. Turn it on and the top edge of the cube stand rises up to let all the audio out.
Sony released the ZX2 Walkman which has a huge storage capacity (128GB) and can deliver arrestingly high-quality sound. It’ll be expensive when it’s released and there’s still the problem that not enough music is available in the format, but it’s an attractive and capable machine.
Samsung’s multi-room audio set-up has been refined to offer elegant design and 360-degree music. Really, it’ll be harder avoiding users’ music than to hear it.
Mobile phones
LG’s G Flex 2 was the most interesting, with a curved screen that you could withstand being accidentally straightened out, a bit. Its Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor is a first and is optimised to work well for gaming as well as offering longer battery life.
Wearable
There were a lot of wearable gadgets at the show this year. It’s almost like somebody know Apple was about to launch a watch or something. Standout among the fitness trackers was the Withings Activité Pop, a cheaper version (around £120) of the excellent Activité which is on sale already. Both offer a handsome analogue watch that actually shows the time users don’t have to tap a display to turn it on alongside another dial which reveals how close they are to their daily target of 10,000 steps. Sony’s SmartWatch 3, already on sale, has been updated with a much cooler stainless steel version.
Transport
But the most interesting development was Gogoro it’s an electric scooter that’s lightweight, fast and deeply snazzy. It will be sold at an accessible price with buyers subscribing to a battery rental system to get around.
