The Consumer Electronics Show – CES for short – has arrived. Held in Las Vegas, the event runs all week and TrustedReviews is on site to report on the latest news and announcements as they happen.
CES 2016 Video Highlights – The best and weirdest tech straight from the show
We’re nearing the end of CES 2016, but there’s still plenty to do and see. Throughout the week our team has been seeking out the best, and sometimes weirdest tech, at the show. Here are some of the video highlights from CES 2016.
Kicking things off, Alastair Stevenson tries his hand at a battery powered skateboard. What could go wrong?
“I’m not very good at these things, I’m British”
Next is one of our favourite gadgets from the show, a fixed-wing drone from Parrot that can give you a ‘birds-eye view’ of the world
Sean Keach talks to the makers of the Parrot Disco, but he forgot to ask why it’s called Disco!
Now you may have heard of VR and CES had no shortage of weird gadgets, but what do you think a 3D Rudder does?
Alastair Stevenson tries the 3D Rudder for Oculus Rift
Are you bored of the same old phones that offer nothing new? You are! Well, take a look at the NetxBit Robin, the world’s first ‘cloud first’ smartphone.
Sean Keach talks to Scott from NextBit
Build your own robot and control it with a weird glove – seems obvious doesn’t it? No idea why I didn’t come up with this before. Damn it.
Alastair Stevenson takes a look at the Ziro Robotics kit
What’s Samsung been up to at CES you wonder. Wonder no more! Here’s a quick summary of what Samsung announced at CES 2016.
Sean Keach at the Samsung CES 2016 press conference
Intel has loads of cool concepts at CES 2016, including a smart drone using the Intel RealSense camera, a smart robot and some awesome looking smart sports eyewear…
A tour of the Intel booth with Alastair Stevenson
CES 2016 Day Three Highlights
With CES moving into its second half, all the main press conferences are now out of the way. But there’s still plenty of news coming out of Las Vegas, and wouldn’t you know, we’ve rounded up the best bits from day three here.
Gamers got a present in the form of Razer’s Stargazer webcam. The device is capable of capturing 720p video at 60fps and 1080p video at 30 fps.
We also got a closer look at the two turntables which have taken CES by storm – the Technics SL-1200G and the Sony PS-HX500.
The revived Technics brand proved extremely popular among event attendees with its homage to the much-loved SL1200s of days past. And Sony’s machine lets you convert records into Sony’s own Hi-Res DSD format or 24-bit WAV files.
Continuing the retro vibe, Kodak showed off its new Super 8 camera as part of its initiative to revive the once ubiquitous format.
Elsewhere, Dell announced its first OLED monitors and a new InfinityEdge range. The new UltraSharp 30 OLED monitor is being targeted at photography and graphics pros and boasts a contrast ratio of 400,000:1, offering ‘true blacks’.
We also saw demonstrations from the likes of XYZ, which showed off its Da Vinci Mini 3D Printer, and Huawei, which gave us the Mate 8 handset to play with. Casio also gave us a closer look at its bulky but original Smart Outdoor Watch WSD-F10.
There was more Panasonic news as the company launched its new DX900 UHD Premium TV and DMP-UB900 4K Blu-ray player. The former uses an innovative honeycomb panel which you can read all about in our TVs at CES 2016 feature, while the latter looks set to impress with its High-Precision Chroma Processor.
There was more TV action as we got a closer look at Samsung‘s flagship UHD Premium TV for 2016 – the SUHD 65KS9500.
We also got our hands on the Nextbit Robin phone, which started on Kickstarter and focuses on cloud storage. The phone gives you 100GB of cloud storage. When it notices you’re not using a particular game or app it will transfer it to the cloud, freeing up internal space and keeping the app available for re-downloading when you need it.
Check out our video of the handset below:
Related: What is Ultra HD Premium?
And we couldn’t end without mentioning Segway’s adorable robot helper. With its collision detection it can follow you around when you’re not riding it, carrying bags and snapping photos. We want one.
CES 2016 Day Two Highlights – Morning Update
With the event in full swing, more and more announcements are being made, with the likes of Samsung and Sony, and Panasonic holding their press conferences.
Samsung revealed a line of new UHD Premium TVs, a new certification which guarantees the best 4k quality, along with its touchscreen fridge, the Family Hub.
The new fridge lets you connect to a range of services including Spotify and also has internal cameras so you can check the contents of the family hub when you’re out.
Samsung also introduced the Galaxy Tab Pro S, a clear iPad Pro rival which could prove interesting. Read our Samsung CES 2016 report for full details on all of that.
Watch our video report from the Samsung CES 2016 press conference
Meanwhile, Sony got in on the action by announcing a new 4K handycam which features 20x optical zoom and a 16.6-megapixel sensor.
The company also revealed h.ear, the world’s smallest portable wireless high-resolutuon spreaker, as well as a host of smart home products including an LED bulb speaker and projector. The portable projector can throw up to an 80-inch image on a surface.
We also got a glimpse at the X93D series TVs, which use the X1 processor and a new slim backlit drive to boost peak brightness and black levels.
Head to our Sony at CES 2016 report for more info.
Qualcomm caused a stir by unveiling its 820A and 820Am chipsets for cars. The chip can run sat nav and map apps while simultaneously running multiple screens for rear passengers, such as movies and other entertainment.
As well as this, the company announced the first phone to use its highly anticipated Snapdragon 820 processor, and it’s not what we were expecting. The chip will appear in the Letv Le Max Pro, which is actually from one of China’s largest entertainment companies. Letv has already released four phones and produces everything from Internet TV to electric cars.
Other CES action included a sleek new turntable from Panasonic called the Grand Class Sl-1200G. It’s part of the company’s attempt to revive the Technics brand, which will also see the release of a new network amplifier and music server under the Technics Grand Class G30 Series.
The company also announced O’RA, a smart home platform that should be capable of integrating all smart home products under one software solution, as well as two new high-end compact cameras.
All in all, day two at the Consumer Electronics Expo proved to be busy. Withings announced the new Withings Go wearable designed to be worn as both a watch and clip-on device. Casio also launched a new Andoid Wear watch, and the Razer Blade Stealth gaming laptop not only wins the coolest name award but promises to offer desktop-grade gaming from an ultrabook.
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CES 2016 Day One Highlights – Evening Update
The first press conferences have been and gone now, with LG and Fitbit leading the way with some really interesting announcements.
Let’s start with LG, which announced a new range of LG Signature TVs and appliances. Leading this range is its incredible 2.75mm thick OLED TV, which is basically a piece of glass mounted on an attractive soundbar. It also supports Dolby Vision, the HDR standard, though with a price estimated at ‘below $10,000’ it’s hardly an every man purchase.
LG’s Signature TV could be the sexiest TV we’ve ever seen
We also really like the look the new Fitbit Blaze modular smartwatch, which is taking aim at the Apple Watch and Android Wear smartwatches. Fitbit is calling it a smart fitness watch, a nuance we suspect will be lost on most people. All the same, its key attractions include five-day battery life, heart rate tracking and notifications from your phone.
The Fitbit Blaze offers smartwatch like features and robust fitness tracking
Next we come to HP and its new range of laptops. Exciting laptops you say? Yes, we’re surprised too, but our excitement comes from the fact it will offer its 13-inch Spectre x360 laptop with an optional OLED screen. In all other respects it’s a typical (but very nice) hybrid laptop, but… OLED. It makes everything better.
In other news, Ford and Amazon have partnered to allow owners of the Amazon Echo to control certain aspects of their car, such as locking the doors or checking how much fuel is left. HTC has unveiled the ‘DK2 Edition’ of the HTC Vive VR headset, confusingly called the HTC Vive Pre. Not to be outdone, Oculus has announced that original Kickstarter backers will get an Oculus Rift for free at launch.
CES 2016 Day One Highlights – Morning Update
While the show is still to officially open, we’ve already got some hands-on time with new products. Our Day 1 highlight has to be the Parrot Disco, a fixed-wing drone that looks damn cool and can use a VR-style headset to give you a birds-eye view.
Watch the Parrot Disco in action in our video
Even more weird and wonderful is the 3D Rudder, an accessory for the Oculus Rift VR headset that lets you control movement using your feet while seated. It’s basically a balance board with lots of sensors inside and we don’t think it will be the last innovative VR accessory we’ll see this week.
See the 3D Rudder in action at CES 2016
We expected to see many laptops and hybrids and we’ve already been proved right. First comes the Acer Aspire Switch 12 S, which is somewhat similar to Microsoft’s Surface Book. It only uses Intel Core M processors, though, so it’s nothing like as powerful. Lenovo, meanwhile, impressed us with its Thinkpad X1 Tablet, which is more like the Surface Pro 4.
Watch our hands-on with the Acer Aspire Switch 12 S
It looks like Samsung is getting back into this game, too, as leaked shots reveal the Galaxy TabPRO S – a Surface-style tablet that runs Windows – show. We’re sure to hear more about this at the Samsung’s press conference later today – details at the bottom of the page.
In other CES related news, Oculus Rift has announced pre-orders will begin this week for its VR headset, so we’ll soon know exactly when it will arrive and how much it will cost.
Nvidia, meanwhile, announced what it calls a supercomputer for self-driving cars, which uses 12 CPU cores with the processing power of 150 MacBook Pro laptops. Nvidia says the likes of BMW, Audi and Ford are already using its system to develop self-driving cars.
Netatmo has released a new outdoor smart security camera and Honeywell has unveiled an update to its smart thermostat that now supports Apple HomeKit.
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We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
