Our Top Picks from this year's Consumer Electronics Show

1. CES 2014 PICKS
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24/01/14

2. WHAT I’LL BE COVERING
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What is CES?
The future of TV
The internet of things
Wearable tech
It will improve your life
The weird and the wonderful

3. CONSUMER ELECTRONICS SHOW
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A proving ground for
innovators and breakthrough
technologies for 40 years
1970 – VCR
1981 – Camcorder
1993 – Mini-disc
2001 – Xbox
2009 – 3D HDTV

4. THE FUTURE OF TV
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5. THE FUTURE IS 4 X BETTER AND CURVED
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4K Ultra HD TV
Curved screens
Range of sizes up to 105
inches!
The problem now is finding content for such super-detailed screens.
Netflix's boss, Reed Hastings, announced that series two of House of
Cards, starring Kevin Spacey, will be streamed in 4K – for those with a
special version of the Netflix app, and a suitable TV. The World Cup
final will also be broadcast in 4K, though it is unclear how many
broadcasters will be able to transmit it.
Samsung flaunted an 85in LCD set which starts off flat but with the
touch of a button curves in from the shorter sides. However, the idea
of a curving screen wasn’t received with undiluted enthusiasm. "Like a
lot of concept demos at CES, the bendable TV is more a novelty with
little practical application," remarked David Katzmaier, who has
reviewed TV sets for the website CNet since 2002. "The housing [of the
device] is larger than a typical TV, and I can't begin to imagine how
much it would cost." Samsung hasn't released pricing.

6. THE INTERNET OF THINGS
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7. FANCY CHATTING TO YOUR FRIDGE?…
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“
What do I need to buy?
”
“
I’m just finishing the spin cycle,
won’t be long
“
What do I need for the recipe?
You can text the fridge to find out what
you need to buy" – though he skimmed
past the detail of how your fridge will
know what's inside it.
Washing machines too will answer to
your texts, he explained…
”
”

8. FANCY CHATTING TO YOUR FRIDGE?…
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“
What do I need to buy?
”
“
I’m just finishing the spin cycle,
won’t be long
“
What do I need for the recipe?
A $19 trillion market
according to Cisco!!!!!
”
”

9. IT COULD COME BACK TO HAUNT YOU
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But… fridges, TVs and hi-fis have been
hacked and used to launch hundreds of
thousands of malicious spam email
attacks.
They are among growing numbers of
household appliances being rounded
into botnets controlled by criminals, say
researchers.
The domestic goods are then used to
unleash spam by gangs who are looking
to steal personal details and passwords.
One botnet attack involved 750,000
emails sent from 100,000
gadgets, including TVs, Wi-Fi routers and
at least one fridge, say internet security
experts at Proofpoint.

10. WEARABLE TECH
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11. SMART WATCHES
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Samsung's Galaxy Gear, a smartwatch released last September to general indifference at about £250.
Pebble, which raised $10.2m to build a smartwatch in 2012 – and delivered it in 2013 – announced the Steel, a new version with a
multi-coloured screen and metal surround - £150 no release date yet though
There's no sign yet though that anyone is actually buying them in significant numbers. "The market for smartwatches is getting
crowded before there is even a real market of smartwatches,"

12. IT’S NOT ENOUGH JUST TO TRACK FITNESS
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LG Lifeband Touch – touch sensitive screen displaying call and
text messages and enabling control of music
Razer Nabu – tracks motions like most fitness bands but has two
small screens, one for notification icons and one scrolling screen
for texts and emails
Sony Smartband – offers „life empowerment‟ by logging daily
activities (music you listened to and where you‟ve been). Enables
you to „quantify your life‟ in even more ways
"Personal health and wellbeing will be important factors in all wearable devices as consumers try to
rationalise buying 'gadget bling' under the pretext of it improving their health and fitness,"

13. BE COACHED BY YOUR SOCKS AND T-SHIRT
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Your socks can monitor your
running gait and suggest
improvements to prevent injury
When combined with Google
glass, you can chase down your
own virtual avatar (who’s running
ahead of you at the pace you
want to achieve)

14. LOSE THE LOBSTER LOOK
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Tells you how much UV exposure you’ve had from harmful rays
Connects to your smartphone via Bluetooth, so you can monitor your
tanning progress without that dreaded sunburn rouge

15. THERE’S GOLD IN THEM HILLS…
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Crowdfunding investment to date:
$100m

16. THERE’S GOLD IN THEM HILLS…
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Crowdfunding investment to date:
$100m
Steve Brookstein is a reminder that many wearable tech devices will
have their 5 mins of fame at CES then disappear into obscurity!

17. IT WILL IMPROVE YOUR LIFE
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18. BECOME A BETTER BRUSHER
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Using an accelerometer and a magnetometer to sense direction, it knows how thoroughly
you’ve brushed, whether you’ve reached all areas of your mouth, and tracks your efficiency.

19. INCREASE YOUR HARMONY
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‘Blends into your daily life to make it
serene, healthy and pleasurable’

20. INCREASE YOUR HARMONY
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Connects to series of small sensors that ‘blend into your daily life to make it serene, healthy and
pleasurable’
Via a range of sensors it can monitor everything from the number of steps you take a day, to who’s
in the house, and can even fire off reminders to water the plants and warn when the fridge door is
open
It takes all the data and relays it to a phone, tablet or via notification lights

21. GUIDES AS YOU RIDE
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Schwinn is attempting to solve the problem of finding your way on two wheels with the
CycleNav
Connects to smartphones and guides the rider via three LED lit green lights and voice
instructions
Also works as a bike light and provides journey data

22. LOOK MUM NO HANDS
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Bosch helps us to tackle tricky driving tasks such as the
dreaded parallel park

23. A BOWL OF ENERGY
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New gadget from Intel
Throw your smartphone and tablet into the bowl and it will
charge. No need to mess around with fiddly cables
10 inches in diameter and works via magnetic resonance
technology

24. NO MORE STREAKY WINDOWS
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A robot that cleans your windows for you!

25. THE WEIRD AND THE WONDERFUL
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26. EYES IN THE SKY
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14 megapixel camera on board
Controlled by smartphone with a 25 min flight time

27. SELF-DRIVING CARS
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Can drift around corners and slalom between cones!

28. STAR TREK AND SELF-DEFENCE
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Device that turns your smartphone into a star
trek-like tricorder medical diagnosis kit
Smartphone case that can deliver a 650,000 volt
shock

29. PRINTABLE CHOCOLATE
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Video (best part at 2mins 50 sec)
3D food printers that create sweets and chocolates
Basic version costs £3,000 and the more advance one, double that!

30. SNORE-STOPPER
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$8,000 ‘super bed’
Loaded with monitoring technology that will report back on sleep
patterns and behaviour to a tablet app
Claims to be able to stop snoring!

31. THINGS DON’T ALWAYS GO TO PLAN
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Michael Bay imploding on stage when trying to promote Samsung’s new 4K HDTV