Top 10 CES 2014: 3D printing, wearables galore and Michael Bay walk-off
Key insights from the tech shindig in Sin City
So the annual madness that is CES is finally over, with thousands of weary delegates, attendees and journalists leaving Las Vegas after a week of non-stop announcements.
V3 has been out at the show for the past week covering everything it could with just two arms and a laptop - from keynotes and product news to hands-on video reviews and demos. Phew.
Now, as the event disappears for another year, it's time to take stock and consider the big announcements and what they mean for the year ahead. So, in traditional fashion, we've put together a list of the biggest trends, insights and revelations from the show.
10. Intel's smart charging bowl brings a world without wires
While it may not have attracted huge amounts of coverage, the Intel wireless charging bowl is a fascinating idea and hints at a future world without wires. Maybe.
Intel touted the idea as a reference design, rather than a fully fledged product that's ready to hit the market. Nevertheless, the idea that phones, tablets and other assorted gizmos could be dropped into a bowl and charged automatically will be appealing to those who hate the sight of numerous wires trailling here and there.
We'll certainly be hoping Intel continues to push ahead with this work as the dream of wireless electricity capabiltiies contines to inch forward.
Top 10 CES 2014: 3D printing, wearables galore and Michael Bay walk-off
Key insights from the tech shindig in Sin City
9. Huawei continues to aim for world domination, including UK
For the past few years, it’s been no secret that Chinese tech heavyweight Huawei has had its eye on the UK. The company has been completely open about its plans to become a key player in pretty much every area it can in the country.
In 2013 this was demonstrated when Huawei announced plans to open a research and development centre in the UK. A few months on at CES, the firm unveiled the next stage of its UK conquest plans.
During the company keynote, Huawei executive vice president Colin Giles listed the UK as a key area in its strategy to boost year-on-year smartphone sales by nearly 30 million. Specifically Giles listed design and 4G research being conducted by the UK centre as the silver bullet in its smartphone arsenal that will spearhead its efforts.
With huge cash reserves and a determination to become a major player in Europe and the UK, 2014 could be a key year for the firm.
8. 3D printing innovations continue to excite and bemuse
This year’s CES was the first to house a dedicated 3D printing zone, with companies from all corners of the globe keen to showcase their latest innovations in the 3D printing space.
However, we’re not sure any of the products we saw will truly revolutionise the 3D printing market. A MakerBot poster at the technology show summed it up, pointing out that five years ago, the firm was the only 3D printing company on the show floor. But with hundreds of firms touting new 3D printing products at this year’s CES, it proves that the competition is starting to heat up.
Perhaps the most interesting, and somewhat bemusing 3D printer we saw in Las Vegas was the ChefJet, developed by American company 3D Systems to print out cakes and sweet treats. While we’re not sure it will take off, we’ve already started saving up for the $5,000 we'll need to buy one for our kitchen.
7. Fitness fanatics are embracing technology in a big way
Fitness is one of the fastest-growing areas of the technology industry, which was more than evident at this year’s CES.
Fitness tech had its own section at CES 2014, and it wasn’t just dominated by small-name firms. LG joined the market this year with the launch of its Lifeband Touch, while Sony also detailed its plans to release Sony Core – a USB stick-sized fitness tracker – later in the year. We also caught sight of Adidas, Nike and Reebok on the show floor, which were all keen to showcase their latest innovations.
While big-name companies were present, it was perhaps the smaller firms that showed off the most exciting innovations in the sector. Withings is perhaps our favourite example, with the firm outing a smart sleep analyser device, and its smart body analyser – a set of WiFi-enabled scales capable of showing your body fat levels and heart rate, as well as the air quality. IT staff will have no excuse for not being mean, lean tech issue-solving machines in 2014.
Top 10 CES 2014: 3D printing, wearables galore and Michael Bay walk-off
Key insights from the tech shindig in Sin City
6. Screen technology continues to improve
Screens were out in force at CES, as usual. And while in the past it was all about making them bigger, this time around there were also some curved ones.
Samsung announced a ridiculously sized 105in TV, claiming to be "the world's most curved" and with almost two times the image quality of standard flat-panel UHD sets. The flashy bit of kit boasts an 11MP (5120x2160) screen resolution with a 21:9 aspect ratio.
LG also unveiled a very similar monster, a 105in curved UHD 4K TV, boasting the same resolution as Samsung’s and claiming an “unmatched” viewing experience.
However, the TV that really caught our eye at CES was Samsung’s “bendable” OLED screen telly, which can flex change between flat and curved in six seconds. This is achieved by the mere press of a button.
Bendable OLED not only has potential in that it is more flexible, but it looks consistently better than 4K LED, due to its brighter, superior picture quality. It also produces less power and has better viewing angles.
This technology could impact the personal device market in time, replacing the fixed glass display and making for expandable, foldable screens in more compact gadgets, such as tablets.
5. Intel aims to drive innovation with tiny Edison development board
With interest continuing to gather around the Internet of Things and wearable technology, Intel has joined the fray by unveiling its own micro-sized development board to drive the creation of smart objects and products.
Dubbed Edison, the device is based on Intel's ultra-small Quark processor and is the size and shape of an SD card, making it "small enough to drop into just about anything", according to the firm.
Despite this tiny form factor, the Quark chip is complemented by built-in WiFi and Bluetooth low-energy wireless interfaces, plus on-board memory and flash storage.
While there are other miniature compute boards, Edison has Intel's backing and has the benefit of an x86 compatible processor with support for Linux and existing open-source software tools, which should make it easier to develop applications for the device.
Edison is set to be available this summer, and we expect to see some interesting devices built around it soon.
Top 10 CES 2014: 3D printing, wearables galore and Michael Bay walk-off
Key insights from the tech shindig in Sin City
4. Windows has to play nice with Android as dual-boot systems emerge
For years Microsoft had the operating system market all to itself with its Windows platform, but over the past half a decade or so Android has caught up and is now the dominant mobile system, encroaching on the desktop.
This strength in the market was underlined at CES as both Intel and AMD announced plans to support dual-boot options for Android and Windows on portable devices to meet the demands of users who want both systems.
This could well be a growing trend through the year as more manufacturers start to try and cover all the bases by offering two operating systems on their devices.
3. Robots could be in your office soon, barking orders
Robots have been a familiar part of every CES trade show. But this year the mechanical wonders were everywhere and gave an insight into where robots could start playing a part in our lives, especially at work. Some of these were little more than adorable oddities, but some where downright awesome business aids.
For starters there was the Raspberry Pi-powered Japanese Rapiro (pictured). This little robot could be ideal for the office as it can carry out all manner of useful tasks, including getting a cup of coffee and cleaning a keyboard. While he’s still not quite up to more difficult tasks, such as managing inventory, from what we’ve seen the little guy is still a more than reasonable intern replacement.
As well as Rapiro we saw Ecovacs' window-cleaning robot and Furo‘s meet-and-greet concierge Future Robot. While a window-cleaning robot doesn’t sound huge, considering the vast sums of money enterprise companies spend cleaning their shiny glass towers, we’re thinking the tiny dirt-hunting artificial intelligence could prove a money-saving investment.Future Robot is also interesting. Using a Microsoft Kinect sensor and boasting a computer-generated face and voice, the robot can greet, talk to and answer incoming customers' questions. The company claims the Future Robot is the ideal solution for airports, hotels and even shopping centres and having had a chat with it, we’d have to say it does have better people skills than most actual humans.
Top 10 CES 2014: 3D printing, wearables galore and Michael Bay walk-off
Key insights from the tech shindig in Sin City
2. Wearable market grows, but will anyone buy the devices?
Just one wrist-mounted distraction impressed us at CES this year: the Pebble Steel. The company that brought us the Pebble in 2012 has gone all out to give a smartwatch with fashion credentials.
With a stainless steel design, Gorilla Glass, and metal and leather straps, this is the only smartwatch we'd ever consider combining with our Sunday best. At $250 (£159), however, you might not want to upgrade it every couple of years along with your smartphone and tablet.
Elsewhere, we mainly saw wristbands for fitness applications and more techie-looking devices such as the Qualcomm Toq and the Sony SmartWatch. While these have more complex functions, they fail to realise that watches are fashion items, not playthings. Apple and Google remain silent on their smartwatch plans.
1. Michael Bay walks off during Samsung keynote
For years companies have gone to great trouble, and no doubt expense, to secure the services of big-name celebrities. These people then stride on stage, say a few words about how great whatever it is they're being paid to promote is, and then leave. Simple.
But Samsung’s attempts to do this with director Michael Bay backfired in spectacularly awkward fashion when the teleprompter he was supposed to read from failed. Despite planning to ‘wing it’, he promptly walked off stage.
Bay later admitted in a blog post that he had embarrassed himself. The whole incident ended up overshadowing much of the news from the Samsung event and stood as possibly the most memorable moment of the entire show.
However, some celebrity endorsements are worth the effort, with Doc Brown from Back to the Future turning up in his time-travelling DeLorean car for Gibson guitars.