By: Fredwill Hernandez
Excitement and anticipation are always in the air for the start of the CES, this year [was no different] as it turned 53, where over 180,000 electronic enthusiasts and those who thrive on the business of consumer technologies from over 140 countries came to Las Vegas, and converged [primarily] at the Las Vegas Convention and World Trade Center [LVCC], and a few other hotels [such the Wynn, Aria, and Venetian] for the trade show which took place the second week of Jan. — from the 7th thru the 10th.
With so “much floor to cover” and “new things to see,” it is really up to each attendee’s personal taste and preference.
Sonarworks, who has been in the “forefront of sound monitoring” through their proprietary software unveiled during CES, their new technology called SoundID.
“We are launching here SoundID — its revolutionary sound technology that is built from our “recording studio roots” used in many [recording] studios worldwide and we are bringing the same technology to listeners. We are delivering that same sound that is heard in the studio — that you can personalize for your preference and hearing, and we put that together in a product and user experience we [at Sonarworks] call SoundID, [so] you can create your own [individual] SoundID, a sound that is perfect for you. It’s a sound you can bring with you on your headphones for example when you are jogging, eventually [your] speakers and [to even your] car, it will be “your perfect sound” that you can carry around with you and that’s being announce here at CES. We’re allowing attendees to play around with the technology and create their perfect SoundID based on settings and preference they select, so they can hear the difference,” eloquently explained Janis Spogis, Partner, and VP Products, Sonarworks. “Starting today [the] Beta version will be available on the iOS App Store and Google Play Store, ahead of the full roll-out in Q2 2020.
Drones who in the past four years have taken off and seen an explosive consumer demand with a sale’s [forecast] expected to reach 2.5 billion in the USA at retail by 2020, having grown from 1.1 billion in 2016, according to the Consumer Technology Association [CTA], which owns and produces the CES, were without a doubt one of the main attractions.
One of those companies which plans and has capitalized on those numbers is Autel [Robotics], which unveiled the new and very [very] impressive EVO 2 [Series] drone, which will eventually be available in three variations that include up to 8k video camera capable of taking [up to] 48MP stills and even a thermal [camera] option.
The EVO 2 Series features the longest battery life [40 min. of flight time] of any foldable drone, it has a top speed of 45 mph and up to a 9km range, 12 computer vision sensors, 2 sonar sensors along with 2 LED landing lights all working together to create a drone with the best obstacle avoidance in the industry. The drone boast’s an 8 GB internal storage as well the ability to accept SD cards up to 256 GB, and with Autel’s [proprietary] patented AI [Artificial Intelligence] Dynamic Track 2.0, it is capable of recognizing 64 subjects [people, vehicles, trees or animals] at once. EVO 2 is not yet available — but will be soon!
With the [growing] popularity of Blockchain, and Crypto, I ran into a cool company [Watch Skins] based out San Diego, California, who created the world’s first blockchain watch face marketplace.
“Watch Skins is debuting the first blockchain watch market place, also we are debuting the Crypto Watches [Brand]. The blockchain watch market place is were you can go buy, sell, and trade digital virtual collectibles on blockchain, so they’re scarce, they are unique, they are one of a kind – they are tradable, we have an auction feature where you can buy, sell, and trade from different brands from automotive to fashion to celebrities, musicians, music, DJ’s different things like that. We’re working on a lot of different types of technologies like concert technologies for watches and things like that. Ultimately we are targeting people who love the idea of having exclusive and scarce products, the people want to have [and own] one of a kind thing. We don’t have our own watch [per se] but our technology works with any smart watch, we just chose Apple watch [to show off or demonstrate our technology] because of its battery life,” explained Collin Knock, CEO, Watch Skins.
With the social media, streaming, and podcasting taking off and everyone eager to create their own original content, Labpano, [a Shenzhen, China based company] created a “unique and very impressive” Pilot One, a smart “8k 360° Camera” with a touchscreen and In-camera stitching, and standalone [8k@24 fps] live streaming, and it also boast a “two-hour battery life.”It [also] comes with three unprecedented innovations in one camera: Swiftbird, a cloud based live streaming solution, PilotOpen Systems, allowing developers to build their own apps, and Pilot Tour, a realtime V-SLAM positioning solution for precisely-positioned virtual tours.
Another impressive camera due to its size and capabilities [in its unique adaptive design] is the Insta360 One R, which boast a dual-lens capability able to capture 360° 5.7k video — it has a 4k wide angle, a reversible touch screen, and it’s waterproof to 5m [16.4 ft.] in its twin edition and can also capture 19 MP stills in its 1 inch edition. The One R can achieve gimbal-like stabilization without the gimbal through its FlowState stabilization. It’s available [interchangeable] as a 4k wide angle, a dual-lens 360°, and a 1-inch wide angle “self-stitching” camera. According to Insta360, the ONE R app uses [Artificial Intelligence] AI-powered FlashCut to find your best shots and edits them together on beat. FlashCut analyzes the footage [based] on theme, quality, and time of capture to create cinematic clips that are ready to share.
Panasonic’s — Lumix [Camera] brand was also showing off, its fairly new [unveiled in Aug. 2019] very impressive S1H.
The S1H— is what you call a mirrorless camera or a DSLM [digital single lens mirrorless] camera. It’s a 24 MP digital [photo] camera, it can do up to 10 frames per second [for] still photography but where it really set its pace is on the video side. This camera can do 6k video which in this level of product it never existed before. So it can do 6k [5.9k @30 fps], true 6k in what’s called an open gate format, that’s literally [you’re] capturing a 3:2 aspect ratio using the entire sensor – and then you can crop it later if you want. It can do up to 24fps and it also has 10 bit capability, most televisions today especially HDR [TV’s] are 10 bit but most video cameras are 8 bit and so you’re limited to about 16 million colors – this is over a billion colors available on a camera like this and because of its 10 bit capabilities, because of its very low noise and high dynamic range — the folks at Netflix have certified it as a Netflix Post Technology Alliance for camera. What that means in simple terms — if you were hired by Netflix to do a production for them, this can be an ‘A’ camera for your production. Its possibly the smallest camera on their list, it certainly is the least expensive on their list,” eloquently explained Matt Frazer, Business Development Manager, [Panasonic’s] Lumix Group.