CES Product Parade
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| CES Product Parade | |
| Number | 3689 |
| Broadcast Date | JANUARY 2, 2020 |
| Episode Length | 30:52 |
| Hosts | Tom Merritt, Roger Chang |
| Guests | Justin Robert Young |
We take a look at some of the more interesting pre-CES announcements.
Guest
Quick Hits
- TikTok released its first transparency report on which countries submitted requests for user data and to remove content. The report shows that India and the US had the most takedown requests, with 11 and 6 government requests respectively. China was not listed in the report which only covered TikTok not Douyin, the version which operates in China.
- Swiss president and finance minister Ueli Maurer told broadcaster SRF that Libra has failed. He believes "central banks will not accept the basket of currencies underpinning it."
- Researchers from the University of Rochester, New York, published a paper in the journal Small demonstrating a biocomputer made from 32 strands of DNA designed to calculate square roots. The researchers developed a 10-bit logic circuit using chains of DNA linked together in double strands, with input signals colored using fluorescence. Every square root from 1 to 900 was assigned a color value, allowing the researchers were analyze values after passing through the logic gate.
- Tier 1 autoparts maker Bosch announced it has developed production ready LiDAR sensors for use in vehicles. The company is producing the sensors at scale to help keep cost down and spur wide spread adoption, and says the sensors are suitable for all autonomous driving use cases.
- California's Consumer Privacy Act out CCPA took effect Wednesday requiring companies to notify users of intent to monetize data and offering a way to opt out of that monetization. Users can request copies of their data as well as request their data be deleted. Business must disclose what info they collect, for what purpose and with whom they share it. California will start fining companies for violations after a six month grace period expires June 30. A volunteer directory of pages where consumers can opt out of data collection is being compiled at caprivacy.me.
- Tesla will begin delivering its first Chinese-made Tesla Model 3s to customers at the Shanghai Tesla factory starting January 7. Tesla says its Shanghai-produced Model 3s will be 50% cheaper per unit of capacity than the ones made in its Fremont, California Sparks, Nevada factories.
Top Stories
- Imagination Technologies announced a new multi-year license agreement with Apple, providing the company with "access to a wider range of Imagination’s intellectual property." Imagination previously designed the GPUs used in Apple's iPhones and iPads, but Apple cut ties with the company in 2017 when it moved the designs in-house. The move was largely responsible for Imagination being bought by Canyon Bridge Capital that same year, and subsequently going private. It is unclear what intellectual property Apple will use from the licensing agreement.
- A study from Data scientist Mark Ledwich and UC Berkley researcher Anna Zaitsev examined the role YouTube plays in suggesting radicalized content. The study classified 760 politics-oriented channels and looked at public channel data to determine the most likely recommended channels the algorithm would suggest. The study found that YouTube's recommendation algorithm "actively discourages viewers from visiting radicalizing or extremist content. Instead, the algorithm is shown to favor mainstream media and cable news content over independent YouTube channels. The algorithm tended to recommend center or left of center channels more often than conservative ones. Recommendations in general seem to promote filter bubbles.
- Sonos offers a feature called "Recycle Mode" as part of a trade-up program that lets you trade in an older Sonos speaker for a discount on a newer one. If your old Sonos is eligible for a trade-up you can confirm you want to trade it in the Sonos App. Sonos gives you a 30 percent discount on the new speaker and begins a 21-day countdown for your old speaker to go into "recycle mode." At the end of the 21 days the old speaker has its data erased and is permanently deactivated. That leaves you with no option other than taking it to an e-waste facility or shipping it back to Sonos for recycling. The products in the trade-up program are more than 10 years old. Sonos says it would be irresponsible " to reintroduce them to new customers that may not have the context of them as 10+ year old products, and that also may not be able to deliver the Sonos experience they expected."
Discussion
Pre-CES Product Parade
- Dell XPS
- 13.4-inch display 16:10 aspect ratio (claimed size of an 11-inch device with 91.5% screen to body ratio). Optional 4k UltraHD+
- 9% larger keycaps, 17% larger touchpad (though still scissor-switch keyboard)
- 10th gen Intel Core i3 to i7 (though not the 6-core), max 32GB RAM and 2TB storage
- Up to 19 hours battery
- WiFi 6
- Available January 7 in the UK, France, Germany, US and Switzerland. Available February for other regions. Starts at $999
- Developer edition features Ubuntu releasing February 4 to Canada, Europe and US starting at $1199
- Dell XPS
- Latitude 9510 2-in-1 available March 26, pricing TBD
- Uses AI to improve system responsiveness, battery up to 30 hours, 3.2 pounds WiFi 6, 5G LTE, eSIM
- Monitors
- UltraSharp 42 4K USB-C Monitor Jan. 30 $1,049.99
- 27-inch Jan. 30 $709.99
- 25-inch $479.99
- Latitude 9510 2-in-1 available March 26, pricing TBD
- It's a few days before CES which means we get an announcement from LG Display about a rollable televisions. Unlike prototypes from the past two years, this one rolls down from the ceiling instead of up from a base. (Last year LG Display said its foldable would show up in TVs in 2019, it didn't. This year they don't seem to be making any promises)
- Also 48-inch OLED (mallets before now was 55)
- Transparent displays meant for partitions in airline seats, plastic OLED designed for cars.
- It's a few days before CES which means we get an announcement from LG Display about a rollable televisions. Unlike prototypes from the past two years, this one rolls down from the ceiling instead of up from a base. (Last year LG Display said its foldable would show up in TVs in 2019, it didn't. This year they don't seem to be making any promises)
- Klipsch will show off smart soundbars. Bar 54 comes with Amazon and Google voice assistant support (not mics, just ability to stream) along with Airplay 2 and WiFi. 5.1.4 ,12-inch wireless subwoofer, Dolby Atmos. $1499 shipping in the autumn. The 3.1 channel Bar48 now has WiFi and a more compact design coming Autumn for $699. 3.1-channel Bar44 has Bluetooth for streaming audio coming summer for $499. All three can pair with a Surround3 unit to add two extra channels of surround.
- GE announced new additions to its connected home line "C for GE," the Hubless Three-Wire Smart Switches and Hubless dimmers. Both devices can integrate with Amazon Voice services and Google Home over WiFi without the use of a hub. Bluetooth mesh for connecting to other C devices. Neither require a neutral wire for installation, useful in older homes and it includes an adapter for the the bulbs to prevent the ghosting and flashing that the neutral wire usually handles. They're available in button, paddle or toggle. Dimmers can come with our without motion sensors. GE also announced a “wire-free” switches and dimmers, which attach to walls with adhesive, operate on a coin-battery with a two year battery life, and connect to AVS and Google Home devices over Bluetooth. GE says Wire-Free Motion Sensor and Wire-Free Remote Control will come along with the wire-free dimmer. These devices start at $22.99 coming around the same time as the three-wire switches. The switches will arrive in Q1, starting at $39.99, the dimmers are due in the Q2 starting at $49.99.
- Samsung announced the Galaxy Book Flex Alpha ahead of CES meant to be a cheaper option than the Galaxy Book Ion and Galaxy Book Flex. The 2-in-1 aluminum laptop features a 13.3-inch 1080p QLED display, and will offer 10th generation Intel processors, 8 or 12GB or RAM, 256GB or 512GB of storage, with a claimed 17.5 hours of battery life and USB-C fast charging.n The Alpha does not have the Qi wireless charging pad or the S Pen. Pricing starts at $829.99, available the first half of 2020.
- Samsung has been teasing "Neon" at neon.life an artificial human project to be unveiled at CES. LetsGoDigital found info in trademark applications describing Neon as computer generated imagery and virtual characters for TV, movies, AR and more. Applications for Neon.life and Core R3 describe tools for creating and editing virtual character.
- German website 4KFilme published renders of what it says is Samsung's bezel-less 8K TV. SamMobile says its sources say this will only be available as a 65-inch model. Apparently Samsung welds the display panel to the TV body.
- And it's not a CES, or at least it hasn't been for about 20 years, without a smart fridge. This year, Samsung and LG both have fridges with AI. Of course. The idea, as ever, is the fridge has a camera that scans your food, lets you know when you're running out of stuff and can suggest recipes for meals you can make from the food you have.
- Samsung Family Hub
- Now with AI so you don't have to identify the items.
- Meal planning from Samsung-acquired Whisk.
- Touchscreen supports video clips and can mirror Samsung phones and TVs.
- LG InstaView ThinQ
- 22-inch display can show what's inside the fridge.
- Of course AI
- A "Craft Ice" model makes spherical ice balls (not new but coming to more markets).
- And it's not a CES, or at least it hasn't been for about 20 years, without a smart fridge. This year, Samsung and LG both have fridges with AI. Of course. The idea, as ever, is the fridge has a camera that scans your food, lets you know when you're running out of stuff and can suggest recipes for meals you can make from the food you have.
Mailbag
- Dear Tom, Sarah, and Roger,
I hope you are having a nice holiday break, and Happy New Year!
If it's easy to gather the data, I think it would be kinda neat for the JAN 'bonus show' to look at the various things (products, services, trends, etc.) in 2015 you had predicted to come true "in the next 5 years". Almost like a 'meta' prediction-results show. - Sent by Matt
- Dear Tom, Sarah, and Roger,
YouTube
Links
| Preceded by: "Best of 2019 GDI" |
CES Product Parade |
Followed by: "CES... the C is for Cars" |