CES 2015: New Tech That's Ahead of the Curve

I look forward to the start of a new year for two reasons. One, it's the start of new chapter in everyone's lives regardless if the year prior was great or absolutely terrible. Second, and by far the more exciting of the two, is CES. For those of you don't follow the world of tech and gadgets closely, the Consumer Electronics Show, CES for short, is one of world’s largest technology and electronics trade shows. Basically it’s the time of year when companies big and small unveil their new products to the public. Some are what are going to be out later in the year, while others are far more in the working prototype category. None the less, it’s all very exciting and we get a glimpse into what new tech trends we’ll be seeing in the near future. Here are some highlights of this year’s show.

Samsung's Behemoth

Will it Bend?

Displays have always played a massive part in CES. In fact, there are a ton of attendees who come just to see the latest wares from the electronic giants who produce these screens. As more and more consumers are watching media on other devices, TVs in particular have had to innovate and diversify in order to remain relevant in the home. There were some common trends at this year’s CES: 4K, curved screens, and ridiculous names.

Samsung had a show stopping 105-inch 4K television that could change from curved to flat depending on your preference. Their big push this year is their “SUHD” line of displays. Apparently the “S” doesn’t stand for anything, which is kind of dumb, but I guess it’s in line with all the other devices that they add “S” to. LG had some beautiful curved OLED 4K televisions as well, with their use of “quantum dots” in other displays to show case a superior picture to standard 4K. The “ArtSlim” Series sounds more appealing to me than SUHD, but is still kind of pointless, especially when you consider all these curved displays don’t look slim in comparison to their obviously skinny flat screened siblings.

In fact, while there are still plenty of flat screens on the floor, this year was all about the curved displays. From phones to TVs to monitors, almost every device had a curved variant or prototype. Some of them will probably be more practical than others, but it’s nice to know that going forward we aren’t confined to a flat surface for our devices. Mind you, I personally feel that the curved display, like 3D, is kind of a gimmick. Not to mention that in order to justify a curved TV for example, you need to buy a massive screen for the curve to be viewable for more than one person.

Wearables and Watches 2.0

Alcatel's new smart watch

While we may still be ape-descended life forms that think digital watches are a neat idea, the “digital watches” we are coming up with now are a lot cooler than just “neat”. Alcatel, Garmin, and several other companies are putting their names into the wearable electronic market. This is definitely a trend that I’m interested in, particularly whether or not this takes off. Apple, Samsung, and Motorola will probably have the most impact on the adoption rate of smart watches by the general consumer. As a fitness-tracking device, a message viewer, and as…well a watch, it will definitely do the job well. It’s just a matter of time (pun totally intended) to see if they can do a lot more than just that.

Attack of the Drones

The "Selfie Drone" hovers to take your photo before return to you

Of course it’s no surprise that there are drones everywhere now. But a cool, and yet slightly creepy trend is that many can now follow you at a distance by using your phone or a dedicated wearable to calculate it’s position relative to you. Many of these are used for selfies or to follow you while doing other activities. Cool in practice, but I can’t help but think of all the ways this can be used for not so nice stuff. Also the idea of a drone following me around with a camera isn’t too pleasing either.

Easy Bake Printer

While not quite the replicators of Star Trek that I wish were real, 3D printers are finally being developed with a culinary application in mind. XYZPrinting and ChefJet have shown at this year’s CES that 3D-printers can be sweet in more than one way.  Using food batters and syrups as the filament, their “recipes” are limited to sugar cubes and cookies. At least I can eat 3D-printer cookies while I wait for them to develop something that can 3D-print a turkey club sandwich.

And much, much more

The crazy thing about CES is that it’s so big, I can’t even cover all the cool, new tech here as it would take forever. As CES 2015 comes to a close, I’m already pumped for next year. Maybe then I’ll finally be able to buy a replicator. Or a hover-board, they’re late on that.