According to CES attendees what they’ll remember most about this year’s show was 1.33” of rain. It may not sound like a lot to us, but it was a record amount of rainfall for the desert city of Las Vegas – and the first precipitation in 116 days. Followed by an even bigger surprise. A nearly 2 hour blackout in large segments of the Las Vegas Convention Center. Demos stopped in their tracks, light shows went dark and screen just stopped glowing.
Through it all – the show did go on. TV’s still dominated CES with 2 standouts. LG showed a 65” TV that rolls up like a poster while Samsung showed one aptly named “The Wall” – it’s a 146” display utilizing MicroLED technology that’s expected to ship to consumers by the end of this year.
Queue up a little Jetsons intro. Robots were another big thing as in past years but the technology is getting so much better. Two of the standouts were: Aeolus – with an uncanny resemblance to “Rosie the Robot” from the Jetsons. it’s the perfect smart home robot who will clean for you, pick up after you and watch over your home while you’re away. The robot who stole the show was Sony’s next-gen – Aibo. Already for sale in Japan, this robot pup demonstrates how far the robotics field has advanced since it’s predecessor was pulled from the market over 10 years ago.
Alexa was found everywhere at the show – CES 2018 seemed to mark the beginning of the end of “dumb” household products, with everything from light switches to faucets to mirrors and (yes, really) toilets all getting some sort of AI upgrade.
Queue up Zager and Evans – In The Year 2525… The Verdera mirror is clearly the centerpiece of Kohler’s connected bath, being the only product with Alexa built-in. The remainder of Kohler’s tech-infused lineup works with Alexa skills and the Kohler Konnect app, but they don’t include the Alexa assistant. Voice commands for filling the bathtub, starting the shower, flushing the toilet, or hearing the news all work with the Verdera mirror. But let’s not leave PC Tech out in the cold. Acer unveiled the worlds thinnest laptop – the 14” Swift 7. It’s measures in at just 0.35 inches thick making Apples MacBook look like a tank at .0.52 inches.
If you’re the type of person who’s primarily looking to browse the web, stream videos through Netflix or do lightweight photo editing, then the Swift’s processor will more than likely offer plenty of performance for your needs.
Beyond its CPU, the Swift 7 gets 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD. The laptop’s display resolution tops out at 1,920 pixels by 1,080 pixels. Acer has equipped the Swift 7 with 4G LTE-capability, so you’re able to always stay connected whether on Wi-Fi or via your data connection. Acer says it will provide consumers with up to 1GB of free data to start you off, after which you’ll have to purchase your own data plan.
Special thanks to CNet for CES 2018 information
