CES 2017

The 10 Innovative Products at CES 2017

CES (formally known as the Consumer Electronics Show) is an annual trade show organized by the Consumer Technology Association. Held January at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States, the event typically hosts presentations of new products and technologies in the consumer electronics industry.

The first CES was held in June 1967 in New York City. It was a spinoff from the Chicago Music Show, which until then had served as the main event for exhibiting consumer electronics. The event had 17,500 attendees and over 100 exhibitors; the kickoff speaker was Motorola chairman Bob Galvin. From 1978 to 1994, CES was held twice each year: once in January in Las Vegas known as Winter Consumer Electronics Show (WCES) and once in June in Chicago, known as Summer Consumer Electronics Show (SCES).

CES 2017 has been the biggest year so far for the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada. More than 175,000 attendees converged on the strip this week to be among the first to see what the world’s top technology companies have to offer. Car tech took center stage for much of the show, which is certainly understandable considering all the disruption sweeping the automotive industry right now. Connected devices were a top theme once again as well, as the Internet of Things continues its shift from fantasy to reality.

There was plenty to take in at CES 2017, and we had a blast checking out all of the exciting new gear headed to store shelves in 2017 and beyond. In this post, we’ll focus on 10 products in particular that rose above the rest and really wowed us at CES.

1. Faraday Future FF 91

Tesla turned the auto industry on its head when it released the Model S, and rival automakers have had no choice but to embrace electric cars far sooner than they would have liked. There are some truly exciting cars in the works, but nothing else we’ve seen in development comes anywhere close to packing in as much innovation as the Faraday Future FF 91.

The Gardena, California-based startup has had a difficult time this past year due to financial woes and several executive departures. But Faraday has managed to stay the course, and the company wowed CES 2017 attendees on Tuesday night when it finally took the wraps off its first production car.

Faraday Future’s FF 91 is an entirely new breed of automobile, and it’s scheduled to enter production next year. We were lucky enough to tour Faraday’s labs and even go for a ride a couple weeks before CES began, so be sure to check out our first impressions of the FF 91.

2. LG Signature OLED TV W7

An iPhone 7 is 7.1 mm thick. A number 2 pencil is 6 mm thick. LG’s new Signature OLED TV W7 television is 2.59 mm thick.

This stunning next-generation television truly represents the future, packing 4K Ultra HD resolution and HDR into a razor-thin panel that practically becomes part of the wall thanks to a special magnetic mounting system. The components are offloaded into an accompanying sound bar, and the result is a design that will literally reshape televisions for years to come.

3. Ford Alexa integration

Amazon’s virtual personal assistant Alexa was everywhere at this year’s CES, and for good reason. Alexa facilitates a seemingly endless range of functionality and electronics companies are eager to make use of it, rather than having to build their own voice-powered assistant solutions. Of all the Alexa integrations we saw, however, Ford stood out from the crowd.

Ford SYNC 3 AppLink puts everything Alexa offers at a driver’s fingertips. Them home integration will also allow people to start their car, lock and unlock the car, and even check fuel levels using Alexa commands with any compatible Amazon or third-party device. The video above runs through the highlights.

4. Samsung Chromebook Plus

Samsung’s just-announced Chromebook Plus is everything a person could want from a Chromebook in 2017. The 12.3-inch touchscreen display features Quad HD resolution and support for a built-in S Pen stylus. The 2.0GHz hexa-core processor packs plenty of power.

The nifty hinge design allows the screen to rotate all the way open so the device can be used as a tablet. And it ships with the Google Play store preinstalled, giving users access to millions of Android apps in addition to apps made for Chrome OS.

Best of all, preorders are live right now, and the Chromebook Plus starts shipping the week of February 5th.

5. Energous WattUp

This is the second consecutive year that Energous has made our Best of CES list, and both times it was for the company’s WattUp long-range wireless charging solution.

WattUp is no longer just an exciting futuristic technology only available in demos. Energous announced a number of partnerships that will see a number of commercially available products launch with support for the first version of the WattUP wireless charging solution.

This first round of devices have to be within a few inches of the charging transmitter in order to refuel, but Energous plans to launch longer-range transmitters later this year and they will be backward compatible with all previously released devices.

6. AirTV Player

The AirTV Player in an Android-powered box that combines the ability to stream online video services -- including Netflix, Sling TV and other apps available in the Google Play Store -- and access live over-the-air TV channels, too.

While nearly every TV can already receive those free channels with the addition of a cheap antenna, the AirTV is offering the convenience of combining them with the online services into a "one-stop shop," without the annoyance of switching inputs. It unifies the antenna-based channels into the Sling TV online channel guide, too.

AirTV supports up to 4K resolution, as well as 2.4 and 5GHz Wi-Fi. The Bluetooth remote incorporates voice, too, and it has dedicated buttons for Netflix and YouTube.

Note, however, that it lacks both local and cloud DVR capabilities, which Sling TV is also missing. (A Sling TV cloud DVR service is in beta.) No timeshifting for you!

The AirTV will compete with newly announced 2017 products such as the new Tablo Droid, Tablo Live and Mohu AirWave, all of which aim to integrate antenna-based TV channels with online streaming options.

7. TPCast for HTC Vive

Virtual reality is one of the hottest spaces in consumer tech right now, and the HTC Vive offers one of the best VR experiences money can buy. Like all dedicated VR experiences from big-name brands, however, using the Vive means being tethered to a PC. That’s where TPCast comes in.

With financing from HTCs Vive X Accelerator fund, TPCast created a simple solution that connects to the standard Vive headset and converts it into a wireless VR system. In other words, users get the best-in-class VR experience the Vive provides while also enjoying the freedom that a smartphone VR solution affords.

TPCast will initially launch in China, where it will cost just over $215.

8. ODG R-8 and R-9 Smartglasses

Beyond VR, augmented reality is the other half of the computing experience of the future. AR solutions involve overlaying digital elements on top of the physical world around you, opening the door to a wide range of exciting possibilities. Microsoft is leading the way in this space with its HoloLens headset, but ODG’s next-generation R-8 and R-9 smartglasses offer a much more compact solution.

Powered by the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chipset destined to be found in nearly every flagship Android smartphone this year, the R-8 and R-9 smartglasses are both lightweight solutions capable of immersing the wearer in mixed reality.

The higher-end R-9 model features a 50° field of view and 1080p resolution, while the less expensive R-8 glasses have a 40˚ field of view and 720p resolution.

9. AirBar

It's what you've always wanted. A 13-inch MacBook Air with a touchscreen. We've all done the same thing, reaching out to tap or swipe a MacBook before realizing it was, in fact, a MacBook and not a touchscreen Windows laptop. Put a MacBook Air in front of any kid under 10, and they'll instinctively do the same thing.

Only, it's not exactly a MacBook with a touchscreen. It's actually a MacBook with a sold-separately add-on sensor bar that sits just below the display and connects via USB plug. We've played around with one of these devices -- called the AirBar -- late last year, but that version was for Windows PCs.

The AirBar works by sending up a light field that your fingers break by swiping and tapping. In the Windows version we tried, it worked surprisingly well, at least for an add-on that cost less than $70 (£55 or AU$94). The key was to find a laptop with a screen that was precisely the right size for the AirBar, which is why the company has been selling both 13-inch and 15-inch models.

The new MacBook Air version is designed for the 13-inch MacBook Air and costs $99 , although models for other Macs are said to be in the works. One for a new MacBook Pro or for the 12-inch MacBook, for example, would need a USB-C plug, rather than the USB-A one used now.

10.  Sleep Number 360 Smart Bed

Gadgets aimed at helping people get more restful sleep each night come and go each year at CES, typically never to be heard from again. Millions of people suffer from sleep disorders of varying degrees, but gadgets and gizmos rarely offer long-term solutions. The Sleep Number 360 Smart Bed, however, looks like the exception to the rule.

Sleep Number’s latest “smart bed” isn’t just another connected mattress that lets owners make adjustments here and there on a remote or a smartphone. This is an entirely new sleep solution that monitors each partner individually and makes adjustments on its own to keep people sleeping soundly. This way, as sleeping positions change throughout the night, the bed self-adjusts to optimize the sleep surface and ensure comfort.