A fridge that suggest recipes based on what is in it? A toothbrush that records your brushing technique on your smartphone? QR codes on meats that set the oven to the right cooking temperature?
These and more over-the-top technologies will be shown at the annual International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2014 in Las Vegas starting Tuesday.
There’s something for everyone at CES – some useful and others saturated with marketing glitz. But, as expected the big industry players one-upmanship are getting the most buzz again.
It started last week with LG’s early announcement of the world’s first 105-inch curved 4K Ultra HDTV, followed the next day by Samsung’s also world’s first 105-inch “most curved” 4K screen. Regardless, both TV’s cost more than a luxury car and consumers are still holding back on current “starter” $4,000 UHD TVs.
Does that make 4K TV the next big thing at CES?
“The next big thing is already here,” said Duncan Stewart, Director of Research for Technology Media and Telecommunications for Deloitte Canada.
“The important thing is not the 105-inch sets, most people can’t afford them, they wouldn’t go through the front door. The story is the affordable price of a 4K TV expected to cost 25 per cent more than an HD TV by year’s end,” he said.
The same Korean giants whose dislike for each other rivals that of North and South Korea, are also showing “first” and “smarter than ever” home appliances.
LG’s next fridge will suggest recipes based on what you happen to have in your fridge based on scanning technology. Samsung’s world’s largest washing machine to be shown at CES, at 5.3 cubic feet or 25 kg also touts a Turbo Wash cycle of 38 minutes and drying in less time to percolate a cup of java.
Samsung is showing off real smart TVs and appliances with their own processor, memory and operating system.
It’s mystery fridge at CES is reportedly running on its new Tizen platform, co-developed with Intel, which will make appliances as smart as smartphones and tablets.
What does this mean for consumers? Appliances will not need a smartphone to communicate or do things. Your TV will able to control home temperature, light settings and more, remotely. Samsung is releasing its Smart TV SDK development kit to attract developers at CES. Visitors can also expect to see Samsung’s Android phones running on Tizen instead – which interestingly looks quite similar to Android.
But it’s not just big players touting firsts. The Beam Brush records your brushing habits via Bluetooth on your smartphone to presumably share with your dentist. It will offer incentives to improve your bad brushing habits which for most of us includes less than half the recommended two-minute cycle.
Wearable technology is big at CES too, but somehow not yet as pervasive as phones.
Today’s smart watches depend on a companion smartphone you have to have nearby. “We see wearable adoption at less than 10 per cent,” said Stewart. “What will make them a tens of billion dollar market will be a lower price.”
READ MORE: Wearable technology, digital wallets: What to expect from tech in 2014
But niche sectors like health and sports are ripe for firsts in wearable technology like smart undershirts for infants that monitor breathing, heart rate, and sleep. At CES, visitors can expect to see athletic shirts with woven in sensors to body form fitting sensors for tracking heart rate and respiration during training and competition. Similarly, Smartmissimo wrist bands will literally shock with its “smart electrical muscle stimulator” for athletes.
More phablets, larger hybrid phones and tablet combos with lower performance features and prices consumers like, will join Samsung’s current forerunners Mega and Sony’s Ultra. We now need clothes with bigger pockets.
The re-emergence of 3D printers, now in its third year, will see more than three dozen makers and prices approaching that of quality printers. Not to be outdone, pioneer 3D print maker 3D systems plans to show new model categories: ceramics, full-colour plastics and another world first, edible models.
Follow Steve’s weekly Edmonton GlobalTV Sunday and Morning News Tech Talk segments and blog on www.techuntangled.ca
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