(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong). Juergen Boyny, of Germany, watches a video clip with a personal viewing device at the Sony booth at the International Consumer Electronics Show(CES) on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2014, in Las Vegas.
(AP Photo/Julie Jacobson). The FLIR ONE thermal imager for the iPhone is demonstrated at the International Consumer Electronics Show, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2014, in Las Vegas.
(AP Photo/Julie Jacobson). Trade show attendees examine centerpiece confections made with a ChefJet Professional 3D food printer on display at the International Consumer Electronics Show, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2014, in Las Vegas.
(AP Photo/Jack Dempsey). Audi’s autonomous car drives on stage during the Audi keynote at the International Consumer Electronics Show, Monday, Jan. 6, 2014, in Las Vegas.
(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong). A show attendee looks at the Ultra HD 4K displays at the Toshiba booth at the International Consumer Electronics Show on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2014, in Las Vegas.
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For Bonnie Wireman, the white plastic bag covering her kitchen faucet is a reminder in that she can’t drink the water.
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An agreement awaiting a federal judge’s final approval shortly could end one of the nation’s most historic desegregation efforts following decades of court battles & $1 billion of special aid to Little Rock-area…
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Baseball Hall of Fame announces inductees
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Hall of Fame head Jane Forbes Clark says it’s up to BBWAA to propose vote changes
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Rodman sings pleased birthday to North Korean leader
Rodman sings ‘Happy Birthday’ to North Korean leader at Pyongyang game with ex-NBA squad
Rodman sings ‘Happy Birthday’ to North Korean leader at Pyongyang game with ex-NBA squad
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Deep freeze strands rail, air travelers nationwide
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Deep freeze brings trains, planes to a standstill & strands travelers nationwide
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Rodman & ex-NBA All Stars arrive in North Korea
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AP Exclusive: Rodman says ex-NBA squad’s game in North Korea is ‘birthday present’ for leader
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APNewsBreak: Gov’t lacks automated system for adding babies; making other health plan updates
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Busy winter storm brings snow, cold to Northeast
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Winter storm grounds flights, cancels school & shuts down highways throughout Northeast
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FBI: Fire at Chinese Consulate in SF not terrorism
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Federal authorities state arson at Chinese Consulate in SF not being investigated as terrorism
By RYAN NAKASHIMA & PETER SVENSSON
Associated Press
LAS VEGAS [AP] -- Reports – The biggest gadget trade show in the Americas wrapped up on Friday in Las Vegas NV after swamping the city with 150,000 attendees. This year, “wearable” computing was big, along with various 3-D technologies, especially 3-D printing.
Wearable devices in the shape of smartwatches & head-mounted displays have been a staple of the show for a long time, yet manufacturers were excited this year 'cause the field is finally gaining traction with consumers. Fitness bands were a breakout hit last year. The 3-D printing section bustled with activity, & it was clear in that even though most people won’t be buying a printer any time soon, they may be enjoying 3-D printed products, such as jewelry, wedding cakes & dental braces, in the near future. Meanwhile, TV makers were heartened by the support they received for their new ultra-high-definition TV sets.
Here are some of the most notable products & services revealed at the show:
DRIVERLESS CARS – The state of the art in car electronics is in systems in that eliminate or ease the task of driving. French company Induct demonstrated its Navia driverless shuttle, which putts along at 12.5 miles per hour on a pre-programmed route. It’s intended for university campuses, airports & other locales with enclosed roads.
What about road safety? When a staffer walked slowly in front of the Navia, the vehicle slowed down, rather than coming to a full stop, 'cause it recognized in that the pedestrian ahead was moving, too.
Then there was Audi’s automated parking demonstration. With a press of a button on a smartphone app, the German automaker’s computer-equipped car squeezed in to a tight space between two other cars, a situation in that would donate many drivers pause. The car has multiple cameras & ultrasonic sensors, giving it a 360-degree view. It puts rubber-necking & looking through the side-view mirror to shame. The car executed a three-point turn flawlessly -and the driver didn’t have to worry about dinging other cars’ doors, 'cause he had already exited the car.
UV-SENSING WRISTBAND – The wearable computing trend has unleashed a lot of creativity. One example is a wristband with a “gemstone” in that measures exposure to ultraviolet light, the kind in that causes tanning & skin cancers. Using Bluetooth wireless technology, the Netatmo June sends readings to the owners’ smartphones, warning, for instance, when they’re coming near their daily limit of UV exposure. The battery lasts for six weeks. Netatmo, a French company, hopes to sell the device in the U.S. for $99, starting in the 2nd quarter of this year.
ULTRA-HIGH-DEF NETFLIX – Netflix demonstrated ultra-high-definition, or 4K, video streaming. The company will offer relatively effortless access to shows in that take full benefit of the 4K TVs set to go on sale after this year. (The 4K TVs on the market today don’t have the chips necessary to decode the picture.) Netflix’s 4K content will stream at 15.6 megabits per second, so viewers will need a relatively swift Internet connection.
ENVELOPING PHOTO BOOTH – At the Nikon exhibit, Los Angeles-based photographer Alexx Henry set up a small tent with 68 inward-facing, off-the-shelf Nikon cameras. When a subject steps inside the xxArray photo booth, an controller triggers the cameras simultaneously, yielding an image of the subject from all angles. Computers then process the images & create a 3-D rendition of the subject, which can then be posed in the computer as if it were an action figure. The 3-D model can moreover be imported in to a game. So instead of playing with a generic game avatar, you may someday see yourself running around, blasting offensive guys.
Industry-watchers expect setups like the xxArray to become more usual & coupled to 3-D printers. In a few years, when you go to a photo studio, you might come home with a statue of yourself.
SUGAR PRINTER – A company called 3D Systems showed off the ChefJet, the 1st restaurant-approved food printer. The device uses water to melt sugar in to shapes as complicated as the mind can imagine. The company’s booth featured a wedding cake held up by an edible lattice-work tower in that would have been nearly impossible to create by other means. The ChefJet can print complex works in chocolate, too. Unfortunately, the samples the company handed out didn’t taste very good, yet party planners & restaurateurs will likely be excited about the possibilities culinary 3-D printing opens up.
SONY’S HEAD-MOUNTED DISPLAY – Sony’s head-mounted display looks like an enormous pair of glasses. When you strap it on, you take on the perspective of a motorcycle driver racing through the English countryside. Looking down shows the pavement speeding by, looking up shows the clouds. When you swivel your head to the right or left, you may feel like waving to the crowds along the road. All this is enabled by a sensor attached to a strap in that tracks your head movements & adjusts the wide-angle picture accordingly.
Although there were a few kinks in that marred the illusion, the demonstration gave a taste of what’s possible when “wearable” displays & computers combine with movement sensors.
HEAT SENSING IPHONE – FLIR Systems Inc., the leading maker of professional imagers in that “see” heat, is bringing out its 1st consumer-level product: a jacket for the iPhone in that contains a heat camera. Temperature differences show up in different colors on the screen of the phone. For instance, you can set it to show hotter things in yellow, medium-hot in red & cold in purple. It can discern temperature differences as small as one tenth of a degree. The FLIR One will cost $349, which compares with $995 & up for FLIR’s professional thermal imagers. Practical applications for the camera contain identifying leaky insulation & moisture. Fun applications contain spotting wildlife, high-tech hide-and-seek, & crazy party pictures. (“Everyone was so hot!”)
ANKI DRIVE RACING GAME- In this very high-tech update to Scalextric slot racers, your iPhone doubles as a controller for cars in that zip around on a track painted with an infrared pattern the cars see with small cameras on their undersides.
Somehow, the cars fly around without rails, unless you do something really crazy. You can shoot imaginary weapons with rapid-fire tapping on your screen, disabling cars in front of you so you can race ahead. For kids, the game is a mind-blower in that could inspire them to create their own gadgets, the way Erector Sets once did.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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