Las Vegas is probably a lovely place to live. But spending a week in the desert at a trade show like CES—talking to thousands of people, handling hundreds of devices that countless others have touched, spending all your time going from taxi to casino to buffet along the Strip—it can leave you feeling incredibly grungy. More »
It was all bad timing, really. Just ahead of CES 2012, Microsoft announced that year’s event would be its last, blaming product schedules that just didn’t match up with the annual show. There was no question that the tech giant’s absence would be felt the following year, the first time in recent memory the Consumer Electronics Show wasn’t kicked off by a Microsoft keynote. It signaled, perhaps, a slight shift away from the days of huge companies dominating the event’s headlines — a phenomenon helped along by the recent attention-grabbing successes of a number of crowdfunded projects, many of which were present at the show.
The move from Bill Gates to Steve Ballmer was one thing, but a CES without Redmond? That was just unheard of, a specter that loomed over the show, even as the CEA happily announced it had sold out the company’s floor space in “record time.” In the end, of course, Microsoft was still at the show, albeit in a less overt form, by way of third-party machines from Sony, Samsung and the like, and in the form of a cameo by none other than Ballmer himself — a sort of spiritual baton-passing to the company’s keynote successor, Qualcomm. Heck, even the Surface Pro reared its head backstage at the show.
Continue reading How hardware startups changed the face of CES
Filed under: Gaming, Handhelds, Home Entertainment, Peripherals, Robots, Internet, Software
Following the unsuspected success of the 5.5-inch Samsung Galaxy Note 2, big phones (a.k.a phablets) are on the rise this year, and, at 6.1-inch, the Huawei Ascend mate is now the largest smartphone on the planet.
Beside its gigantic 6.1-inch display, what sets the Ascend Mate apart is its high capacity 4050 mAh battery, which promises to deliver extensive battery life, or to simply compensate for the huge screen size. To date, the Huawei Ascend Mate features the highest capacity battery found in a smartphone: the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 only gets 3,100 mAh while the famous Motorola RAZR Maxx HD gets 3,300 mAh.
I have purchased a Samsung Galaxy Note 2 for my personal use, so I was very curious to get my hands on this Huawei Mate. I have briefly played with the Mate after the Huawei press conference, here is the complete hands-on with my first impressions..
Editor’s note: What’s a “hands-on review”? Unlike reviews that are done in our office/lab, the hands-on reviews are usually our first contact with a device. We try providing as much information about the look and feel along with critical details available at that time. A complete review may follow when the device is actually on the market.
(more…)
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Nokia Purity Pro Wireless Headset by Monster – Demo at GDGT, Android Mind Blowing Numbers at Mobile Loco, 
CES is mostly useless, sure, and most of the trillion dinky things trotted out like chrome and plastic show chihuahuas will wind up in landfills. But CES is worth it just to give 4K, Ultra HD TV its big debut. And if you’re not amazed by it, I’m afraid you’re an idiot. More »
As you can imagine, touchscreens have a slight bias against long fingernails, and if you happen to have long fingernails, we’re sure that you’ve already developed some special techniques to effectively use your phone and tablet. However, a new product called Nano Nails aims to essentially turn those long fingernails into touchscreen stylii.
A company by the name of Tech Tips created a detachable fingernail attachment of sorts that acts as a stylus. From there, the company figured out a way to embed the technology into wearable and fashionable fingernails. Nano Nails hide a tiny capacitive tip under the index fingernail that can be detected by a touchscreen just like a fingertip would, and it’s completely invisibile unless you’re looking for it.
The stylus nails will save you from having to carry a separate stylus, and since they’re glued to your finger, they’re always at the ready. There is a slight learning curve to Nano Nails, which is mostly getting used to using the proper angle for the tip to make contact with the display, but it’s certainly better than having to blindly tap at your phone with the pad of your finger.
Nano Nails will be available in either a full press-on nail or a nail tip, and the company expects them to sell in packages of four or six for around $10. They can also be put on by either the wearer or applied professionally at a salon. Tech Tips expects to start shipping the new product sometime this May.
[via CNET]
Nano Nails converts long fingernails into stylii is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
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CES 2013 is well behind us, and despite the avalanche of devices, demos and news, there are a small group of products that caught our attention more than others. They may soon be in your living room, on your head, in your hands, your bag or your pockets: here are the 11 Ubergizmo Best of CES 2013, in no particular order…
The LG EA9800 is an absolute thing of beauty: with its elegant and subtle curvature, this 55″ OLED TV is supposed to remove subtle image distortions that are due to the fact that pixels at the screen’s center are closer to the eyes than the ones on the edges. To be honest, we’ve never complained about that particular issue on current TVs, but what we love without reserve about the LG EA9800 OLED TV is the beauty of its design, the amazing image quality and the stunning translucent TV stand. This time, LG takes the lead in TV design. (more…)
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Bottles Equipped With GPS Used To Track Drug Thieves In New York, Facebook LIVE at 10am PT, 1/15, 
We are still not quite done with CES 2013 just yet, even though the show ended late last week, there are still some ripples to cover considering the vastness of the entire event. Well, Rapoo, being one of the leading manufacturers of wireless peripheral products, did take the opportunity to make an announcement of a trio of new wireless, portable audio solutions back at CES 2013. They are the Bluetooth Portable Speaker A5000, Bluetooth Portable Mini Speaker A3060 (as seen above) and Bluetooth Portable Speaker A8060, where all of them will deliver a compact design and powerful sound perfect for use at home or on the go.
First off, Rapoo’s compact Bluetooth Portable Speaker A5000 will be a Bluetooth 4.0 speaker that will come in a range of bright colors that include lime green, watermelon pink, electric blue and basic black. Do not judge this by its small size, as it can deliver powerful sound while on the go, while boasting of a built-in microphone that doubles up as a speakerphone for hands-free calls as well as a 3.5mm jack to connect mobile devices
As for the cylindrical Bluetooth Portable Mini Speaker A3060 that you see above, it too, will jive to Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity while boasting Intelligent Voice Prompt that delivers audio status updates which includes when the speaker is paired to a device, battery life and volume changes. You are able to control the volume, pause/play music and skip over to the next/previous track from the connected smartphone, or you can also opt to use the integrated controls that are located on the top of the speaker. It will feature a built-in microphone for hands-free calling, a rechargeable lithium ion battery and five different metallic shades to choose from – silver, green, orange, yellow and blue.
Last but not least, the sleek Rapoo Bluetooth Portable Speaker A8060 will too, have Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity and Guided Acoustic Wave (GAW) Technology. It comes with smart control buttons with a proximity sensor that illuminates the controls whenever one is in range. All three models are tipped to be available before the first quarter of the year is over.
[ Rapoo does a slew of wireless audio solutions copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
January is an exciting time for both green technology and eco-friendly cars, as the Consumer Electronics Show segues into the Detroit Auto Show — which just kicked off today! Inhabitat is on the scene at NAIAS 2013 to bring you the latest green car unveilings. So far, Mercedes-Benz launched its 2014 E Class Hybrid and Volkswagen showcased the Crossblue plug-in hybrid SUV. We also saw several breakthrough automotive technologies at CES 2013. Audi unveiled its new futuristic LED headlights, which the company claims will increase visibility and reduce the chances of a collision and Lexus unveiled a new high-tech autonomous vehicle that could pave the way towards self-driving cars. Also at CES, New York-based company CTA Digital unveiled the iPotty, a toddler potty that comes with a built-in iPad stand. Earlier last week, the state of Nevada followed California’s lead and granted automakers permission to operate self-driving cars on public roads. In other green car news, Nissan announced that the 2013 Nissan Leaf will be more efficient, come with more features and charge in half the time as earlier models.
Filed under: Misc
Our CES plates were jam-packed full of eye-opening conversations this year. We had the chance to speak to top tech luminaries, entrepreneurs, celebrities and fellow journalists. Much of that opportunity arose from the return of our stage, parked right in the middle of the Las Vegas Convention Center’s Grand Lobby. We blew things out this year, packing the schedule from the show’s opening on Tuesday morning to its close on Friday night.
Below we have a list of the interviews we did at this year’s show, both on-stage and off, so you can relive the thoughts, theories and comments that defined this year’s Consumer Electronics Show.
Continue reading CES 2013: Interview roundup
Filed under: Announcements, Cellphones, Desktops, Cameras, Displays, Misc, Gaming, GPS, Handhelds, Home Entertainment, Household, Laptops, Peripherals, Podcasts, Robots, Tablets, Transportation, Wearables, Wireless, Storage, Networking, Internet, Software, HD, Mobile, Sony, HTC, Nokia, Verizon, Sprint, LG, AMD, RIM, Lenovo, NVIDIA
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