I am standing in Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh’s apartment in downtown Las Vegas. He’s not here. A housekeeper is here. And a dozen strangers are here, taking a tour of the Downtown Project, Hsieh’s urban renaissance initiative. A "tour" which, for the most part, takes place right here, in Tony Hsieh’s apartment.
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[CES 2014] At the International Consumer Electronics Show 2014 in Las Vegas, Sony has unveiled a plethora of new products including 4K TVs, camcorders, full HD 3D TVs and much, much more. However there’s one product that it announced rather quietly, in fact it didn’t pop up on many publications’ radars until @evleaks tweeted about it. Sony launched its first ever smartphone cradle receiver which turns your smartphone into an in-dash touchscreen entertainment system for vehicles. Apart from the XSP-N1BT cradle receiver, Sony also unveiled seven new in-car entertainment systems six of which tout Bluetooth with NFC support. All models come with Sony’s new App Remote technology which transforms Android and iOS devices into supplemental music displays and head-unit controllers.
The industry’s first double-DIN smartphone cradle receiver has a clamping system that is capable of supporting a “wide range” of smartphones in the dash. The smartphone’s display will show controls for head-unit functions through App Remote, it is compatible with Bluetooth connected Android devices and USB connected iPhones. App Remote also facilitates voice operation of the head unit and smartphone. The cradle receiver offers CD, USB and tuner source functionality even if a smartphone isn’t connected, thanks to its IR remote. Smartphones placed in the cradle can be charged via a compact USB cable, Sony’s new crop of Xperia smartphones can charge wireless through a magnetic connector. The Sony smartphone cradle receiver XSP-N1BT will be available for purchase in May 2014 with a $250 price tag.
Sony Smartphone Cradle Receiver Turns Your Phone Into An In-Dash Touchscreen System original content from Ubergizmo. 
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[CES 2014] Mercedes-Benz makes some of the most desirable vehicles which not only focus on optimum driving pleasure, but also offer a barrage of features in order to make the passengers’ lives easier. Imagine being able to set your thermostat while you’re on your way home, so that its warm and toasty when you step out of the car and rush into your house on a cold day. Mercedes-Benz vehicles will let you do that, as the company has announced it will integrate Nest smart thermostat controls in its Digital DriveStyle app.
Mercedes-Benz To Add Nest Thermostat Control In Vehicles original content from Ubergizmo. 
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Hardware maker, Heapsylon, debuted two new fitness products at CES 2014: a smart fitness sock that coaches users on their running techniques in real time and a heart rate monitor built into a T-shirt and bra. I got a hands-on demo with Sensoria Sock’s smartphone application that alerts users to improper foot technique and came away, shall we say, breathless.
Sensoria places sensors on the bottom of the foot so an app can give feedback on the most common types of runner errors. During my brief jaunt with the early prototype, Sensoria was able to quickly identify that I do, indeed, strike my heels first when I run and also that I had an inconsistent pace (cadence). Unlike an expensive running coach with a camera, the Sensoria gives real-time auditory feedback in a natural environment and can follow me around wherever I go. Initially, only professionals have had access to this kind of realtime, ubiquitous coaching.
As a new runner, I’ve been having all kinds of nasty knee and calf issues. This is a product my beleaguered body is begging for.
In addition to the Sock, Heapsylon also announced a shirt and bra with an embedded heart rate monitor. Heart rate chest straps are notoriously uncomfortable and an inconvenience to carry around. Never having to remember to bring my chest strap while I travel would be a pleasant bonus.
For the futurist, Heapsylon partnered with Google Glass developer, Race Yourself, to bring heads-up visual feedback to runners. Instead of runners having to sporadically check their heart rate, Google Glass will display it in real time, along with visual data on their foot placement.
Of all the wearables I’ve demoed at CES thus far, the Sensoria Smart Sock is probably the most useful. It identifies a population eager for self-improvement and delivers a product that conveniently solves a major health issue. I can’t wait for it to be available in the spring.
[Image Credit: Flickr User Heapsylon]
[CES 2014] The folks over at Lexar have decided to deliver something interesting to the masses with a bunch of new JumpDrive products, where these will be USB 3.0 flash drives to make sure that it keeps up with the pace of technology in your notebook and desktop computers. Just what kind of surprises are we looking at from Lexar? For starters, there is a new 128GB option to the Lexar JumpDrive P10, JumpDrive S33, and JumpDrive S23, while the JumpDrive S23 will be the beneficiary of a new 256GB option. These increased capacities will certainly be able to deliver the kind of portable storage that the masses crave in this day and age, not to mention featuring the performance of USB 3.0 technology that makes sure your data transfer will be completed in a jiffy.
For starters, the Lexar JumpDrive P10 USB 3.0 Flash Drive is said to be up to two dozen times faster than a USB 2.0 drive, with the new 128GB capacity being able to deliver read speeds up to 265MB/s and write speeds up to 245MB/s. As for the Lexar JumpDrive S33 USB 3.0 Flash Drive that you see above, it will offer read speeds of up to 100MB/s and write speeds up to 55MB/s for the new 128GB model, and since this is one of the smallest USB 3.0 drives in the market, you can expect the JumpDrive S33 to arrive in a slim, swivel design, a retractable connector. Depending on your needs, you can pick from a range of colors and capacities, including orange (8GB), teal (16GB), green (32GB), purple (64GB), and now black (128GB).
Lexar Has New JumpDrive Products In The Pipeline original content from Ubergizmo. 
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[CES 2014] Sennheiser is a company known for their audio products and have created audio related products for both the average user and the audiophile in mind. Earlier this year, the company announced new Momentum headphones which was followed up later in the year by a smaller version that was an on-ear model versus over-ear. Well come CES 2014, Sennheiser is looking to refresh its Momentum lineup with a new color options that comes in ivory, high gloss black, classic brown, and intense red. (more…)
Sennheiser Momentum Headphones Get New Color Options original content from Ubergizmo. 
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[CES 2014] Gaming headsets differ slightly from regular headphones. For examples while headphones designed for music focus more on a balanced sound, gaming headsets might focus more on bass to help make explosions sound louder and heavier. They might also focus on surround sound so that gamers can tell which direction their enemies are coming from, and more often than not they come with a microphone that allows gamers to voice chat with one another. Well if you’re in the market for new gaming headphones, Sennheiser has unveiled the G4me One and G4me Zero headphones as part of a collaboration between Sennheiser and Io-Interactive. (more…)
Sennheiser Unveils G4me One And G4me Zero Gaming Headsets original content from Ubergizmo. 
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Samsung has introduced two new cameras this morning, among them being the WB350F compact zoom camera. As the name suggests, this latest compact Samsung entrant has a high room rate … Continue reading
[CES 2014] The folks over at Vapor have come up with a new personalized, rechargeable vaporizer unit that they have announced, calling it the Vapor X. The Vapor X will be made available to consumers, where it will boast of patent pending fingerprint lock technology that will make it in time for the 2014 holiday retail season. Hmmm, that certainly sounds like a long way off, considering how we have just completed our holiday season, and have just made the transition over to the new year.
Vapor Corp., which is a leading publicly traded “pure-play” company in the electronic cigarette market, intends to pave the way for the next big thing in the electronic cigarette market. Kevin Frija, CEO of Vapor Corp. shared, “The next trend in alternative smoking devices is the personalized vaporizer that incorporates the technology that we expect from our high-end tech devices. Today we are debuting the newest technology in this space. By incorporating this biometric user identity technology into the Vapor X personal vaporizer, the door is opened to many customizable features. The fingerprint lock security allows customers to protect their device from use by another individual and this same technology will lead to the development of additional features and controls.”
And here I was, thinking that biometric measures are good only for notebooks and the iPhone 5s.
Vapor Announces Vapor X Personalized Vaporizer Unit original content from Ubergizmo. 
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Joining the newly unveiled Samsung WB350F compact camera unveiled today at CES is the WB2200F, an all-together more hefty super zoom camera with an optical zoom rate of 60x and … Continue reading
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