SiliconANGLE » CES

MakerBot ‘Replicator’ 3D Printer at CES 2012 Can Make Anything (In Two Colors)

Kit Dotson — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 18:08:43 +0000

Earlier this week at the Consumer Electronics Show—and unfortunately not a Star Trek convention—3D printer manufacturer, MakerBot, unveiled its newest amazing product dubbed the “MakerBot Replicator.” With two versions capable of making objects about the size of a loaf of bread (8.9 x 5.7 x 5.9 inches), the MakerBot is a product capable of extruding plastic into a 3D pattern that can rapidly prototype almost anything that can be modeled in a 3D program and exported onto an SD card.

This amazing little device is visual in nature, so spend a moment and listen to a demo as to how it works and what it does–and why this new version is just another step towards the production of Star Trek’s magical “replicators.”

The Replicator itself starts at $1,799 for a model with a single extruder—that is with only one plastic producing and applying nozzle—and $1,999 for the model with two. Going with the dual-extruder attachment means that the cheerful owner can make objects with two different colors of plastic.

The objects made by the product are nothing short of unbelievably interesting. In the video above, Bre Pettis, CEO and Co-founder of MakerBot Industries, demos a number of objects the Replicator is capable of replicating—including a two-color globe of the earth and a clockwork-heart item. As long as the object can be modeled in 3D software, exported to a shape file the Replicator can read, and the attachments can reach the sections to be modeled, you’ll have your very own 3D printed bauble.

I have numerous friends who would love to have even a single-color busts of the MMORPG characters they play day-to-day in video games.

Although the primary use of MakerBot products is to use quick-hardening plastic, the company also makes extruder kits that allow for the use of edible products such as frosting, creamy peanut butter, jelly, and nutella. Perhaps if a clockwork-heart doesn’t tickle your fancy, you might look into the Frostruder MK2 Kit. I imagine that specialty cake makers might find this one particularly interesting with the right software.

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New Mediia Minute: CES 2012 Outlook Connected TVs on Pace for Big Year

Art Lindsey III — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 19:21:07 +0000

The annual Consumer Electronics show has kicked off this week in
Las Vegas, with gadgets and TV galore. CE makers from Samsung to LG
are rolling out new connected TV partnerships, as these smart sets
accounted for 52 million sets sold last year. Now, in 2012,
manufacturers are promoting Internet-capable TVs even more to
distinguish themselves from the competition. For more on what’s on the
connected TV horizon, and whether 9% of consumers really have cut the
cord, watch this week’s New Media Minute.

[Thanks, Daisy!]

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Things You Didn’t Know About CES: Infographic

Cherr Aira — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 15:30:14 +0000

Bombarded with product launches from some of the tech industry’s biggest names, larger-than-life innovations and even a few surprises—these are the things we do know about the Consumer Electronics Show. Held annually, the largest assembly of the influential brands from around the globe has become a platform to showcase the future in technology. What started at around 17,000 attendees has grown to 150,000. While everyone finds the attendance, over the top product releases remarkable and hardcore technological dialogue astounding, there are interesting CES bits and pieces that can wow you more.

CES: Now and Then

The 2012 International CES opens in Las Vegas with a record breaking number of exhibitors, and promises to be the best in history, according to the event organizers. The highly anticipated affair features various mini events in between Keynotes and talks. These include the mobile showdown, ESPN 3D Events, the CES Tweetup, Celebrities meet and greet and more. There will also be awards given for innovation, engineering and special citations.

President and CEO of Consumer Electronics Association (the mother company of CES) Gary Shapiro proudly announced the astounding attendance for this year’s occasion:

“With more than 3,100 companies showcasing more than 20,000 new products, the 2012 International CES is the world’s largest hub for consumer technology innovation. The pre-show media events, which drew record numbers, created tremendous buzz as the world awaits the next generation of technology that is launching here at CES this week.

“From ultrabooks to digital health products to connected TVs, the innovation at the 2012 CES will be nothing short of amazing, as attendees witness ground-breaking products spanning one of the largest show floors in CES history.”

CES was first held in New York in 1967. The event lasted for five days from June 24^th until the 28^th. Today, the leading tech show in the world takes place every January. Around 1.6 million feet will be used up to stage the show. This is equivalent to 28 standard-sized football fields.

CES and World Changing Product Launches

There will be more than 20,000 products that will be introduced to the market by way of CES 2012. That’s a rate of 10 products launched every minute. That is really quite something. I wonder how the audience will be able to appreciate or even pay attention to details with all new things puffing from every direction. But these episodes are what I am actually thankful for. My favorite brick game in the universe, Tetris, was first seen at CES some years ago.

In 1970, the VCR for home use was released and sold for $2,000. Four years later the laserdisc becomes the hottest item. Following these are Atari’s Home Pong Console and cheap digital watches. The 80’s saw more inventions and innovations with the arrival of compact disc, camcorder, Commodore 64, Nintendo Entertainment System and Tetris. The succeeding decades’ introductions proved that the world is thrusting technological advancements at a record pace. The minidisc, Microsoft BOB, DVD, Apple Pippin, HDTV, digital video recorder, satellite radio, Xbox, Blue Ray, Windows Media Centre, Panasonic Plasma TV, 3D HDTV, tablets, netbooks, Android devices and smartphones graced the podium at CES over the years.

It is also fascinating to know that it takes 18 days to build and takedown the entire CES layout. If my math is still good, ingress and egress will eat up more time than the actual show, which lasts 4 days.

CES has been a global platform of innovation and creative minds. It is almost complete, except that Apple has been missing for years now. Well, it seems that the company is still thought of at CES, because the majority of the exhibitors are taking aim at Apple’s crowning glories—the iPad, iPhone and MacBook.

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5 Technology Advancements That Define This Year’s CES Gadgets

Alex Williams — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 00:09:32 +0000

The reduced technical complexity in a camera, ultrabook or smartphone means stripping out mechanics. These stripped down gadgets are for the most part connected devices with a simple UI that people can touch and swipe. They require a long battery life so people may use them wherever they go. These are devices that can hold a discussion and understand what you mean when you gesture by waving your hands.

Never has that been more clear than with the gadgets at CES this year.

The gadgets at this monstrous annual event in Las Vegas show the deeper connections between systems, the apps that run on them and the infrastructure needed to connect. All this has to be done in a manner that engages people and allows them to use without the frictions of managing software and the complexities that comes with it. The following are five core technology advancements that help fulfill these requirements and define this year’s CES gadgets.

Flash Memory: Intel’s Ultrabooks are hot this year at CES. On these super slim devices, flash memory has replaced hard drives, reducing their overall weight and increasing the speed. The hardware complexity and moving components have been baked into the software. No more whirring disks and moving pieces. The shift to flash memory is not just limited to gadgets. All these billions of devices that connect online means the need for new infrastructures. For example, Fusion-io builds storage right into the server itself. Without storage infrastructure, software can be used to increase the amount of data that passes through the server itself. So as much as gadgets are getting transformed, so is the infrastructure, too.

A New Generation of Operating Systems: The slimmed down gadgets at CES sport a new generation of operating systems that provide the guts for touch-based experiences. Android ,Windows 8 and Ubuntu Unity are all interfaces built or rebuilt for the new mobile market. Ubuntu TV is particularly exciting as it shows a new direction for the Linux distribution and provides a good alternative to Google TV and Apple TV.

New Development Stacks: The API is now the official digital glue for CES. The new AT&T API catalog includes APIs for MMS, SMS, location, and mobile-health capabilities. OnStar announced an API program for developers to build for its customer base. The news points to how REST-based APIs have become mainstream for connecting apps to any kind of device, be it a smartphone or a dishwasher. Additionally, JavaScript is now a first-class citizen in the tech world, thanks in part to new JavaScript engines like V8, which also enables JavaScript to run as a highly efficient server side langauge through Node.js. JavaScript is an integral aspect of HTML5, which it seems everyone is promoting it at CES. In addition to its new family of APIs, AT&T is also set to launch a new store for HTML5 apps. Opera also announced today an HTML5 app store.

Voice and Gesture: Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said in his keynote last night that the company sold 18 million Xbox Kinects in the past year. Kinect’s popularity with mass society reflects the technology’s ease of use and unlimited applications. Expect voice and gesture technology to become a core aspect of the modern gadget in the years ahead. Opus Research is one of my favorite sources to follow for what’s happening in this new world of conversation interfaces.

Battery Efficiency: The ARM processor is known for its low power. It’s why Microsoft is planning to use it for Windows 8 devices and almost every tablet on the market. Intel is developing its own energy efficient processors but ARM has a different business model that makes it unique. ARM is a design shop. It does not do its own manufacturing. It works with its own suppliers. These suppliers fine tune and add features with the help of its own ecosystem of suppliers. Like Microsoft, HP is making its own investments in ARM with a new effort called Project Moonshot, ARM-based low energy server technology with hyper scale capabilities. Moonshot is expected to prove popular with Web companies. And that fits right into what we are seeing this week at CES.

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Cory Doctorow says everything is a computer. You don’t drive a car anymore. It’s a computer with wheels. A dishwasher has enough technology to talk with a smartphone.

The technology on display at CES proves this in many respects. In the years ahead it will only become more true as fundamental advances in technology simplify the gadgets we use and more advanced in their ways that they mimic human life.

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eVoice VoIP Saves Dropped Calls with WiFi

Kristina Farrah — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 18:37:42 +0000

A hub for product launches, CES has yet again accommodated the unveiling of a new mobile app for Android called eVoice. This mobile app is a collaboration between eVoice, a “Radically Better Phone Number” and brand of technology leader j2 Global, Inc. The eVoice Mobile App for Android ensures that business calls on personal devices will be managed and answered professionally without consuming minutes from the user’s cellular plan. Apart from Android, it has already been available on iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch for some time.

Embedding advanced business features within some of the most popular phones and tablets available today, the eVoice Mobile App allows iOS and Android devices to make and receive phone calls through WiFi or 3G/4G network via VoIP. It will save cellular minutes while reducing poor quality calls in places such as subways, trains, basement offices or rural home offices. These places normally have good WiFi connectivity which eVoice mobile app can divert call connectivity to from mobile network.

“Our mobile phones are becoming our only phones, used for both personal and business calls. The new eVoice app makes it easy to get the best of both worlds,” said Mike Pugh, vice president, marketing for j2 Global. “eVoice brings all of the features you expect from a big business phone system to your mobile device, without exposing your personal phone number or using your mobile minutes.”

According to an August 2011 Nielsen report, 43 percent of all smart phone owners have an Android device, and that number is expected to continue to climb throughout the holiday season and into 2012. Moreover, users who acquired the Android smartphones over the last three months preferred Android (56 percent) over any other platform. iOS tails with 28 percent. Indeed, Android is gaining momentum as a mobile platform with a good mobile app ecosystem.

You can download eVoice Mobile App for Android here. It offers a 6-month free trial but premium features require an activation charge.

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AT&T Broadens Mobile Strategy, Appeals to Developers

Saroj Kar — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 16:00:53 +0000

CES 2012 may have been a dire point for Microsoft, but some of its upcoming products are boosting AT&T’s lineup.

One of the most anticipated presentations of the event is the Nokia Lumia 900, and their collaboration with AT&T. The Nokia Lumia 900 is the latest smartphone from the Finnish camp, and will be released in the U.S. through AT&T’s network.

In practice, the event will be dictated by Microsoft partnership with Nokia, which is becoming more pronounced over time. The new smartphone features a 4.3 inches display, a front-facing camera that’s Skype ready, and the body may be of the same plastic already used with the Nokia 800 Lumia. The operating system will not have Tango, but will remain with the Windows Phone version 7.5 Mango.

“AT&T is playing a critical role in our reentry strategy to the United states,” Nokia Chief Executive Stephen Elop told the audience at AT&T’s event.

Building out a mobile platform

At the AT&T press conference, the wireless provider presents an interesting initiative, introducing a development platform for smartphones and developers. They’re now able to directly receive platform access from the mobile operators to produce their own apps.

The apps will be independent of the platform because they are based on HTML5. AT&T will provide the tools for developers and a platform to build the apps on iPhones, Android phones, and Windows Phones and BlackBerry phones.

“It’s essentially a rich set of APIs and tools aimed at furthering the HTML5 appeal as an app development choice,” said David Christopher, chief marketing officer at AT&T. “Why are we focusing on HTML5? We think it has the potential to address fragmentation.”

Beyond Nokia

The company also introduces Watson speech recognition technology to the cars, providing a direct competition to Panasonic and QNX. The cloud connected device car technology will respond to your voice command to control the GPS or change radio channel.

Here are some other developments at AT&T event, including the seven new smartphone and tablet devices set to launch early this year:

-         New devices include Samsung Exhilarate, Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket HD, Sony Xperia Ion, Pantech Burst, the Pantech Element tablet, and the Samsung Galaxy Note smartphone/tablet hybrid.

-         Sony introduced the new Xperia Ion, the company’s first smartphone capable of operating in 4G LTE network – and for now, the only U.S. operator is AT&T.

-         The telecom company announced the battle plans for subscriptions PS Vita. The 250 MB download limit will be available at $14.99 per month and 2GB limit at $25 per month. In addition to the 3G network access, subscribers will also have access to some 29 000 Wifi Hotspots in the country.

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CES Showcases the World’s Smallest POV

Kristina Farrah — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 15:25:51 +0000

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) has become the springboard for Cerevo “LiveShell,” the world’s smallest and cheapest portable live-streaming video solution, according to the company. Real-time video broadcasting will be delivered to the UStream website by connecting Contour’s Contour+ Camera to Cerevo’s Live Shell using a simple HDMI cable, enabling a hands-free, high-quality, real-time broadcast for point-of-view footage. You can also set them to share on other video platforms besides UStream.

This new product will allow people to capture and stream quality video anytime, anywhere. Added functionality is found on the web-based Dashboard to remotely direct and modify settings.

“Contour is excited to include LiveShell to our product suite in the U.S., allowing our customers to broadcast their hands-free pursuits live to the web as it happens. ” said Contour CEO, Marc Barros.

“It’s a perfect complement to our Contour+ camera model. We start with the best hands-free, POV camera with built in GPS and mobile connectivity – and have now add a wireless live-streaming solution with the LiveShell. Partnering with Cerevo and Ustream will allow Contour customers to share their ski run, bike route, or any other hands-free action with their family and friends in real-time.”

LiveShell is available for sale at the Contour website for $299 starting February 1st.

Dropcam demos new house monitor

There’s also a new camera from security camera maker, Dropcam, with new features that will make it even easier to keep an eye on your house. Dropcam lets you monitor your house using a wall-plug-in camera that can record up to 30 days of non-stop video without running into battery glitches. The video is then wirelessly uploaded and stored in the cloud. It can pick up audio and movement, can toggle between night vision and daylight, can zoom in and out. But the most peculiar of its features is the two-way audio. If you spot a robber in your house, you can just make creepy sounds or yell “GOTCHA!” to scare them away.

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Ballmer Says in Final Keynote That Windows 8 Will Launch in Late February

Alex Williams — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 04:14:06 +0000

Steve Ballmer just finished his last keynote by announcing that Windows 8 will launch in late February with the full Metro user interface and integrations with Kinect, available February 1.

“Metro will drive the new magic across all the user experiences,” Ballmer said. For Microsoft, Metro means 1+1=3.

And to make his point, Ballmer exclaimed:

“Metro, Metro, Metro.” And to really make his point, Microsoft is all about “Windows, Windows, Windows.”

Natural language and natural gestures highlighted the final part of the keynote with a demo of the voice controls from the Xbox and the news of a new partnership with Sesame Workshop that will feature immersive games based upon the Sesame Street programming.

So what does this mean? It’s a clear sign that the future for Windows is the capabilities for a ouch style interface. It pairs with the ultrabooks, which serve as a hybrid with both touch and keyboard integration.

Entertaining as usual with Ballmer and a good show that demonstrates the shift for the market in the months ahead. Telling was the almost nonexistent mention of the PC. Instead, we now see devices that are only as good as how thin they are. A user interface has to be a swipe. Voice recognition is a must. And the new device of the future will have to come standard with some Kinect style interactive capability.

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VMware’s Serious about Mobile Enterprise, Unveils Horizon Mobile

Maria Deutscher — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 21:42:22 +0000

VMware is beefing up its virtualization initiatives, a growing number of which include offerings that cater to the end user within the enterprise, rather than organization-wide virtualization solutions alone. Mobile has been one of the focuses for the company lately, a trend that is quite steadily growing in the enterprise space.

VMware was actually one of the first major IT firms that announced it has adopted an organization-wide bring-your-own-device or BYOD policy. Workers can switch to their own smartphones, rather than having to use often ancient company-issued devices with very limited functionality.

One of the company’s freshest ventures into this area is a piece of software still in development that lets users run two different profiles on their Android devices: one for personal use that contains all the relevant data and apps, and a second ‘account’ that is solely dedicated for work. VMware Horizon Mobile, as it’s called, has made an appearance at this week’s CES in Las Vegas, where it announced two new major supports.

“We’ve known LG and VMware have been working on this since February, but the big news today is that Verizon and Telefonica wil be launching a phone with the tech “in the coming months.”

No one’s getting more specific than that, and we’re told it’ll be on new LG devices only — the Revolution you see here is just a proof of concept. Still, it’s interesting, and should make that whole work phone / personal phone split a little easier to manage.

VMware is attacking the mobile scene from several very different angles. Virtualization is one, and it’s also working on its own set of apps. In September 2011 we’ve covered the release of the new SlideRocket and Socialcast, both of which are the fruits of an earlier social enterprise acquisition spree.

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CES 2012: The Future Of Smart TVs

Mellisa Tolentino — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 15:35:01 +0000

January 2012 is just a few days away and if you’re a person who’s always on the lookout for the latest in consumer electronics, you’re probably really excited about this particular month because of the Consumer Electronics Show.

Every year CES showcases the upcoming gadgets and gizmos from various brands, which ranges from television sets, mobile phones and computing devices, etc. Think of it as a haven for techies. So what should we expect to see in the upcoming 2012 CES?

The South Korean electronics company is said to be unveiling the world’s largest organic-LED 3D TV, which measures 55 inches in height, a screen size of 72 inches and is only 5mm thick. LED TVs aren’t cheap, and with LG’s 15-inch OLED TV priced at $2,500, you’d expect that this 55-inch OLED TV would be priced outrageously high.

“Our objective has always been to actively define and lead emerging display technology markets,” Sang Beom Han, chief executive and executive vice president of LG Display, told the Times of India. ”Although OLED technology is seen as the future of TV display, the technology has been limited to smaller display sizes and by high costs, until now. LG Display’s 55-inch OLED TV panel has overcome these barriers.”

Streaming TV Networks

The biggest hassle with 3D TVs is the 3D glasses. For you to be able to appreciate the 3D images coming out of your screen, you’d have to be wearing 3D glasses. So if you only have a pair or two, you can’t really have a 3D movie night at your place. And this issue is what Stream TV Networks aims to address with their Ultra-D technology. Ultra-D lets you enjoy watching 3D images without the glasses. It converts 2D images into 3D autostereoscopic (sans 3D glasses) images, and 3D stereoscopic contecnt into 3D autosterioscopic content.

“We are extremely proud of what we have been able to accomplish with our Ultra-D technology. It is capable of creating a significant shift in the way people view media, comparable to the transition from black and white to color TV,” said Mathu Rajan, CEO of Stream TV Networks, Inc.

“Our ultimate goal was to create a solution that addresses existing concerns impeding the adoption of 3D—consumer aversion to expensive glasses, viewer discomfort, variance in individual vision and preference and the slow creation of 3D content. It seemed we were aiming for the impossible but we’ve made it possible and will be sharing these hard-won achievements with consumers in 2012. Ultra-D is the next generation 3D technology designed to replace 3D with glasses and win preference over 2D devices.”

Aside from bringing 3D autostereoscopic content to TVs, the Ultra-D technology will also be available for converter boxes, tablets, desktops and, laptops, gaming, mobile phones, digital signage, and digital picture frames.

Lenovo

The Chinese electronics company is said to be launching a smart TV at CES dubbed either as IdeaTV (outside China) or LeTV. The launch of this TV will be accompanied by the “Lenovo Cloud,” which is said to function like Apple and Google’s cloud services. Users will be given 200GB of cloud space.

Apple

Though it is not confirmed whether Apple will be showcasing their rumored TV at the 2012 CES, it is rumored that Apple will be releasing a 32 and 37-inch TV. And in an ironic twist, though Samsung and Apple are still battling in various courts in different countries, Samsung is said to be the one manufacturing the Apple TVs. And Apple TV, Apple’s set top box, is supposedly going to be built inside the TV itself.

The 2012 International CES will be on January 10-13, 2012 at the Las Vegas Convention and World Trade Center.

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