This year’s CES displayed a pretty broad mix in terms of production areas, with plenty of representation for categories ranging from wearables, to health, to VR and beyond – but the clear winners were two companies, and both succeeded primarily through partnerships than by direct demonstration of their own consumer products. How Nvidia won Of the two, Nvidia had a much more… Read More
Apple’s new ad shows off the Portrait mode for the iPhone 7 Plus
Just in time for the Golden Globes Awards on Sunday, Apple released a brand new ad showing off what you can do with the Portrait mode that works with the iPhone 7 Plus and its two cameras. As a bonus, the ad was shot in Greece and now I want to go to Greece. The beginning of the ad looks like a movie segment more than anything else. It starts with a couple of ambiance shots and then you can see… Read More
And the winner of Hardware Battlefield 2017 is… Siren Care
These companies had a very special CES experience as they all pitched in front of multiple groups of judges on stage at the Sands Expo. The startups were competing for $50,000 and being named the winner of the Hardware Battlefield. After many deliberations, our judges narrowed the list down to four finalists: wearable device for pregnant mothers Bloomlife, smart sensors for construction… Read More
Knocki turns any surface into a switch
What happens when you mix two software dudes, a little kid, and a light switch? You get the Knocki, a clever little device that connects to a wall or under a table. You can tap the surface to trigger events – turning on a light, muting speakers, etc. – and it is surprisingly small and easily-hidden. The founders are Ohad Nezer and Jake Boshernitzan, both of Houston, Texas.… Read More
TechCrunch’s Hardware Battlefield finalists are BloomLife, Pillar Technologies, Siren Care and Stratio
Over the past two days, 13 startups have taken the stage at TechCrunch’s Hardware Battlefield. Now our editorial team has finished deliberating with the expert judges (seriously, expert) and chosen four finalists who will be competing for the big prize of $50,000, as well as a trophy that we like to call the Metal Man.
You can watch the presentations live on TechCrunch tomorrow… Read More
Hands-on with Nvidia’s new 4K HDR-streaming Shield with Android TV
Nvidia’s Shield set-top streaming device got an update at this year’s CES, and it was a big one: The new hardware is 40 percent smaller than the original, with a new Android 7.0 Nougat-based operating system and a redesigned UI that groups games together and just generally organizes things a bit more logically. It also handles 4K HDR content streaming, and boasts the most… Read More
Smart canes and wheelchairs among tech empowering the disabled at CES
Amid the confusion of smart showerheads and selfie drones at CES this year, a handful of companies are working to serve the needs of populations that are frequently overlooked by the proprietors of high tech. You won’t find these devices in every home, but homes with someone disabled by age or misfortune will welcome them more than a new voice-powered fridge. Read More
Ford’s going to put Alexa in cars starting later this year
A lot of car makers are building Alexa skills for their vehicles, but these tend to be about making it possible for car owners to do things like turn on their cars from inside their homes via their Echo devices. Ford and Amazon are building an Alexa integration that goes the other way, providing car-to-home voice control with Alexa embedded in Ford’s SYNC 3 infotainment system. The… Read More
The real Technics is dead (again)
Technics just announced the Grand Class SL-1200GR turntable at CES 2017. It’s basically just a slightly adjusted version of the SL-1200G that they announced last year. Vinyl enthusiasts were hoping that this would be a budget model, but that might not be the case at all. Technics has yet to release any official pricing information, yet Gizmodo is reporting that the price should come… Read More
Airthings wants you to measure the Radon in your house
We have smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors that live in our house, sniffing the air for nasties, and beeping loudly if something has gone horribly wrong. Norwegian company Airthings wants to add Radon to the list of things you constantly monitor for, with the Wave radon detector. Read More