The Tech Circuit: Novel Gadgets in this Year’s Consumer Electronics Show

CEBU, Philippines - Since its flagship run in 1967, the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) has evolved into one of the biggest tech tradeshows in the world.

Held every January, this year’s holding of the convention ran from January 5 to 8 in Las Vegas, drawing more than 165,000 attendees from 150 countries.

New product demonstrations and preview presentations of upcoming developments were the highlights of the show. Here are some of the CES 2017 novel head turners:

 “Connected home” devices by Griffin – In this year’s CES, Griffin Technology presented the brand’s “Griffin Home Collection”.

Composed of the “Connected Coffee Maker”, “Connected Toaster”, “Connected Mirror”, “PowerBlock Beacon” and “PowerJolt Beacon”, the line is geared towards completing the “smart home” ideal.

With the coffee maker and toaster, users can set the devices to prepare coffee and toast using a compatible smartphone. The mirror displays pertinent information (weather, time, calendar) and status messages from other Griffin devices, while the “PowerBlock Beacon” and “PowerJolt Beacon” are geared towards reminding users when to power in/charge their devices before they run out of power.

Announced to be made available in overseas markets by the second quarter of 2017, reactions to the “Griffin Home” collection have been mixed, with some netizens praising the brand for the steps they are pushing for. There were a number of tech pundits, however, who said the line is redundant and unnecessary.

A fitness/biometrics tracker by Bodytrack – A new fitness/biometrics tracker by Bodytrack got the attention of attendees in this year’s CES. It is a wearable device which offers a new way of keeping tabs on one’s vital statistics: through the ears.

Said to be made commercially available by the third quarter of the year, the gadget takes the form of a pair of wireless headphones and can be used to monitor one’s core body temperature, heart rate and other fitness readings while playing music.

LG’s offerings for audiophiles – While LG is famed for its line of smartphones and curved TVs, the brand has been busy bolstering its music system offerings, presenting a levitating Bluetooth speaker and a surround-sound capable “headphone set” in this year’s CES.

The levitating speaker, though not exactly the first ever made, works with a set of electromagnets. The levitating egg-shaped speaker itself houses a subwoofer for impressive sound.

The surround sound-capable “headphones”, dubbed “Tone Studio”, is a portable (worn around the neck) home theater sound system that can play surround sound format music. The device mainly immerses its wearers into a movie scene or mobile game without using an actual home theater system.

Accessories for dedicated VR viewers – Various brands presented a range of accessories for VR viewers in CES 2017: VR viewer accessories like the “Cerevo Taclim” (VR shoes and gloves) and the “3DRudder Wireless Controller”.

The “Cerevo Taclim” by Cerevo is essentially a set of shoes and gloves that allow for active interactions in simulated VR environments.

The “3DRudder Wireless Controller” is a foot controller intended to help users navigate their way through VR games or environments while seated.

As advances in VR-oriented entertainment are underway, devices like the “Cerevo Taclim” and “3DRudder Wireless Controller” are readily resolving concerns pertaining to user navigation and control.

A “smart hairbrush” by Withings and L’Oreal – Of all the gadgets showcased in this year’s CES, one of the most talked about was the “Kerastase Hair Coach”, a “smart hairbrush” developed by Withings and L’Oreal.

Looking no different from the regular hairbrush, the device works with sensors that monitor its users hair brushing methods, issuing vocal guides that tell them if they’re doing something wrong.

In theory, the “smart hairbrush” aims to put an end to split ends and frizz by coaching its users through ideal hairbrushing techniques. (BANAT NEWS)