CES | Something's Brewing

Tech East and More of Day 1 at CES

Posted on January 7, 2015January 7, 2015 by Sam Kornstein in Technology

I wrapped up at Tech West (previous posts here and here), and in the afternoon I ventured over to Tech East at the Las Vegas Convention Center where many of the larger tech firms have their exhibits. A big theme this year was obviously the Internet of Things (IoT) — connected everything, with a focus on connected home devices. There seems to be a lot of innovation here, and many companies seem to be pushing their products closer to the point at which the benefits of some of these devices justify the (falling) costs, but I don’t think we’re there yet. Zigbee had a big home automation demo, showing everything from connected lights, speakers, flood monitors, motion sensors, and more: New connected

3D Printing at CES

Posted on January 7, 2015January 7, 2015 by Sam Kornstein in General

In my second hour at CES, after spending some time looking at health trackers, I stumbled into the 3D printing area. There seemed to be hundreds of firms showing off their 3D printing skills, and all of the plastic things they printed. I was struck by how many firms are eagerly competing and innovating here. The first printer I saw, and maybe my favorite, was Zeus: A 3D scan, print, copy, fax machine: When pressed, the Zeus guy admitted the fax button just sends a copy of a scan to any other connected Zeus machine over the internet, but still. I was impressed. I asked about resolution, and learned that it’s measured in layer microns, and the highest (smallest) resolution of

First Day at CES

Posted on January 7, 2015January 7, 2015 by Sam Kornstein in Technology

I spent my first full day at CES, and most of the descriptions I’ve read are spot on. It’s a complete zoo, it’s exhausting, and it’s awesome. I started the day at Tech West, spending most of my time in the Sands Expo. I first worked my way through more fitness/health trackers than I previously could have imagined existed. There were obviously dozens of Fitbit-like step counters and sleep trackers, which seemed increasingly irrelevant as much of this functionality, at least the step counter part, is a feature on most new smartphones. I found a “Smart Basketball”, 94fifty, that sends real time data on your shot speed, backspin, arc, and dribbling to your phone: There was Skulpt, which initially sounded ridiculous to