CES highlights: Tech to expect ahead in 2017

The annual CES show in Las Vegas (formerly Consumer Electronics Show) which ended on Sunday, had its usual quota of tentative technology, ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous, a lot of it irrelevant to Indians. 

Among the  more  bizarre this year was a $200 smart hair brush, embedded with WiFi, pressure sensors and a microphone. It “listened” as you brushed your hair, picked up  signs of dry hair or split ends — and dished out appropriate advice through your phone.

But there were a few  more practical pointers to personal technology trends that would touch us in 2017 including some “made in India” innovations.

Acer educational Chromebook

Acer has adapted the Chromebook format for educational use.

Acer has adapted the Chromebook format for educational use. Knowing that students tend to be rough with their tools, the makers have built the 11.6 inch Chromebook 11 N7 (C731) to military specifications of ruggedness — It can endure a 60kg blow on the cover; or a drop from 122 cm height; it  can withstand cola spills on the keyboard; it won’t slide on the desk. Its battery will keep it working for 12 hours; it weighs just 1.35 kg and can be hinged 180 degrees to sit flat for sharing in class. And there are no whirring fans to disturb the class.

AI-backed fitness

The stride sensor embedded in the connected shoe, captures your biometrics with every step.

Noida-based Boltt Sports Technologies did the global launch of its Made-in-India sports wearables technology at CES. It  has used Artificial Intelligence to  power a smart health band and smart running shoes.  

The stride sensor embedded in the  connected shoe, captures your biometrics with every step. records your speed, cadence, strides, 3D foot acceleration, ground impact time and velocity. It decodes your performance in real time and helps improve your training and sports performance.

The Boltt Smart sports tracker band makes a trainer unnecessary. It analyses your body movements in real time and gives you voice cues on ideal speed, pace, stride to run faster and perform better.  

It keeps a check on your intensity so that you get most out of your workout without fear of injuries. Boltt Big Brother is watching you!

VR-AR phone

The phone is TriCam i.e., it has three rear cameras for creating a 3-D model of its surroundings.

Asus unveiled the world’s first mobile phone — the ZenFone AR — enhanced  for Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality. It is enabled with Google’s Tango, a set of sensors for motion-tracking and depth perception, that gives the phone the ability to understand space and motion like a human. It is also equipped with Daydream, another Google technology for mobile VR. The phone is TriCam — i.e., it has three rear cameras for creating a 3-D model of its surroundings. A motion tracker tracks its location and  measures distance from nearby objects.  There are a host of practical applications. To name just one: You can use the phone to take room measurements and place virtual furniture  before redecorating your home.

Away, backpack blues!
What’s the biggest pain when travelling abroad with your laptop? Removing it for the X Ray scan, every time you pass airport security. Targus has launched the Mobile ViP Backpack which does away with this requirement. Good for laptops or tablets from 15.6 inches or smaller, the backpack has a zipper which lays the two halves of the bag, one for the laptop, the other for accessories, flat when passing through security. Apparently  the US Transportation Security Administration which seems to be setting the standards for many countries is okay to inspecting the bag in this condition.

The Targus Mobile ViP Backpack has just won an award for its design and engineering at CES and is available later this week in India, for Rs 5,500.

— IndiaTechOnline