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CES 2022: TVs, PCs, tablets, health tech and phones take a new direction
Despite the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) went ahead as a mix of physical and virtual participation
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The Consumer Electronics Show (CES), hosted in Las Vegas, is the largest global tech extravaganza held annually. Despite the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, CES 2022 went ahead as a mix of physical and virtual participation.
Technology companies have given us a first glimpse at what is to come over the next few months, including new TV tech, laptops with two screens, foldable laptops, light bulbs that can track your health, and new processors for the next PC you buy. Here are some standout trends and tech that’ll define the way forward.
OnePlus 10 Pro is on the way
Technically not a launch, but a first glimpse at what’s coming soon. OnePlus showed off the OnePlus 10 Pro, a phone expected to be part of a wider OnePlus 10 line-up. We know this will be powered by the very latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor — this will likely be the first phone to be launched with this chip. The 6.7-inch Fluid AMOLED display, a 5,000mAh battery with the 80-watt SuperVOOC quick charging and three cameras at the back — that’s a 48-megapixel, a 50-megapixel and an 8-megapixel. We will know more about the OnePlus 10 Pro in the coming weeks.
New direction for Sony Bravia TVs
Sony Bravia XR A95K will be the world’s first QD-OLED (quantum dot organic light emitting diode) TV. This is the melding together of the benefits of OLED (that would be deep blacks, wider contrast band and even panel lighting) along with the quantum dot tech which further adds improved brightness and richer colours.
Incidentally, this panel will be manufactured by Samsung Display. LG can no longer claim to have the best displays in TVs anymore. Sony says the Bravia XR A95K will be sold in 55-inch and 65-inch screen sizes and will be 4K TVs. They will go on sale in spring, will run Google TV and is expected to have the variable refresh rate feature (something we see in phones as well) available from the outset — no waiting for a software update, hopefully.
MSI and the radical laptop cooling tech
PC maker MSI’s new Stealth GS77 laptop has a novel cooling system: a melting liquid thermal paste called Liquid Thermal Pad, that fills the space between CPU and thermal block, for quicker heat transfer. In terms of power, this runs the latest generation (that’s the 12th generation) Intel Core processor options.
Design has been significantly upgraded as well, the touchpad is 50% larger, the hinge has a zinc alloy layer and there is a new six-speaker sound system. The 17-inch display will make this a great machine to switch between gaming and as a desktop replacement. Prices start at around $1,799, though India prices are awaited.
Samsung 2022 TVs as NFT shopfloor
Digital art as NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, have been in vogue for a while now. Till now, you were able to buy and view these on your phone or computer. Samsung’s 2022 TV line-up (the Micro LED, Neo QLED and The Frame) integrate the first of its kind marketplace and viewing options. When you show off the NFT art you’ve purchased to guests, the TVs will also smartly calibrate the display to the values the NFT creator defined.
LG changing the science behind OLED TVs
LG’s new OLED display tech called OLED.EX is tweaking the science that underlines OLED, or organic light-emitting diode TVs. The OLED.EX panels swap hydrogen for deuterium compounds, which they claim makes displays richer. Apparently, deuterium is rare, too — one atom is found in 6,000 hydrogen atoms. There will be updated machine-learning algorithms to process details and colours. The OLED.EX TVs may be up to 30% thinner as well.
Asus’s foldable tablet that makes you look at it again
Asus has launched a foldable OLED tablet, called the Zenbook 17 Fold. The name betrays the screen size — that’s 17.3 inches when unfolded. You can choose to partially fold this, plonk a wireless keyboard on the lower part of the foldable and still get 12.5-inch display laptop in effect. All Asus says is that it’ll have the “latest Intel CPU” when it goes on sale, along with 1TB solid state storage, Dolby Atmos ready speakers and up to 16GB of RAM. This isn’t the first of its kind though — Lenovo has already done this with the ThinkPad X1 Fold quite some time ago, but we’d expect Asus to have ironed out the rougher edges of that implementation.
Lenovo has made a laptop with two screens
We’ve seen dual-screen laptops before, but this may just be the year we see more of them. Lenovo has the new third generation ThinkBook Plus which has a 17.3-inch display in front and an 8inch display next to the keyboard. One of the uses that Lenovo suggests is mirroring your Android phone to the second screen using the Microsoft Your Phone app in Windows 11.
That said, you can pretty much drop any document or app on this, which may not require your immediate attention at the time. This will be powered by the 12th generation Intel Core processors, up to 32GB RAM and up to 1TB solid state drive options. Expected to go on sale in May with prices starting around $1,399.
HP Elite Dragonfly G3 may be your next ultra-thin laptop
HP has updated the gorgeous Dragonfly laptop range with the new Elite Dragonfly G3. This will run the latest generation Intel Core processors. There is a 13.5-inch display, up to 32GB RAM and up to 2TB storage. There’s a lot of focus on artificial intelligence (AI), for features such as appearance filters for video feeds during video meetings and noise reduction for audio. HP says this will be available in stores sometime in March with prices being announced closer to the date of availability.
A light bulb to monitor your health
Smart home company Sengled is building bulbs that can monitor human health. The Smart Health Monitoring Light will use radar technology to track heart rate, body temperature and sleep quality. Quite how it will differentiate humans in a family home, remains to be seen. The company promises a fall detection feature by the time this bulb rolls out later this year, (the bulb connects with Wi-Fi and will have a companion app for phones). It may be a great way to keep tabs on elderly family relatives while you are away.
Ear buds that dehumidify your ears
Build-up of moisture (shower, use of earphones etc.) inside our ears can lead to excessive earwax and fungal infection. DearBuds, by Korean tech company Linkface (part of Samsung’s C-Lab startups), measure humidity levels in your ear and send a draft of warm air. You can choose between normal, soft and strong modes. Charging case has an OLED display for readouts and a button for modes. DearBuds can circulate up to 3 litres of air per minute with magnetic levitation fans.
Also Read: CES: BMW, Merc, Qualcomm, Sony, Amazon give us a glimpse into future of mobility
Intel chips powering new laptops from HP, MSI etc.
This year’s new laptops will run the 12th generation Intel Core processors. The U-series is meant for ultra-light and convertible PCs, P-series is for slim laptops while H-series chips may be found in gaming laptops. Performance gains are claimed to be as high as 40%. HP (Elite x360 1040 G9, EliteBook 1040 G9 and ZBook Firefly G9), MSI (Stealth GS77 and Katana), Asus (ROG Flow X13 and ROG Zephyrus G14) and Acer (Nitro 5) are some new laptops running the latest Intel chips.
A Chromebook as this year’s WFH tool?
The first Google Chrome OS Chromebooks have been unveiled by Acer. The Spin 513 stands out, being the first to run the 8-core MediaTek Kompanio 1380 chip. The display is slightly larger (13.5-inch instead of 13-inch) and can be pushed all the way back, into a tablet mode. Not exactly inexpensive either, with the price of $599.99 (about ₹44,600).
TV remotes use your Wi-Fi router for charging
Two things every home has – a Wi-Fi router and a TV with a remote. Samsung’s new Eco Remote for TVs has radio frequency (RF) harvesting tech which can charge the built-in battery from the waves your Wi-Fi router generates. This ditches AAA batteries, and you’ll have the USB-C port to fast charge the remote’s battery too.
