CES 2014

Exotic, Three-Driver IEM And New Over-The-Ear Headphones From Audiofly [CES 2014]

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Product designer Iain Finlay shows off his creation, Audiofly's first set of cans. Photo: Eli Milchman

CES 2014 bug LAS VEGAS — Audiofly has been busy since we last visited the company at CES two years ago. This year, Audiofly is finally ready to ship its long-promised AF140, albeit with a radical redesign, and are introducing the quad-driver AF180.

The Aussie crew also showed us the over-the-ear set of cans they’ve been working on.

This Is How To Promote a New Product at CES [CES 2014]

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CES 2014 bug LAS VEGAS — Walking the long, dusty road between the Encore Hotel and the CES Convention Center, I was approached by two guys. They offered to give me a ride. I know I should never accept rides from strangers but their offer was to good to pass up. It was the most creative and original marketing ploy I’ve seen at CES.

Huawei’s Android-Fueled Game Console Looks Like A Tiny Mac Pro [CES 2014]

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CoA-CES-2014Android-powered video game consoles like the Ouya haven’t exactly been a huge success, but Chinese electronics maker Huawei is hoping to change that with Tron, a device that looks remarkably similar to Apple’s new Mac Pro — albeit a lot smaller. It’s powered by a quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 4 processor and 2GB of RAM, and it’s expected to cost less than $150.

Finsix Is The Only Laptop Charger You’d Carry In Your Pocket [CES 2014]

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(Credit: Time)
(Credit: Time)

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From multimedia robots to genuinely stylish smartwatches, there’s a lot of tech at CES that falls into the “would like to have” category. There’s relatively little, however, that classifies as a genuine “must have.”

That may have changed with the appearance of the Finsix laptop charger, which used a high frequency switching technology developed at MIT to impressively shrink the size of a standard laptop charger to something that could charge your iPhone.

Eton’s Solar-Powered Rukus Speakers Now Bigger, Badder And More Efficient [CES 2014]

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The aerodynamic Rukus Xtreme on the left, Rukus II on the right. Photo: Eli Milchman.

 

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LAS VEGAS — Eton has improved the wedge-shaped, solar-powered Rukus Bluetooth speaker it introduced just over six months ago, and are now calling it the Rukus II; they’ve also built a second, bigger, badder (and more expensive) version they’ve naturally dubbed the Rukus Xtreme.

Fix Your Forehand With This Motion-Sensing Tennis Racquet [CES 2014]

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The Babolat Play is a tennis racquet for those of us who want to improve our game without having to hire a real coach. Those folks cost a lot of money!

For $399, though, you can purchase this new app-enabled, Bluetooth-connected, motion-sensing tennis racquet for your very own. The company has stuffed a ton of sensors into the handle of this thing without even affecting the balance or weight.

You can connect the racquet to your iPhone or iPad and get real-time feedback, or just let the Babolat Play record your performance information and sync it up later for analysis.

The Babolat Play is available now in the US, and should release worldwide very soon.

Get To Sleep – And Wake Up – Perfectly Using The Withings Aura [CES 2014]

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New Withings Aura helps you make the most of your sleepy time.
New Withings Aura helps you make the most of your sleepy time.
Photo: Cult of Mac

CES 2014 bug LAS VEGAS — If you’ve ever had trouble falling asleep, or you’ve felt crappy waking up, it might be worth your while to check out the Withings Aura. The new app-enabled sleep machine comes from the folks that brought you other fitness gadgets like the Wi-Fi Body Scale and the Pulse.

This Is The World’s First Apple-Approved MFi Air Conditioner [CES 2014]

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CES 2014 bugChinese appliance maker Haier has announced that it has become the first company of its kind to be accepted into Apple’s MFi licensing program, guaranteeing ease-of-use and compatibility with iOS devices.

“Haier’s Tianzun [cabinet air conditioning unit] is the first air conditioner and white good that is authorized by Apple’s MFi program,” noted the company’s official press release — going on to claim that, “Haier will use this technology in the other Haier products, such as water heaters, ovens, intelligent home accessories and the like.”

STM Likes That I Cuss. On A Side Note, Here’s What Looks Like Another %#@&* Cool STM Bag [CES 2014]

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STM owner and co-founder Ethan Nyquist models the Drifter for us. Photo: Eli Milchman

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LAS VEGAS — It’s a bit odd to be thanked for cussing; but that’s exactly what STM Bags owner Ethan Nyquist did when I walked over to the STM table during a press event at CES. Apparently he was considerably impressed with an enthusiastic exclamation I made about STM’s bags, in response to the announcement of one of their new backpacks*. Hey, what can I say — I’m a bag junkie, and I get passionate about stuff I like.

So here then, is a prediction: STM’s new Drifter will deepen the outfit’s rep as a maker of stellar bags.

TYLT’s Energi Wall-Charger Battery Is The Kind Of Smart Tech We’ll Actually Use [CES 2014]

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TYLT hates bright colors. Photo: Eli Milchman

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LAS VEGAS — There’re a lot of seemingly brilliant, sexy tech here at CES. razor-precise, slightly annoying miniature flying drones! A case for your iPhone that gives it weird, infra-red Superman eyes!

Wonderful. But would we really end up using this stuff? I mean, yeah, we probably would. But not every day. Probably not every month. On the other hand, TYLT’s Energi 2K — a wall charger with a USB port that also houses a battery — is the kind of brilliant idea that we imagine we’d actually want to use every day.

Get Yourself Up A Hill Faster With This Electric Bicycle [CES 2014]

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LAS VEGAS — We spent a few minutes with Larry Pizzi of Currie Tech to talk about the company’s eflow bicycles. These bad boys are powered by the same battery technology that’s in your MacBook Pro, and they provide a “True hybrid” electric bicycle experience.

You can use the eflow to provide anywhere from a low to a high assist boost, which will get you up a hill and down the road at speeds of up to 20 to 30 miles an hour. You can test drive one of these, too, so head on over to the Currie Tech website to find out where.

Kinda Serious, Hardcore Or Crazy Fitness Maniac: Wahoo’s Trio Of New TICKR Bluetooth Heart-Rate Straps [CES 2014]

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The little dots on the sensor's face are lights that tell you whether the sensor is connected, or if the battery is low. Photo: Eli Milchman

Cult _of_Mac_CES_2014_80x80 LAS VEGAS — Rather than come out with a more casual-oriented wearable fitness tracker like everyone (and we mean everyone) else, Wahoo stuck to its athletic roots and took the more serious route of improving the heart-rate monitor strap and accompanying training software the company introduced a few years ago.

In fact, Wahoo has created three new versions of its Bluetooth HR strap. The company even tried to restructure the way athletes think about training with the new “burn or burst” approach for the Wahoo iOS app.

Hisy Helps You Take The Perfect Selfie [CES 2014]

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Cult _of_Mac_CES_2014_80x80LAS VEGAS – Now that “selfie” has officially gone mainstream as the word of 2013, iPhone users are always looking for ways to take a better self portrait. Taking selfies with your front camera is easier, but if you want to use your iPhone’s full imaging capabilities you’ll have to do some weird hand contortions to get the shot framed and snapped. That’s where Hisy comes in.

Chug Plug Gives Your MacBook Extra Hours Of Power [CES 2014]

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LAS VEGAS — We got a chance to hang out a bit with Daniella Hernandez at the Lenmar booth at CES in Vegas, learning more about the innovative Chug Plug, a 65W external power pack that you can use to extend the portable staying power of your MacBook.

The first-of-its-kind Chug Plug integrates into your already existing power plug set up, with your power brick attaching to the right side of the Chug Plug to both charge the external battery pack as well as use your MacBook at the same time.

When you need to leave that comfy seat near the wall plugs at the coffee shop, the Chug Plug then provides an extra two to three hours of portable power so you can continue your work or play away from the tether.

Chug Plug is available now for $159.99 at online retailers.

Garmin’s Sophisticated Vivofit Fitness Band Is Goal-Focused, Never Needs Recharging [CES 2014]

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I think fuchsia is your color. Photo: Eli Milchman

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LAS VEGAS — It was only a matter of time before the behemoths of the fitness world jumped into the fitness-band fight; although considering Garmin has been making wrist-borne fitness gadgets for ages (in the guise of their Forerunner line) one might have expected their new Vivofit to have arrived much sooner.

Hands On: SteelSeries Drops The First Bluetooth iOS 7 Game Controller [CES 2014]

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LAS VEGAS — We’ve been SteelSeries fans for quite a while now, what with their stellar line up of headphones and gaming peripherals for both Mac and iOS.

The Chicago-based company just released what they’re calling the first Bluetooth-enabled official iOS 7 gaming controller, the Stratus.

We hung out with the team a bit at CES, and what we saw looks pretty damn sweet. Check it out.

Hands On: Capture Home Invaders, Not Freaky Time In Your Living Room [CES 2014]

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LAS VEGAS — Webcams are such a thing of the past. The Canary is an Indiegogo-funded security camera and app that uses algorithms to detect abnormal movement in your home and send you an alert.

Which means, of course, that you can use the Canary not only to get notifications when there’s out-of-the-ordinary activity recorded, but also to capture video you can look at later that may not have tripped a notification.

We talked with the Canary crew at CES, as you can see in the video above.