We have come to the end of the CES 2012 road, everyone. It’s time for my final news briefs about my 5 favorite products/stories introduced on the final day of the show. This is the 5th and last day of “The PractitioNERD” coverage of CES 2012, and here are my favorite stories from today’s CES coverage.
1) Live ESPN 3D boxing at CES! (but if it’s “live,” isn’t it 3D already?…. ESPN hosted a Top Rank Boxing event live from the CES show floor, which actually attracted a good crowd. To show off how the event could be broadcast in 3D, the crew was using a Sony HDC-P1 camera system with 3D rigs by the Pace Cameron Group, which were all sent through a Sony MVX-8000x production switcher. According to Engadget, the quality of the love 3D images were very impressive
2) Vuzix shows of its augmented reality “Smart Glasses” prototype
….and visions of the Tiger Electronics “R-Zone” system dances in my head. Vuzix showed off a functional prototype for its Smart Glasses industrial class monocular display. In other words, it’s a special lens attached to a main display driver that projects a bright, 1.4mm holographic picture for one of your eyes. The origins of the glasses go back to them being part of a DARPA project that would let soldiers involved in air-to-surface operations to track jets, check ordinance, and mark targets. While the tag price for the military / industrial monocle $2500-3000, the consumer version (with the same bells and whistles) will cost only between $350-600. However either unit won’t be available until next year. Smart Glasses > R-Zone. Anything > R-Zone.
….and visions of the Tiger Electronics “R-Zone” system dances in my head. Vuzix showed off a functional prototype for its Smart Glasses industrial class monocular display. In other words, it’s a special lens attached to a main display driver that projects a bright, 1.4mm holographic picture for one of your eyes. The origins of the glasses go back to them being part of a DARPA project that would let soldiers involved in air-to-surface operations to track jets, check ordinance, and mark targets. While the tag price for the military / industrial monocle $2500-3000, the consumer version (with the same bells and whistles) will cost only between $350-600. However either unit won’t be available until next year. Smart Glasses > R-Zone. Anything > R-Zone.
3) Canon’s New Cameras can Recognize your Face…..uh, creeeeeepy?Canon’s announcement of its new ELPH series of cameras, as well as the new PowerShot G1 X, brought along the discovery of a new feature: the face ID system. The G1 X’s Face ID would be able to differentiate between children and adults, providing more focus to younger subjects that are in frame. Also, the camera has a built-in facial recognition system, allowing users to store details of up to 12 people on the camera (with names, birthdays, and multi-angled profile pictures), helping the camera focus on those individuals saved on the camera
4) AMD shows off its new Trintiy APUs and Lightning Bolt chipsAMD came into this year’s CES aggressive with the presentations of it’s upcoming Piledriver core-based Trinity APU chips, which come in three flavors (desktop, laptop, and “thin & light” — likely netbooks/tops). The “thin & light” APUs are for use with slim-form PCs (i.e., ultrabooks) and only draw 17W, while providing similar performance of current generation 35W chips. AMD also presented the Lightning Bolt, which can drive up to four displays (with up to 2 at 1080p full HD) and several USB 3.0 ports (while not yet reaching that speed) while providing power. AMD aims to have Lightning Bolt be inexpensive to integrate to PCs, and is currently in the prototype stage.
5) Plextor’s new external DVD burner works with your TV (take THAT computer)!!Plextor’s newest external DVD burner, the PX-612U, connects via USB and works with TVs and media streamers without the need of a PC. Plexor’s PlexTV operates as a code translator that makes the PX-612U’s output appear to be just an everyday external HDD. It should be available within the next few months, but the price is still yet unknown.
HAPPY CES 2012, EVERYONE!!
