As a first time visitor to the show (with a press badge), there were quite a number of displays to check out. My group decided that we should take the first open day to get a feel of what’s going on by trying to visit as many booths as possible in the seven hours we were there. Sadly we did not attend the press preview day (Monday), but we will still try our best to get actual hands-on time with products over the next few days.
One of the most popular items of display were the number of TV sets. Whether it’s LG, Sony, Samsung, or Panasonic, there was a huge focus on high resolution (4K standards)/ high definition displays. LG still seemed to be very focused on 3D passive technology as they tried to hand out polarized 3D glasses to everyone who entered their booth. One of the most outstanding things about their 3D sets was the fact that you can stand at very adjacent angles without losing the depth of the 3D. For instance, I saw a guy cutting a piece of lumber and piece of wood still looked like it projected out of the TV even when I was viewing from a 60-70 degree angle.
There were some booths that promoted glasses-free 3D, but I was yet to be impressed by what I saw.
One other very interesting bit of tech was the dual display monitor where viewers could see two completely different images based on the viewing angle. While it’s been out for some time now, being able to see two different feeds via a single unit was pretty awesome, especially for gamers who prefer not having to buy two separate TVs.
However, a majority of the booths were focused on size and definition. With LED displays being the big thing, what struck me the most was how display quality was still top notch even when viewed up close. Some of LG’s OLED displays were used to demonstrate how well they can display colour-intense images. Couple that with a 240Hz refresh rate for an intense viewing experience.
Even though GoPro products have been on the market for quite some time now, they continue to demonstrate how effective their products can be for pretty much any situation where someone wants a close-up view on things. They had a ton of products and accessories on display, along with a Ford GT 40, a rally truck, and a Ducati 1199 Panigale motorcycle, to demonstrate that GoPro cameras could be used for the most intense situations including capturing racing video, among other things.
Nikon also had a booth, mostly with market available models on display for trial purposes. While I’m no camera buff, I can tell others were enjoying trying out the various models on display. There was also a glass case filled with numerous short and long range telescopic lenses for the photo geeks out there.
There were a number of products that focused on personal fitness. Nike had a small display of its FuelBands that help you to monitor your exercise progress via a sleek, digital watch, and there were also a few programs from LG which used dancing games to help you burn calories. For instance, you could set a long term goal to burn 7000 calories with progress charts and more.
There were also kitchens, mops, and sweepers of the future.
Panasonic and Nvidia were very focused on the technology powering cars and airplanes of the future. For instance, their display car cockpit had an all-digital display which replaces the numerous analogue dials we’re accustomed to in most cars on the roads these days. The centre consoles were also entirely touch-based screen displays, while the steering wheels took design cues from jet planes.
Nvidia also had demonstrated its use of Tegra technology that backs the technological management of the Tesla Model S’s numerous features including the navigation, air conditioning, handling, brake temperature, sound system, and more.
If you know about 3D polymer printing, then you definitely should know about printers made by MakerBot. Their booth focused on promoting their Replicator 2 desktop model capable of turning any 3D model into reality at a resolution of 100 microns. What’s great about this type of printer is that you can even construct models with flawless moving parts. We saw a simple drive shaft with interlocking cog wheels that rotated without problems. Car of the future, much?
We also stumbled upon a laser engraving printer made by Epilog. On display was their Legend 36EXT model which did extremely detailed engraving on both aluminium and wooden surfaces. A small chunk of wood (that fit in the palm of your hand) was detailed with extremely intricate patterns in just about 5 minutes. It was really impressive because it means anyone could now design signs and patterns in a few minutes rather than having to depend on a skilled craftsman and still end up waiting for days or weeks for a finished product.
As we mentioned earlier, Nvidia has been pushing its Tegra-based products. While we did not get a chance to try out Project Shield yet, they did have a few units on display. They also focused on promoting their line of GTX GPUs. I can’t say I was impressed with their booth since the biggest thing really was me wanted to try out Shield. Hopefully they have a demo before the show closes.
Razer showcased a number of handheld and desktop gaming PCs, along with “Project Fiona” which is a crowdsourcing dream come true. The very high-end gaming tablet features a 10.1 inch display running on Intel’s i5 CPU, 4GB of RAM and an Nvidia GT640M LE mobile GPU. Among other things were gaming pads, keyboards and mice specifically designed for hardcore gamers.
There were tons more of other gadgets to check out, so we will definitely cover those in the next few days with more hands-on demos.
