CES Day Two is over — if you’re looking for the newest announcements, we’re live blogging all the latest CES 2020 news in Thursday’s CES Day Four live blog.
- That’s a wrap for today
- Huami, you have our attention
- Canon proves it’s not ready to give up on video
- Bitter much?
- Samsung’s robot sous-chef
- Headphones aplenty
- Big tech’s privacy problems
- The first daughter takes the stage
- Get ready for subscription channels on Plex
- Samsung’s realistic chatbots are our new friends
- Who says CES can’t be adorable?
- 5G is coming to a BMW near you
- Screens everywhere
- Breathe cleaner air in 2020
- Now you see it, now you don’t
- Sliding into the future
- A real-life power loader
- Soundbars are sounding pretty good
- The buzziest drone at CES
- Where’s the weed?
- What you missed on Day 1
Digital Trends’ Ongoing CES Coverage
- CES Day 1 Recap
- CES Day 2 Recap ←
- CES Day 3 Recap
- CES Thursday Live Blog
- Best of CES 2020 Award Winners
- CES 2020 Schedule
- The weirdest tech we saw at CES 2020
- The best gaming laptops of CES 2020
- The best cars of CES 2020
Below is a recap of everything you missed on Tuesday, January 7, the second day of CES.
That’s a wrap for today
By Mathew Katz
7:01 p.m. Alright folks, it’s been a big day of live blogging, but it’s time for us to finish up. We’ll be back bright and early tomorrow with the latest news and updates from CES Day 3.
Huami, you have our attention
By Brandon Widder
6:12 p.m. If you’re not familiar with Huami, the little-known Chinese company behind the Amazfit lineup of smartwatches, you should be. The Amazfit Bip was wildly-popular on Amazon, likely because it donned the iconic looks of the Apple Watch without the hefty price tag. The watch’s wealth of fitness-tracking features, built-in GPS, and marathon battery life didn’t hurt sales, either.
The Bip was a knockout, and at CES 2020, Huami looks to be doubling down on its commitment to fitness tech. Not only did the company announce a successor to the Bip and a rugged alternative dubbed the Amazfit T-Rex, but it introduced two heart rate-monitoring earbuds, one of which, the ZenBuds, is designed to promote healthy sleep and mindful. Hell, it even announced a concept treadmill, the Amazfit HomeStudio, designed to go toe to toe with Peloton’s more recent offerings at a fraction of the price. Fingers crossed.
Canon proves it’s not ready to give up on video
By Brandon Widder
5:21 p.m. When is the last time you picked up a Canon DSLR for its video-shooting capabilities? If you‘re like most people — or even the small contingent of professional videographers who still opt for a dedicated shooting device — the answer might have been 10 years ago. Canon has been lagging behind the competition on the video front for a decade, but that may change with its latest flagship, the EOS-1D X Mark III.
The 20MP device is a quality still camera in its own right, but, based on specs alone, its video features are a cut above the rest. It’s loaded with drool-worthy features, including 4K/60p HDMI output and 12-bit RAW recording at 5.5K resolution, or compressed 10-bit 4:2:2 4K at up to 60 fps. If you don’t know what any of this means, just know it’s a stunner on paper. Now, if only it wasn’t supposed to retail for $6,500 when it launches next month.
Bitter much?
By Brandon Widder
4:32 p.m. Computing Editor Luke Larsen, everyone.
all you #CES people casually using a galaxy fold. I see you
— Luke Larsen (@lalarsen11) January 8, 2020
Samsung’s robot sous-chef
By Mathew Katz
4:29 p.m. Need help in the kitchen? Samsung’s Bot Chef mounts under your cabinet and can help you prep a meal. The bot can open cupboards, download recipes, and dice up ingredients to help you make pretty much any meal. It knows which spices and oils are which and can pour out the exact measurements you need.
Watching this robot make a salad at #CES2020 is oddly satisfying. pic.twitter.com/hr7Ns70uHV
— Digital Trends (@DigitalTrends) January 7, 2020
The robot can be controlled via voice command and even eventually download new skills to help you out in the kitchen. A bit creepy, for sure – but amazing all the same (especially if, like me, you do most of the cooking at home).
Headphones aplenty
By Brandon Widder
4:24 p.m. CES is no stranger to headphones, and why would it be? They’re a pinnacle of consumer tech, a product category that’s been around for as long as anyone can remember and a staple among the older and younger generation alike. Although many of this year’s best headphones build upon their predecessors — amping up the battery life, improving comfort, and dialing in the active noise cancellation along the way — companies like PurePro are pairing said features with overlooked, welcome innovations like volume limiting. After all, it’s hard to blow out your ears when you can only crank your cans to 85dB.
Big tech’s privacy problems
By Mathew Katz
2:56 p.m. If you care about your privacy, your best bet is to avoid pretty much all of the biggest tech companies. That said, Apple does better on privacy than rivals like Google and Facebook simply because the company sells actual products, rather than ads. But according to Federal Trade Commission Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter, all of the biggest tech companies have a privacy problem.
Speaking at a panel with the privacy chiefs from Apple and Facebook, Slaughter argued that the burden to minimize data collection needs to be put on big tech, not on the user – and I’d tend to agree. Privacy policies are so arcane that it’s tough to know what you’re agreeing to and what settings you should tweak.
The panel was notable because it featured Jane Horvath, ssenior director of global privacy at Apple, markuibf the first time Apple has had an official presence at CES in decades. The company has increasingly tried to position itself as “the good one” when it comes to tech privacy – Horvath’s presence at the show is a testament to that.
The first daughter takes the stage
By Brandon Widder
2:50 p.m. CES has always had a diversity problem. From booth babes to a staggering lack of female representation among keynote speakers, it’s something the show’s organizing body has long grappled with. This year’s last-minute addition to the keynote lineup, Ivanka Trump, was surely meant to help ease these concerns, though her qualifications came into question before she ever took the stage at CES.
Trump spoke with Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of the Consumer Technology Association, which puts on CES, about how the White House aims to retool American workers and prepare students for the modern, digital economy. The first daughter spent most of her time answering softball questions and running through a litany of prepared talking points regarding alternative career paths, data accessibility, and a host of topics that you’d expect to hear at a talk entitled “The Path to the Future of Work.” It was chock-full of buzzwords, and, frankly, not a lot of substance.
Get ready for subscription channels on Plex
By Allison Matyus
1:55 p.m. We know Plex for helping people organize and watch their collections of movies, shows, and music, but now the platform will be moving into subscription channel add-ons.
Plex CEO Keith Valory talked about the addition to the platform at CES, saying that 15 to 20 channels could be added. It’s safe to say that means our favorite premium channels like HBO and Showtime could very well be some of those channels that would be available.
A transactional marketplace would also be added along with the subscription channels, so you could buy or rent a specific show or channel to watch. The binge-watching is about to get real, folks.
Samsung’s realistic chatbots are our new friends
By Allison Matyus
12:25 p.m. Samsung’s new interactive humanoid chatbots are a hit at CES, but no one really knows what their purpose is.
The realistic-looking avatars are called Neons, and while they look and act like real people, Samsung’s Star Labs says they aren’t meant to be as intuitive or intelligent as an assistant like Alexa or Bixby. Instead, they are meant to simply be a friend, which, I guess could work if you’re super introverted.
Avatars from Neon, a Samsung subsidiary. When AI assistants are limited to speakers, we don’t think of them as full assistants. Avatars make us think differently about AI. – Reporting from #CES2020 @SmashDawg pic.twitter.com/uaXh9xYhZ5
— Digital Trends (@DigitalTrends) January 7, 2020
Through interactions with real people, Neons will be able to gain new skills and evolve. They already speak more languages than I do, though, so they are definitely more intelligent in that sense.
Who says CES can’t be adorable?
By Mathew Katz
11:49 a.m. Digital Trends Senior Writer Andy Boxall might have found the cutest booth at CES:
https://twitter.com/AndyBoxall/status/1214632281354252289
Kakao Friends are characters based on emoticons found in the KakaoTalk app, which is one of the most popular messaging apps in South Korea. Kakao is plastering those same adorable bears, dogs, bunnies, and ducks on a line of ultra-cute smart home products.
5G is coming to a BMW near you
By Brandon Widder
11:37 a.m. This year may be the year 5G finally comes to the masses, but if BMW has a say, it will land in your car before it ever hits your smartphone. At CES 2020, the luxury automaker and Samsung revealed plans to offer 5G connectivity in 2021 models of the iNext, which would allow for zero-delay streaming. Not only would increased network speeds open the door to in-car gaming, virtual reality, and 4K streaming, but it would pave the way for semiautonomous driving, which is reliant on low latency to function. BMW plans to bring 5G to its entire portfolio during the early 2020s, however, it’s dependent on the vehicle model and region it’s built for.
Screens everywhere
10:53 a.m. Folding screens are so last year — 2020 is all about the flexible screen, which can bend to fit the shape of all kinds of objects. Royole is showing off the power of flexibility on the CES show floor today.
The @Royole bag is capturing our attention right now at #CES2020 pic.twitter.com/9LJ4jQ9Gae
— Digital Trends (@DigitalTrends) January 7, 2020
Yep, that’s bag with a screen on it. A kind of combination purse/iPad. Imagine a world where you can change the look of your bag like you change your desktop background. No word on how much a bag like this would cost (or if you’d ever be able to buy it), but it seems like there’s no limit to where you can put a screen.
Breathe cleaner air in 2020
By Allison Matyus
10:48 a.m. While CES is happening, devastating bush fires are destroying Australia’s land and filling the skies with fire and ash. Now, Ao Air debuted the Atmos Faceware air filter face mask at CES to help people around the globe cope with the increasing levels of air pollution from climate crises.
The transparent mask looks kind of silly, but it protects against dust particles, pollen, mold spores, pet dander, pollution, ash, and more from entering the air you breathe. With the mask on, you’re able to breathe cleaner air as it pumps out about 240 liters per minute.
Even though air pollution affects us all, you’ll have to pay a pretty penny if you want to breathe cleaner air in 2020. The Atmos starts at $350, and the company says it will begin shipping the masks this July.
Now you see it, now you don’t
By Brandon Widder
10:35 a.m. Chinese manufacturer OnePlus finally took the wraps off a previously announced prototype, the OnePlus Concept One. The selling point — should the device ever come to market — is a special glass that utilizes an electrical current to obscure the rear cameras when not in use. When you launch the camera app, the glass quickly turns transparent, revealing three camera holes lining the back of the device. It’s somewhat gimmicky, sure, but the feature does double as a neutral-density filter, meaning you can snap shots in bright environments without fear of blowing out your images.
Sliding into the future
By Mathew Katz
10:13 a.m. Sometimes all it takes to impress thousands of journalists is something that reminds them of their childhood. Google’s giant CES display is meant to show off all their latest and greatest products, but the biggest line is for a slide that drops you into a ball pit.
This is literally a line of journalists waiting to go down the Google slide. I am next #ces pic.twitter.com/LIzeT3yhCN
— Jeremy Kaplan (@SmashDawg) January 7, 2020
Here’s our editor-in-chief, Jeremy Kaplan, taking part in the fun. Who needs to try out gadgets when you can spend your day on a plastic slide?
A real-life power loader
By Mathew Katz
9:47 a.m. Listen, I’ve wanted a power loader exoskeleton suit since Ripley used it to beat up an alien queen in Aliens. It finally exists – though I’d have to work for Delta to use it. The airline has teamed up with Sarcos Robotics to test out new battery-powered, full-body robotic exoskeletons. Delta employees will use the suit to move freight, maintenance components, and more.
Sarcos promises the suit allows regular people to lift up to 200 pounds over and over again without getting worn out. If you’ve got the money – it’ll go on sale toward the end of the year and will cost $100,000 per unit – it could be well worth the money for its alien-fighting capabilities alone.
Soundbars are sounding pretty good
By Mathew Katz
9:15 a.m. According to our A/V and Entertainment editor, Ryan Waniata, if you’ve got a TV, “you need a soundbar.” I don’t know if I would go that far, but the right soundbar can certainly enhance your viewing experience — especially with the newfangled 3D audio technology we’ve seen at CES.
Ryan already has his picks for the best soundbars of CES, and for my money, the Vizio Elevate is the coolest-looking and most interesting of the bunch. It’s got motorized speakers than can rotate between 3D audio that bounces off the ceiling and regular old stereo sound.
The buzziest drone at CES
By Allison Matyus
7:57 a.m. Those afraid of bees will hate this new drone. Sunflower Labs debuted a terrifying autonomous home security drone called Bee that protects against property invaders and unusual activity by sounding like a swarm of bees.
The Bee is fully autonomous and activates in response to vibrations and motion around your property. It’s equipped with collision-avoidance sensors and precision GPS in order to follow any intruder — including those pesky porch pirates we all hate. There’s also a built-in camera that allows you to see the intruder up close through an easy-to-use app.
Sunflower Labs’ sensors are able to distinguish the difference between people, animals, and cars. The drone’s home base, appropriately named the Hive, charges the Bee and acts as the “brain” for the drone’s system.
You can see — and hear — the drone in action at Sunflower Labs’ CES booth.
Where’s the weed?
By Mathew Katz
7:03 a.m. The Consumer Technology Association (CTA) gave Canadian cannabis storage device company Keep Laps a CES Innovation Award in October, but don’t expect to see any weed-related tech on the show floor this week. Despite a cannabis presence in previous years, the CTA told Keep Labs that it can’t use the word “cannabis” on the show floor — and it couldn’t even suggest the product has anything to do with weed.
Instead of abiding to the harsh restrictions, the company (and likely others) will skip the show entirely. Recreational weed is legal in Nevada, by the way.
What you missed on Day 1
By Mathew Katz
12:01 a.m. Honestly, the thing I’m most excited about is Impossible Foods’ new Impossible Pork. The maker of the meat alternative has managed to capture the taste and texture of ground pork in a way that DT Features Editor Drew Prindle described as “mind-blowing.” While I’m jealous I didn’t get to partake, I’m excited to try it myself when it hits Burger King (in the form of an Impossible Croissan’wich) at a few locations later this month.
Sony didn’t have much to say about the PlayStation 5, but it did make another surprising announcement when it unveiled an electric car. Since it’s just a concept car aimed at showcasing various sensing and entertainment tech, you won’t be able to buy it, but at least we can officially say that a Sony car exists. What unexpected company will get in on the EV bandwagon next? My bet is Apple.
We also saw Alienware’s attempt to compete with the Nintendo Switch and Lenovo’s crazy new ThinkPad X1 Fold folding laptop, and heard about Hyundai‘s plan to make flying taxis for Uber.
For a complete roundup of yesterday’s news, check out our Day One liveblog.
