CES 2014 - Post Conference Reflections

It came and it went. Just like that.

CES whizzed by me this year. I'm sure the fact that I arrived a day late due to a flight cancellation didn't help. Bryan and I had basically two and a half days in Las Vegas - not nearly enough time to soak on all the cool technology being showcased, much less experience the city itself: the excellent shows, the world class dining, and my favorite, the Bellagio Fountains.

I've only had a few days to reflect on those few days, but here are some highlights of some of my favorites finds during the conference.

Similar to years past, 3D technology (with and without glasses) was still being featured front and center. I loved this HUGE 3D demonstration right at the entrance of the first hall we visited. The screen looked so clear, so real, and so "3D" that I saw people ducking as objects from the screen whizzed towards them.

For the first time, curved screens made an appearance, both in large TVs as well as in handheld devices like phones, tablets, and anything in between. I guess it provides a more surround experience, though we weren't sure how practical a curved device would be to stick into your pocket or hold in your purse with all your other flat things.

Crazy high resolution screens, such as these 8K screens, are so clear you can't distinguish the pixels at all even if you walk right up to the screen.

There was a lot of cool new car technology being featured. I really liked this cute little electric BMW i3 which has a range of 80-100 miles per charge. It's a zippy sporty car, able to go from 0 to 60 mph in 3.7 seconds and 0 to 100 mph in 7.2 seconds. It can also talk to your smartphone, figuring out ideal routes while taking into account information from the Internet.

Audi debuted a concept car with laser headbeams which are supposed to offer much better visibility at night.

This was accompanied by a flashy laser show that was actually pretty cool to watch.

Toyota showed some pretty cool new mobility concepts, such as this protected three-wheeled vehicle that can actually hold a small child or groceries in the back.
Or this cool looking three-wheeled vehicle which does not have a steering wheel.

Instead, the driver steers by leaning. If you want to turn right, then lean right and the vehicle turn right in response. It's supposed to be pretty intuitive, though I'm sure it's hard to give up on the steering wheel.
Oh, and I had to show this one. Gibson's tent had what looked like the original DeLorean from Back to the Future! It even had the flux capacitor inside and Mr. Fusion on the outside. I seriously wonder if it was one of the originals used for the movie.
 
Bryan and I tried "walking around" in a virtual reality world with the special glasses, which was really weird! If I turned my head up, I could see the ceiling in the imaginary world. If I walked forward, my world changed around me. No matter where I looked, I felt immersed in the virtual world.

Even though it was cool, it made me very motion sick and I actually wasn't able to wear it for very long without feeling sort of ill. I guess my body is still confused when it looks like I'm moving but I'm really not!

Finally on the camera side, I was most intrigued by this new lens-style camera from Sony. The camera has no body. It's a high quality lens that uses your smart phone's screen and software as its display and viewfinder. It's like having a high quality point and shoot (it uses the same Carl Zeiss lens as Bryan's Sony RX100, a $550 camera!) but in a more flexible package.

The best part is that all of these high quality photos will instantly be stored onto my smart phone, where I can upload it to social media or immediately back it up in the cloud. It clips onto a smartphone, but you can easily remove it and use the lens to take photos of yourself or just stick it onto a tripod for group shots (which you can control from your phone).
It's always exciting to check out new technology, and I can't wait to see some of these products come to market.

And finally, since this is a food blog after all, stay tuned for some posts about some of the fantastic restaurants we checked out while we were here. Of course, we did visit a few old favorites (such as Bryan's favorite 9-month aged Riserva steak or one of my favorite tasting menu experiences in Vegas), but we were also able to try some great new restaurants!