The recent CES event in Las Vegas offered thousands of ways to spend your bonus. We picked three items that may warrant your attention.
January is turning out to be a traditional month of winter and discontent (apologies to Shakespeare) as Mother Nature hits back with a taste of a New Ice Age.
But, as we shiver, there are flickers of hope for those who work in securities operations and related groups: many of you can look forward to a bonus, traditionally delivered during the first quarter.
While some of you may burn your greenbacks for heat (can’t do that with bitcoins), others may start looking for gadgets, devices and guilty pleasures that will melt away the frigid discontent.
A good place to find such items was at the international Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the annual exhibition of cutting-edge consumer gadgets and more held in warm and sunny Las Vegas. I was not able to attend CES but I have kept an eye out for some items of interest.
The following is only a tiny sampling of what was unveiled at the CES event. I decided to focus on a way to have a smart garage, wheels on your heels, and glasses that serve as a wearable computer to augment reality.
Skylink Group Debuts Alexa-Compatible Garage Door Controller
With an eye toward the practical and the “smart home craze,” Skylink Group, a vendor of “connected home safety solutions,” debuted at CES a “Wi-Fi enabled, universal garage door controller device,” dubbed NOVA, officials say. The NOVA can be “retrofitted directly onto most garage door controllers on the market, transforming existing garage door openers into smartopeners through the SkylinkNet iOS or Android app.”
“In addition to remotely opening or closing most garage doors on the market through the SkylinkNet app, the NOVA is compatible with the If This Then That (IFTTT) platform and Alexa Voice Services, allowing homeowners to manage a variety of connected home accessories from a myriad of manufacturers through one device,” according to SkyLink Group.
“Doubling as an LED light fixture, the NOVA is also designed to detect the audible alarm from smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in the home, automatically opening the garage door for added ventilation in case of an emergency,” the vendor adds.
The NOVA also features:
- Integration with Amazon’s Alexa Voice Services “to open and close the garage door and to control other smart home devices through voice command for added convenience;”
- Connections to “a majority of existing garage door openers and smart home accessories on the market through the IFTTT platform;”
- A smart Wi-Fi connection protocol, “allowing users to seamlessly connect to the home’s Wi-Fi network;”
- UL 325 safety requirement to ensure a safe home for families across the world;
“The built-in sound detector will revolutionize the way we view the smart home —what was once an extraneous function of the home will now be considered an essential,” says Gallen Tsui, president of Skylink Group, in a prepared statement.
The Skylink NOVA will be sold for $99.99 and will be available at www.skylinkstore.com in spring 2018, officials say. More about the entire product line is at the Skylink website.
Time for Smart Children with Smart Heels?
For those readers with smart children to keep happy, a company called Razor, maker of electric scooters, launched at CES “Turbo Jetts,” which are best described as wheels that you put on your feet so that you can become a vehicle. (Anyone over 50 must be warned against them – only the young and limber will survive.)
These “electric motorized heel wheels” are intended to help youngsters “start rolling” via “an 80-watt, geared-drive motor to provide a one-of-a-kind boost to any pair of sneakers.”
“Remoteless, the Turbo Jetts use an integrated, pressure-sensitive, power control system to help you ride comfortably at speeds up to 10mph for up to 30 minutes of continuous use,” according to the company’s marketing propaganda. “Simply step into the heavy-duty polymer ‘quick-click’ frame and tighten the hook-and-loop strap for a secure fit for sneakers U.S. size youth 12 to adult 12 (European youth 42 through adult 45).”
The vendor offers videos — a promo via YouTube and a short documentary about the making of Turbo Jetts.
Sunglasses to Augment Reality and Do Lots More
Vuzix Corp., which makes smart glasses and Augmented Reality (AR) technologies and products, debuted Vuzix Blade AR Smart Sunglasses with connections to the Amazon Alexa service, officials say.
“The Vuzix Blade leverages our intellectual property patent portfolio and leadership position in the area of optics, head mounted displays and smart glasses, which allows Vuzix to bring to market the world’s smallest and sleekest pair of AR smart glasses ever developed,” according to the company’s marketing. “The Vuzix Blade weighs in at less than 3 oz. and is expected to ship commercially in early 2018.
In addition, the vendor reports that the Vuzix Blade Smart Glasses, described as “wearable mobile personal computer for workplace applications” won “several best of awards and drew media interest from journalists and reporters around the globe at CES 2018,” according to the vendor.
The AR glasses allow “for your hands-free, mobile computing requirements” from the glasses, officials say. “Ideal for light business mobile applications – from accessing real-time data, to work instructions, to light augmented realty, to HD photography and video recording. The perfect mobile communications tool for daily use in your business activities,” officials add.
The Vuzix Blade Smart Glasses are untethered, and support both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth interfaces to phones and the Internet.
The new sunglasses “provide a wearable smart display with a see-through viewing experience utilizing Vuzix’s proprietary waveguide optics and Cobra II display engine. It’s like having your computer or smartphone screen information with you wherever you go.”
The display via the glasses can show “patient data, mapping directions, restaurant menus, weather information, alerts and more without picking up a second screen.”
The vendor says that the Vuzix Blade developer kit is available via a $495.00 deposit. “The remaining balance plus shipping and taxes is due when your Vuzix Blade Developer Kit is ready to ship,” officials add.
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