The Consumer Electronics Show, officially known as CES, went fully online in 2021 due to social distancing and safety measures caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
So instead of a sprawling convention venue in Las Vegas, tech industry lovers had to make do with an avalanche of press releases and blog posts, a far cry from last year’s setups, where you had autonomous robots, flexible screens and computer prototypes that have few chances of turning into tangible products on the market.
In other words, I’m sure that I’m not the only one eager to see this pandemic finally end, at least so that we can enjoy next year’s edition as an in-person event at the Las Vegas Convention Center instead of an all-digital one.
That said, here are some neat products that are no doubt just as impressive in person as they are on screen:
THE PORTRAIT-MODE PC FROM LENOVO
Lenovo outdid itself and brought the innovative Yoga™ AIO 7 to the table. This flexible all-in-one desktop PC has a rotating display that switches effortlessly from a horizontal view to a full vertical one with just the push of a finger. Not only that, it has integrated wireless casting hardware which allows you to remotely turn on the display from your smartphone or tablet, but you can also adjust the viewing angle to up to 20 degrees for customized comfort.
MEET THE JETSONS ROBOT MOP
The latest addition in the mopping department is Xiaomi-backed Roborock’s S7. The vacuum-mop uses sonic mopping, vibrating at 50Hz frequency up to 3.000 times per minute, and has a mechanism that allows the robot to lift itself by 5mm after it finishes cleaning to prevent leaving any streaks on the floor. On top of that, it also comes with voice control and is compatible with Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri.
THE ARLO TOUCHLESS DOORBELL
An unexpected, but welcomed addition – or shall we say, additions – to CES 2021 came in the form of contactless doorbells.
The first product, a sensor doorbell, is produced by Alarm.com and rings when the camera detects a person standing on the doormat, while the Arlo Touchless Video Doorbell uses a proximity sensor that makes a LED blink when it notices someone coming in range.
Both are a more than welcome arrival if we ignore the slightly possible neighborhood surveillance matter, especially considering the advantages on the background of the COVID-19 pandemic, as Sean Hollister from “The Verge” notes.
A SELF-SUSTAINING SHOWER SPEAKER
While waterproof speakers aren’t new on the market, a speaker that solely relies on hydropower to charge itself, surely is. The Shower Power by Ampere is easily installed between the water pipe and the shower-head and charges its battery by generating power from water. In this way, you can listen to your favorite music or audiobooks over Bluetooth from your phone right in the middle of a shower without worrying about charging the battery or getting your smartphone wet.
THE SAMSUNG ETERNAL REMOTE
The “S” from Samsung might just as well come from the words “sustainability” and “solar power”. The South Korean conglomerate saw the writing on the wall and came up with solar-powered TV remotes for its 2021 Neo QLED TVs.
The back of the remote sports a solar charging panel, an eco-friendly solution which according to Samsung, “will save 20 million single-use, AAA batteries from ending up in the garbage, the equivalent of 200 tons of waste”. And it can even charge from indoor lights!
EVOLUTION OF PORTABILITY FROM ASUS
What’s both sleek and has some of the best components gamers could hope for? Asus’s new gaming laptop, of course. The ROG Flow X13 is a different beast, able to be seamlessly integrated with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 GPU which is noticeably smaller than other external graphics alternatives, measuring 285 mm in length and 112 mm in width.
These were the most innovative products that we believe will kick off this year. We’ll leave it up to you guys to plan on how to integrate them in your lives.
If you know of any other noteworthy products that we somehow might have missed, please let us know in the comments below.
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