Tag: ces 2020

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The Razer Kishi gives your iOS or Android phone Switch-style controls

Razer has revealed the Kishi universal mobile gaming controllers at CES 2020, with one eye clearly on the emergence of cloud gaming. The Switch-style controllers are available for either Android and iOS devices, offering native support for “most” mobile games that are controller-compatible, according to Razer. It was designed in partnership with Gamevice, a company that specializes in console-quality controllers for mobile devices. 

It really looks the part, and it features clickable analog buttons and sticks. The Razer Kishi connects via Apple Lightning or USB-C for low latency play, and it supports pass through charging, too. While you might want to pair the Kishi with Fortnite or older Final Fantasy games on your phone for now, the Kishi is clearly geared towards a future where we’re comfortably using cloud streaming services like Project xCloud or Nvidia’s GeForce NOW to play games away from our PCs or consoles. 

Here’s a look at the controller from the front and the back:

This isn’t the first accessory to support this kind of control, by any means, but the production values of a Razer device and wide range of compatible handsets should help it stand out. No price was mentioned for the Razer Kishi, but its predecessor the Razer Junglecat cost $99 (about £75 / AU$144), which should be some indication of the range to expect here. It starts shipping in the early part of this year.

The Nintendo Switch’s design has clearly had an impact on some of the products revealed during CES this year. Alienware’s UFO Concept, for example, packs the capability of a gaming PC into a similar-looking device. 

Source: Techradar

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Samsung spoils its own surprise at CES 2020 – here’s its new bezel-free 8K TV

It’s rare that a company ruins its own surprises at CES – but that’s exactly what happened to Samsung today as the Korean branch of the company announced the new bezel-less Samsung Q950TS 8K QLED TV ahead of its unveiling at a Samsung US event that’s being held Sunday, January 5 before the official start of CES 2020. 

The new flagship 8K QLED TV sports Sansung’s new Infinity Screen that, according to a translated announcement post, is 99% screen on the front face. 

The post says the new Q950TS is just 15mm deep despite utilizing a Full Array Local Dimming backlight, will be one of the first to offer deep-learning AI upscaling (a purported upgrade on last year’s AI upscaling algorithm) and offers a redesigned smart user experience that should make finding shows to watch even easier. 

The nearly-bezel-less frame is something Samsung’s QLED TVs have been trending towards over the last few years – as have other manufacturers’ models – but now we’ve finally reached one of the smallest bezels possible on an LED-LCD TV. 

Now your TV thinks you’re a couch potato, too  

The last big upgrade to this year’s flagship is Samsung Health integration that tracks “key wellness metrics to help you manage your personal health”. Some of these metrics include time spent meditating, calories burned, weight, glucose levels and sleep patterns – plus, on the mobile app at least, Samsung Health allows you to chat with a board-certified physician if you have a question or need a prescription. 

Apparently, watching TV can be good for your health. 

While Samsung seems to be coming from a place of genuine good faith, having another platform that stores health information – especially one known to collect data from its users for third-party advertisers – feels like a bit of a misstep. 

Sure, being able to quickly check your TV to see how stairs you climbed this afternoon or how many calories you burned at the gym could assuage your guilt as you binge-watch Netflix at night, but that could come at a steep price if hackers find a way to get that information from the TV’s software.

The silver lining here is that Samsung isn’t planning on rolling out the Samsung Health integration right away, thankfully, so it has ample time to install proper security protocols around that data.

Source: Techradar

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Segway unveils 24 mph Wall-E style hoverchair for seated riders

Segway is on a serious roll with new personal electric vehicles lately. The latest is a hoverboard-style self-balancing motorized chair know as the S-Pod that is equal parts fascinating and dystopian.

Remember those hoverchairs that society used in the Pixar movie Wall-E?

You know, the ones that were pod-like floating recliners, ferrying people around in an organized fashion, making walking a relic of the past?

Well Segway’s newest product, set to be officially unveiled at CES 2020, is eerily close.

The Segway S-Pod is a 24 mph (38.6 km/h) self-balancing electric wheelchair of sorts. But this isn’t your typical handicapped wheelchair. The Segway S-Pod is designed for everyone as a new form of urban transportation.

The idea makes sense, in a way. Segway’s most prolific products right now are its electric scooters, which are scooting around cities all over the world. But as convenient as those standing scooters are, many people feel more comfortable in a seated, bike-like position. That might explain Segway’s recent announcement that it would enter the seated electric scooter market. But the S-Pod takes it one more step by removing the handlebars and footpegs entirely.

Instead, the S-Pod uses a hand knob that adjusts the lean angle, and thus the center of gravity, of the S-Pod. Because the S-Pod is self-balancing, leaning the chair forwards will cause it to propel forwards at any speed the user prefers, up to a limit of 24 mph (38.6 km/h). Braking is accomplished similarly by turning the knob the opposite way and causing the S-Pod to lean back. The rider doesn’t need to lean like on a typical Segway or hoverboard, all driving inputs are managed by the hand control.

And before you go running in terror thinking an S-Pod will be flying down your local sidewalks soon, ready to take you out at the waist, know that Segway initially plans the S-Pod to be used on closed campuses. As the company described in a statement, “the Segway S-Pod is a first-class smart transporting pod for enclosed campuses such as airports, theme parks and malls.”

Source: Electrek