Cool ideas from the Consumer Electronics Show

Like me, if you didn’t get to Las Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2016) January 6-9, then you may have missed some cool consumer products coming down the line.

Here are a few of the ideas presented that I’ve found from other posts, Twitter and press releases.

Same same, but different

Overall it feels like same same, with an expansion of ideas that we’ve all seen over the past few years. Drones, internet of things, solar energy, robots, smart devices, wearables, virtual reality etc. However there are still plenty of cool products for the digital consumer coming our way.

Now we can access the fridge remotely

Samsung presented its fridge linked to the internet of things. Called the Family Hub and it has a massive 21.5 inch touchsreen on one of the doors. You can also check the contents of your fridge and monitor food usage levels remotely via an app which accesses the fridge’s internal camera. Do we really need our fridge to be in charge of monitoring our food intake or is it a great idea for those struggling to overcome their indulgences? Read all about it here

Now a bag that can power your phone

Yes, Samsung again (well its sister company Samsung C&T), has launched a solar powered bag called Sol Bag, as part of its smart clothing range for the fashionable (and enviro friendly) consumer. Pretty cool when you think about it. And by association they must be inferring that we need to get out of the office and spend time in the sun with our bag!

Cars and homes get connected

Ford is trialling the connection between smart cars and smart homes through Amazon Echo (a hands free speaker  that integrates with Alexa, Amazon’s voice powered brain) and WINK (using SYNC AppLink which enables Wink users to use their smart home device on the dashboard of their car or also via voice control). Great for opening the garage door, turning on the house lights and opening the front door. Read more here. However are we simply getting lazier or are these integrations making us smarter?

Smart shoes 

Remember Marty McFly’s self lacing sneakers from the movie, Back To The Future? Well you probably saw that Nike brought them to life last year, with “power lace” technology, and presented them to Michael J Fox as the first customer.

However Digitsole released their version of a futuristic shoe without any laces – The Digitsole Smartshoe 01.

The shoes can automatically tighten, heat your feet, and measure movement as part of their connected footwear range that can be controlled via your smartphone. Pre-order a pair here

You’ll stop droning on about drones when you can sit in one

And now I feel like I’m living like the Jetsons.

EHang showed off its drone that can carry a person – the Ehang 184. With a maximum speed of 62 mph, and the power to fly for around 20 minutes, it’s sure to give the aviation & regulatory authorities a headache.

Sit back and enjoy their launch video and start saving the $200k – $300k.