Consumer Tech for February

By Richard M. Sherwin with the staff of Tech50plus

I did not attend this CES in Las Vegas….one of the few times in 40 years I didn’t go. And a few days ago I got an interesting call from one of our industry analysts who said, “I am on the floor of the giant consumer electronics show and there’s no power…The lights are out, the booths are dark and I get can’t back to the press room to file the video and other highlights for a while.” See what fun I missed?

When the power was restored I learned about the lack of brands attending the event and there were less interesting consumer products than previous shows, but more hot air from CEOs who, for the most part, still don’t understand today’s consumer.

I was astounded because with all the promise of advanced 5G Wi-Fi, easier home automation modules from Google, Amazon and Microsoft, better quality audio and video streaming and maybe some really good web based health and wellness products, all everyone was talking about was Kohler’s Blue Tooth toilet or a driverless car without a steering wheel. How about an almost $3,000 version of Atari and the window cleaning dream machine by the Korea-based WindowMate  ($560) which acts like a walled version of the floor robotic machines that attaches to the inside or outside of your home’s window and allegedly with one touch starts cleaning windows.
And yes several companies showed off home based automatic laundry robotic machines. You can hire a maid for less.

https://foldimate.com/?

Just the items most people would never use. Oh wait I am definitely going to get the smart underwear as soon as it comes to Target…Notttt.

Maybe I’ll try those bendable Tablets, phones and computers since I often have those items in precarious positions when I travel.

Usually this show features terrific next generation products that will eventually be in our homes or cars or pockets at affordable prices.

Drones stayed hot and this year, the hot item was a Dolphin-like drone for $750 that can take 4K under water pictures. And where may I ask I are those 4K videos designed to make your large screen flat TV jump out at you? So far most of the 4K on TVs is only in a few sitcoms and some less than great Netflix and Amazon movies.

All in all, Digital Family Advisor reporters said there were some terrific new health and wellness products at the show (wait for our reviews), the usual battle between Samsung and LG for TV supremacy and high-end audio is finally making a dent with consumers with multiple brands showing off much improved Blue Tooth audio enabled products.
Please go to www.tech50plus.com for complete coverage of the 2018 show and other latest news on consumer products.