Between WCES 2014, a dozen Table Top Showcases and some exclusive reporting, DFA unveils the future…today

By Richard M. Sherwin, Max Jay, Erick Royer, Amy Eller, Robert Plunkett and Susan Davis.

Vizio’s Affordable (sort of) 4K Display

The buzz around 4K can be heard around the world right now – unfortunately few people have heavy enough bank accounts to afford one. Meanwhile Vizio, a rapidly growing brand (#1 in sales in 2013) is selling a 4K TV for “only” $999. Now, a lot of consumers may balk at the still somewhat steep price, but considering most of these 4K TVs sell for three times that amount Vizio has the right idea in releasing the only nearly affordable 4K option right now.

The Upgraded Oculus Rift

Every gamer has wondered what it would be like to be the hero in a video game. Every gamer. Along comes the Oculus Rift to give gamers a taste. But as amazing as the Oculus Rift was at launch it lacked some key features – namely accurate head tracking (a.k.a. the kind that doesn’t make you want to vomit). Now, with the Oculus Rift: Crystal Cove, the nifty device has integrated superior visuals and far improved head tracking mechanics that will mirror your real-life movements in the game.

Bendable TVs

We did it, world: We made it to the future. Among all of the 4K hubbub was one gem: The bendable TV. Many people in the know about the curved TV trend are concerned with mounting, yet Samsung and LG both announced a mountable 4K flatscreen that literally bends into a curved screen. The allure of a curved display is that the viewer is equidistant from every point of the screen, whereas in a flat display the corners and edges are further away. These TVs from Samsung and LG will give you  mountable bendable experience.

Airtame

Airtame proves that sometimes the best device is the simplest. Airtame is a little HDMI dongle that plugs into your computer (Windows, OSX, Linux) and provides simple, wireless screen mirroring to multiple screens. All you need is the little $89 device and some decent WiFi to make it happen.

Clio Bluetooth Speaker

There are a lot of things in this world that we don’t know we need until we see them, like Clio, ClearView’s transparent Bluetooth speakers. The Clio looks like nothing more than a box with a glass window mounted on top of it – but that glass resonates to create sound, making it a sleek, functional device. You can pick one up on ClearView’s website for $350.00.

Valve’s Steam Machines

Forget getting Half-Life 3 gamers, it looks like Valve is moving on with its new OS and console-like Steam Machines. The Steam Machines are basically high end gaming computers that connect directly to a TV and operate like a console. Valve has said that the goal with these is to bridge the gap between console and PC gaming and ultimately merge them into one massive profit machine. None of the 14 announced Steam Machines have released yet, but when they do you can grab one starting at about $499 all the way up to (and perhaps over) a depressing $6,000.

Project Christine Makes PC Components a Reality

Something about building and maintaining a PC has always been daunting to us. Well, hopefully people like that us  will be able to breathe easier once Razer’s Project Christine’s Buildable/upgradeable at home PC is on the market. Project Christine takes all of the guess work out of modifying a PC by adding every major component  (extra part) of sorts and displaying real time information about the machine on a small LCD screen built into the “spine.” All you would have to do to fix things is pop one section out, and replace it with a compatible counterpart – easy. Razer has yet to announce a release date for Project Christine.

The Galaxy Note Pro

Samsung is continuing to evolve its tablet brand with the introduction of the Galaxy NotePro. The 12.2″ tablet boasts the same specs as the beefy TabPro, but notes a significant departure from the classic look of the Android OS. The inclusion of a stylus with the NotePro (something the TabPro lacks) will also make it easier to navigate and manipulate the fairly large device. The NotePro is slated to launch sometime in 2014 with WiFi, LTE and 3G models. No pricing has been announced.

Sony’s Xperia Z1 Compact

Sony has long been floundering in the mobile market but the Xperia Z1 Compact shows that the company still has some fight left. The Z1 Compact boasts a 4.3″ display, quad-core processor, 720p touch display and a 20.7-megapixel camera. While there are other devices on the market with such specs, few if any have the sleek build and light weight. The smartphone is expected to release in 2014, but no pricing has been announced yet.

Mophie Space Pack

Mophie has made a name for itself by making cases that augment the battery life of smartphones. With the Space Pack the company has branched out to not only increase the battery life, but the data as well. Space Packs plug into a smartphone (much the same as the standard Mophie cases) but come with 16 GB or 32 GB of storage built in. Everything that can be saved on the phone and be stored directly on the case, which significantly frees up the on-board data of the device. Mophie says it’s iOS  (Apple) for now and the 16 GB version runs at $160, while the 32 GB comes in at $180. They will ship March 15.

Basis Carbon Steel Edition Fitness Watch

The Basis Carbon Steel Edition is similar to many fitness trackers but makes a point of examining the user’s sleep cycle with stalker-like specificity. This means the new Basis will track not just when the user is asleep, but deep sleep, light sleep and REM cycles will be taken into account. The Basis will also detect if the user is having inconsistent sleep patterns. The Basis Carbon Steel Edition is available on Basis’ website for $200.

DoorBot

The DoorBot will let you live out those childhood fantasies of being that rich person with a camera at their front door so they could see who was ringing the doorbell – only you don’t have to be rich. The DoorBot is a doorbell connected by WiFi that allows you to see and talk to whoever is on your front step. You can one up that rich person fantasy because you don’t even have to be home – you can just pull it up on a mobile device and check it out (as long as you have a connection). The DoorBot is available for $200. VTech and Panasonic also produce Doorbll or Phone based front door cameras around the same price.

Typo iPhone Keyboard

The Typo iPhone Keyboard is for the vocal minority that absolutely hates touch screen typing. The two-piece case attaches to the iPhone, augmenting it with a BlackBerry-like keyboard without the 10-year-old technology that comes with an actual BlackBerry. The Typo runs for $99 and works with the iPhone 5 and 5S.

Pebble Steel

Every major tech company has their hands in smart watches (no pun intended), but for the time being Pebble has our wrist with the Pebble Steel. The new model does away with prerelease weird  design and replaces it with a sleek metal case and a choice of a steel or leather band. With the ability to connect to a smartphone via Bluetooth and display pertinent information (weather, texts, incoming calls, apps, etc.) the Pebble Steel is a must have for anyone that is into watches. The Pebble Steel costs $250 and will ship sometime in the spring.

Sony’s  Moderately Priced 4K Camcorder

Being that 4K is in its infancy the products tend to be painfully expensive, but Sony has a 4K camcorder that won’t make your eyes bleed after looking at the price. Sony’s FDR-AX100 Handycam has all of the abilities you would expect to see from a camcorder, but it does them all in 4K, regular HD and will even stabilize your shot to give it a more of a professional feel. This is just the beginning of 4K devices, and you will pay  $2,000 compared to the $25,000 pro 4K cams on the market. The FDR-AX100 will release in March.

MakerBot Z18 Industrial 3D Printer

3D printing has been touted as the future of manufacturing. MakerBot’s Z18 Industrial 3D Printer makes it clear that small businesses will be able to take advantage of the new technology, too. The Z18 isn’t just for making little action figures though: It allows the user to print items that measure 12 X 12 X 18 so companies can use this for products like housewares or smaller parts to larger items. Even furniture can be produced with the Z18. Coming in at a relatively meager $6,499 the Z18 may be ushering in the future of small business manufacturing.

Sensoria Fitness Socks

The recent trend with wearable fitness gear makes every watch look like it’s going to track something and tell you when to exercise – Sensoria decided to go with some socks instead. Sensoria’s Fitness Socks connect to a smartphone, much like most wrist tech does, but in addition to the average trends of tracking steps and distance, the Fitness Socks track posture, cadence, foot landing technique and weight distribution. You can get a pair of Sensoria Fitness Socks (and the anklet, which allows you to pair with Bluetooth) for $199 on Sensoria’s website. Hopefully these socks are washable.

Asus Transformer Book Duet

Everyone loves stuff that turns into other stuff; especially when that stuff is a laptop that turns into a tablet and will function gracefully as either. The Asus Transformer Book Duet accomplishes this elegantly by allowing the device to run both Windows 8.1 (when in laptop mode) and Android (when in tablet mode). This dual technology will make the lives of designers, business people, gamers and writers far simpler. The device starts at $599 for the model with a Core i3 processor and moves up with the i5 and the i7 models (which have yet to be price confirmed). The Transformer Book Duet is expected to hit the U.S. in Q2 2014.

Nvidia Tegra K1

The phones we use are becoming more and more advanced every month, but Nvidia may have broken the universe with the Tegra K1 chip. The most amazing thing about Nvidia’s tiny chip is that it has 192 cores that bring a near desktop level experience to the palm of your hand. This means that any phone equipped with the Tegra K1 may easily outperform any phone on the market, its executive claim. In addition, it can having gaming performance that looks like the stuff you pop into your PS3 or Xbox 360. The K1 is expected to be incorporated into Smart Phones in the second quarter of this year.

Panasonic Lumix TZ60

The Panasonic Lumix TZ60 looks like any digital camera you’ve seen in countless selfie pictures online – but it is anything but. Aside from the fact that a self-conscious teen isn’t attached to it, the Lumix TZ60 is capable of pulling off things usually featured in far larger, less portable devices. The Lumix TZ60 has 18.1 megapixels, and GPS, WiFi, a 30x optical zoom and the ability to capture 1080p video at 60 fps. The Lumix TZ60 will be available in March and does not yet have an official price but is expected to hover around $399. DFA loved and still uses its predecessor, so we expect this to be a wonderful camera.

PlayStation Now

This isn’t a product really, but it could change the way all interactive media is enjoyed in the future. PlayStation Now is a cloud gaming service that will allow subscribers to stream high-end video games to any device of their choosing. The service will start out on Sony products, but will eventually move on to other brands as a Netflix-style service. Sony did not detail pricing, but they did confirm it would be a subscription model (with the possibilities of rentals too) and will launch in the U.S. in the summer of 2014.

The June

When you look at most wearable tech it looks like a fitness guru designed it to be visually abrasive, but when you look at the June it looks like a designer piece of jewelry. It’s not; it’s a wearable bracelet designed to detect the user’s exposure to the sun. The June syncs to a smartphone via Bluetooth and tell the user how much sun they are getting through the bracelet’s photovolatic gem. The June will come in gold, platinum and gun metal for $100 later in 2014.

Jaybird Reign

Like most wearable fitness tech, the Jaybird Reign makes a point to track all of the user’s movements, calories burned and distance before transmitting them to an app on your iPhone or Android device. The difference between the Jaybird and those other devices is that the Jaybird actually makes suggestions as to how the user can lose weight and exercise more efficiently based on past activity. The Reign also has a feature that will detect when your body wants exercise and motivate you to satiate it. The Jaybird Reign will retail for $199 sometime in February 2014.

Meta Pro Head Set

The Meta Pro is like Google Glass on steroids. Rather than just giving the wearer a simple overlay of information, the Meta Pro allows the user to experience augmented reality. That means you’ll be able to create 3D models just by moving your hands in a certain way. It even has the ability to overlay Windows right before your eyes (literally) using the built in i5 processor. The Meta Pro is still in beta stages, but will be out in June for a lofty $3,000.

Weston W60 In-ear Headphones

In-ear headphones are always a crap shoot – sometimes they’re decent and last for 2 months, and other times they may as well be ear torture. The Weston W60 headphones, however, will bring the in-ear revolution to the next level. The W60 boasts 6 balanced armatures with 3 crossovers each, simply meaning they sound great. The guts of the headphones (usually reserved for bulky over-the-ear products) deliver crisp sound in a miniscule, portable package… for $1,000. The W60 is slated to release sometime in Q1 2014.

LG Lifeband Touch 

The wearable fitness craze is continuing in style with the inclusion of the LG Lifeband Touch. The Lifeband Touch stands out from the competition thanks to its built in OLED touch screen. While you go about your day the screen will display the number of steps you take, the calories you burn, the distance you’ve traveled and your heart rate. On the fitness side, that’s all you need, but the Lifeband Touch also allows the user to control their music library, incoming calls and texts all thanks to the magic of Bluetooth. The three-axis accelerometer (the brains of the unit) lets the device detect movement and adjust its calculations based on the way the user flops around all day. The Lifeband Touch will sell for $179 and will be out in Q2 of 2014.

Urb-E Tricycle

At first glance the Urb-E looks like something you would see a jaded performance artist riding through some lonely sewer somewhere on YouTube, but the electric-powered tricycle-like vehicle is anything but. The prototype product is a goofy looking; ultra-portable device that runs at about 15 mph with a charge that allegedly lasts around 20 miles. You’d think this was a failure given the speed and distance it can travel, but weighing in at a paltry 25 lbs it’s an achievement in engineering. Ecological Mobility Solutions, the makers of Urb-E, say they want to start a Kickstarter in February to fund an upgraded product and sell it for between $1,000 and $1,500.

Fitbit Force

The Fitbit Force is a snazzy bracelets that will motivate you to work out my by helping you track all of your exercises. The Fitbit tracks steps, distance, calories, stairs and sleep to give the user the best idea of how they’re doing throughout the day. The Fitbit even comes with access to a Web tracker that will help you plan out how lazy you don’t want to be. The Fitbit Force retails for a modest $129.99.

(For more hot 2014 products please reading the WCES Roundups below)