Years after unofficially exiting the consumer VR space in favor of enterprise products, HTC has returned with its first standalone headset for consumers. The Vive XR Elite is a $1,100 flagship for VR and passthrough mixed reality (MR). Although that pu…
Lenovo’s Smart Paper tablet is a $400 answer to the Kindle Scribe
Alongside its regular slate of laptops and other gear, Lenovo has announced an E-Ink notepad at CES. Smart Paper is a 10.3-inch display with an anti-glare screen. The company says it’s a lightweight device with 50GB of storage, enough for 50,000 pages …
Watch Samsung’s keynote at CES 2023 in 6 minutes
Samsung introduced new QD-OLED TVs and a 57-inch 8K gaming display, the 2023 Freestyle projector and new Bespoke smart appliances at this year’s CES. During the company’s keynote, it also talked about its products’ new features and upgrades in detail, including a new wash cycle for washing machines that can reduce microplastic pollution.
Presenters talked about SmartThings Workspace, which lets you connect to linked devices remotely, and SmartThings Pet Care, as well. Samsung’s pet service can send you alerts when your dogs bark and put on a show or video on a connected display to keep them entertained. Plus, it enables the camera on the brand’s robot vacuum to recognize dogs and cats.
In addition, Samsung introduced the latest SmartThings hub, which is its smallest yet. The SmartThings Station, as it’s called, has a button that you can use to program smart lights, air conditioner or other home devices like smart blinds. It’s the first Samsung product to come with built-in Matter support, giving it the capability to connect with Matter-enabled devices from other manufacturers.
Any content played on the latest Samsung smart TVs can now sync with Philips Hue Lights for immersive lighting effects. The company also talked about the Knox Matrix, its security solution that acts as your private blockchain system for its smart home devices. Finally, Samsung presented the in-cabin car technology it developed in partnership with Harmon, as well as a new display technology called Relumino mode that can help people with low vision to see images more clearly.
You can watch a condensed version of the event to get the gist of Samsung’s announcements in the video above.
BMW’s i Vision Dee concept digitizes the driving experience with a full-width heads-up display
BMW is once again ready to give the world a glimpse of the futuristic tech it has in the works as p[art of its i Vision concept vehicle program. Following 2017’s iVision Dynamics, 2018’s iNext SAV, and last year’s iVision Circular, the German automaker revealed at CES 2023 on Thursday the i Vision Dee (“Digital Emotional Experience”), a pared-down concept vehicle with a HUD running the full width of the front windshield.
And like the previous iVision iterations, many features from the Dee are expected to make their way into production models — specifically BMW’s new NEUE KLASSE EV platform beginning in 2025. Per the company, the Dee will feature BMW’s Mixed Reality Slider which leverages the company’s “shy tech” sensors to control how much digital content is displayed on the heads-up display. It will slide from fully analog up four additional steps — driving-related information, to infotainment information, to AR — and (eventually) full VR. Fingers crossed that only happens after BMW masters Level 5 driver assist.
ENES KUCEVIC
“With BMW i Vision Dee, we are showing how the car can be seamlessly integrated into your digital life and become a trusty companion. The vehicle itself becomes your portal to the digital world – with the driver always in control,” Adrian van Hooydonk, head of BMW Group Design, said in a press release. “Implemented the right way, technology will create worthwhile experiences, make you a better driver and simply bring humans and machines closer together.”
The vehicle will also greet their drivers as they approach with a “personalised welcome scenario that combines graphical elements, light and sound effects.” You’ll even be able to communicate directly with the vehicle through verbal commands while it will respond using its headlights and kidney-shaped grille to “form a common phygital (fusion of physical and digital) icon on a uniform surface, allowing the vehicle to produce different facial expressions,” according to Wednesday’s release. The Dee will reportedly be capable of conveying joy, astonishment and approval, all visually. There’s no word on what happens if you manage to anger it, but it can’t be good.
Sony’s Project Leonardo is a controller kit to help people with disabilities play PS5
Sony is building a better PlayStation 5 controller with Project Leonardo, a kit that promises to make games easier to play for people with limited motor control. In initial images, Project Leonardo is a set of circular gamepads lined with buttons and directional input methods, all of it customizable. Sony says the system will work “out of the box” with the PS5, allowing players to craft their ideal gamepad by mapping buttons, swapping out hardware bits and creating distinct profiles.
Project Leonardo can be used on its own or paired with DualSense controllers — up to two Leonardos and one DualSense can be read as one gamepad by the PS5. This grants players flexibility and also allows other people to help control games.
Sony
The hardware includes four 3.5mm AUX ports to accommodate a variety of existing accessibility accessories and switches. The controller itself lies flat on a table or can be mounted on a tripod; it doesn’t need to be held. Sony partnered with a handful of organizations, including AbleGamers, SpecialEffect and Stack Up, while designing Project Leonardo.
With Project Leonardo, Sony is taking clear cues from Microsoft, which has been a leader in accessibility tech, particularly in the gaming space. Microsoft released the Xbox Adaptive Controller in 2018 and it had many of the same selling points as Sony’s new endeavor, but in a longer and flatter package. Microsoft has a new laboratory focused on building inclusive hardware and a five-year plan to improve the technology landscape for people with disabilities.
One of the major draws of the Xbox Adaptive Controller is its price, which was also designed to be accessible: $100. There’s no word on how much Project Leonardo will cost; there’s also no release window.
On the PlayStation Blog, Sony designer So Morimoto described Project Leondardo as follows: “Our team tested over a dozen designs with accessibility experts, looking for approaches that would help address key challenges to effective controller use. We finally settled on a ‘split controller’ design that allows near free-form left/right thumbstick repositionability, can be used without needing to be held, and features very flexible button and stick cap swapping.”
There was more positive news for the PS5 out of Sony’s CES press conference today — PlayStation head Jim Ryan declared an official end to the PS5 shortage, saying, “Everyone who wants a PS5 should have a much easier time finding one at retailers globally starting from this point forward.” That should is doing a lot of heavy lifting, of course.
Sony Honda Mobility officially unveils its Afeela EV concept at CES 2023
In March of 2022, Honda and Sony shocked the world by announcing that not only were the venerable electronics and automotive manufacturers were teaming up, they were doing so to build a battery electric SUV. By June, the project had been spun of into its own company and less than a year after being announced, Sony Honda Mobility took to the CES 2023 stage to officially unveil its first prototype. The Vision-S 02 is now the Afeela.
Sony Honda Mobility
Sony executives shared a few details about the upcoming vehicle including that it has 14 exterior cameras — 45 of them in total! — as well as a grille-mounted “Media Bar” that will display pertinent charging and vehicle information, “which allows intelligent mobility to express itself to surrounding people using light, enabling interactive communication between mobility and people,” according to Wednesday’s release. SHM also noted that online pre-orders will begin in mid-2025 ahead of deliveries scheduled for spring of 2026. We’ll have a hands-on from the show floor on Thursday, stay tuned!
Hisense’s UX Mini LED TV can produce 2,500 nits of peak brightness
Once you get past the gimmicks, there’s a common thread among the TVs announced at CES 2023. Every manufacturer is trying to produce the brightest possible sets. For Samsung and LG, that has meant doubling down on their respective OLED display technolo…
Signify wants you to pay $130 for an app that syncs Samsung TVs to Philips Hue lights
Signify (formerly known as Philips Lighting) has a new app. It sounds kind of fun. You can use it to sync whatever’s playing on certain Samsung TVs to Philips Hue smart lights, whether you’re streaming a movie, listening to music or playing games. The idea is to make whatever you’re watching feel more immersive by extending the colors to the rest of the room. Neat! Not so neat is how much Signify is charging for the Philips Hue Sync TV app. It costs $130 (or £115 in the UK).
In fairness, that’s still around $100 less expensive than the Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box, a device that connects to your TV and syncs your lights to whatever’s playing. The app supports all image formats and you can customize the settings. You’ll be able to tweak the lights’ brightness and how intense the syncing is. You can choose to auto-start the experience and whether the lights should be in video or game mode. There’s the option to pinpoint where lights are in relative to your TV too.
If you’re somehow interested in paying $130 for the app instead of snapping up disco lights for, like, $12, you’ll need a 2022 or newer QLED TV in the Q60 range or above. You’ll find Philips Hue Sync TV on the Samsung TV app store starting on January 5th.
Signify
Elsewhere, Signify announced more Philips Hue devices. It will release PAR38 white and color ambiance bulbs for outdoor use on March 14th. They’ll cost $80 for one or $150 for a two-pack. PAR38 white light bulbs were previously available. In the UK, the company will offer a Resonate downward wall light that can brighten up outdoor spaces. It too offers white and color light. Resonate costs £110 and will be available on January 24th.
You’ll need to wait until March 14th for the latest Philips Hue Tap dial switch, which has a round mini mount that can be placed on magnetic surfaces, such as a fridge. That will run you $50 or £45. Signify has also revealed when the Go portable table lamp it debuted last year will go on sale in the UK. You can snap it up for £140 ($169) on February 21st.
Signify
Update 4/1 5:23PM ET: Updated US pricing.
Panasonic’s portable Nanoe X air purifier filters odors and pollutants while you drive
Put away the Little Trees air freshener, Panasonic has a more advanced solution the next time you want to make your car smell its best. At this year’s CES, the company showed off a portable air purifier that can fit in the cupholder of nearly any car, …
CES 2023 Day 0 recap: All the early news you missed
CES is back! For real. Sort of. While the show has never actually gone away in spirit, this year is the first time since the pandemic that Engadget has a team on the ground. The show proper kicks off on Thursday Jan 5th, but the news has already been c…