The 10 Best Gadgets from CES 2014

CES is a very different show nowadays than it was 10
years ago. Although people put a lot of attention on the
announcements from major players in the industry such
as Samsung, LG, and Sony, lately, independent
companies and startups have the ones shaking things
up.
But this year, thanks to an impressive turnout from
companies like Sony and Valve, CES 2014 felt like a big,
important show again. Combined with the usual
presentation of interesting, exciting, and unorthodox
independent projects, and you’ve got one of the best
CESs in recent memory.
Here are the 10 best gadgets from CES 2014:
10. Samsung Galaxy Note Pro
This massive 12.2” tablet is Samsung’s answer to both
the iPad Air and the Surface 2. Samsung has taken
Android and placed what they call the Magazine UX on
top of it. While I’m not so certain the new homescreen
interface is necessarily the best for “professionals”, it
takes the best parts of Windows 8’s live tiles and is a
big improvement over most of Samsung’s typical
TouchWiz Android skins. The Note Pro also includes the
Note 3’s excellent stylus to make for a big tablet that is
fun to interact with and write on.
9. 3Doodler
This Kickstarter darling made its big public appearance
at CES this year and the result was quite exciting. This
3D printing pen takes all of the modeling out of 3D
printing and opens up creating objects to pretty much
everyone—including kids. While you might not be able to
do quite as much as you could with an actual 3D
printer, it’s a heck of a lot of fun to play with for only
$99.
8. Mophie Space Pack
There are always an insane amount of smartphone
accessory companies at CES, but few of them manage
to capture the attention of audiences. Then there was a
Mophie Space pack. This iPhone 5/5s case not only
charges your phone with additional battery, it also adds
32GB of storage to your device. The Mophie lets you
drop your videos, pictures, and documents straight into
its storage and even lets you play videos right from it.
Not only that, the Space Pack is designed beautifully
and surprisingly doesn’t add a lot of heft to the phone.
7. Steam Machines
The desire to break into the home console market has
been growing among both consumers and companies for
years now, whether it’s from independent Android
consoles like the Ouya or big rumored living room
takeovers from the likes of Valve or Apple. This year at
CES was where Valve CEO Gabe Newell finally lifted the
lid off of the first generation of Steam Machines. The
amount of computers on display was a bit shocking—as
was the announcement that the consoles would range
from anywhere between $500 and $6000. While many of
these models still feel like prototypes in many ways,
there is no longer any question regarding whether or not
Valve is actually serious about the living room market.
They are—and Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo have
reason to be paying attention.
6. LG’s Curved TV
The whole curved screen shtick has quickly become the
great gimmick of 2014—that is, until LG showed off its
105” OLED 4k TV that just happened to have a nice
flexible display on it. The curvature to this massive,
gorgeous television feels just right—and unlike the
curved displays on their smartphones, actually enhances
the experience. This might be another product that
won’t be hitting Best Buy shelves anytime soon, but
that doesn’t take anything from the fact that LG has
made an immersive and interesting television.
5. Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
Smartphones aren’t really much of a thing at CES
anymore because most of the big manufacturers now
save the unveiling of their flagship devices for their
individual conferences and press events. However, Sony
quietly brought what might be their best smartphone in
years to the show: the Xperia Z1 Compact. Despite the
silly name, the Z1 Compact feels like the . If this device
eventually makes it to US market and is available at
carrier stores, the excellent camera and accessible form
factor might just make it the early frontrunner in the
2014 Android scene.
4. Playstation Now
Playstation Now isn’t exactly a gadget—but for gamers,
this online game streaming service was the most
important announcement at CES this year. Sony had
purchased the cloud gaming service Gaikai in 2012, but
it wasn’t until this year at CES that we knew what for.
Not only does Playstation Now effortlessly solve the
backwards compatibility problem, but now Sony just
may have the Playstation 4’s killer app—the thing that
will make gamers want to reserve space for it under
their TV.
3. Oculus Rift Crystal Cove
The Oculus Rift is one of those prototypes that just
keeps getting better and better each time we see it. This
year, Oculus showed off their new prototype, the Crystal
Cove. This new hardware takes care of nearly all of the
problems I noticed with the original—most notably the
motion blurring, the resolution, and the lack of head
tracking. Now armed with a camera that tracks the
movement of your head in space (think Kinect here), the
Oculus Rift’s experience is now that much more
immersive. I can’t wait to see what Oculus ends up
shipping customers—all I know is that it feels like it’s
getting awful close.
2. Sony 4K Ultra Short Throw Projector
Sony’s most peculiar and most exciting announcement
this year was the Ultra Short Throw 4k Projector. Due to
the surprisingly short distance the projector sits from
the wall and the incredibly sharp picture, this 4k
projector feels like the future of not only projectors—but
TVs as a whole.
1. Pebble Steel Smartwatch
The Pebble Smartwatch made near the top of our list of
best mobile gadgets of 2013—and for good reason. It
was the first—and perhaps the only—smartwatch that
made sense for the average person that doesn’t want
strangers staring at their wrist while walking down the
street. The Steel isn’t just a 2014 update to the original
model—it is Pebble’s next step toward reaching the
mainstream market with their device. Both the leather
and aluminum straps look and feel fantastic—and while
they’re no Rolex, the update might be enough for those
who don’t currently wear a watch every day.

10 Completely False ‘Facts’ Everyone Knows

This may not have hit your radar when it happened, and
even if it did, you might not have given it a second
thought. But we did, my friend, we did. In 2005, the
Spitzer Space Telescope (launched in 2003) beamed
back conclusive proof that the Milky Way isn't the
simple spiral galaxy you've seen illustrated your whole
life. It's really a barred spiral galaxy. So instead of
elegant arms coiling out from a central sphere, there's a
big fat bar across the middle, and the arms of our
galaxy sprout from either end.
Now, scientists had been debating this possibility and
trying to come up with decisive proof one way or the
other for years. And when they did – not much
happened. Some mainstream news outlets gave it a
little airtime, and the astronomy community talked it up
for a while. Once the space devotees all knew about it,
everyone else continued on in blissful ignorance, not
knowing they were imagining the galaxy they lived in all
wrong.
From geography to physiology, there are many
examples of people collectively doing it wrong by
learning fiction as truth. Here are 10 of the biggest
errors walking around masquerading as well-known
facts.

10 Weird Patents That Google Owns

Google Chairman Eric Schmidt once noted that the
patent system, originally designed to protect inventors,
had degenerated into a swamp of lawsuits and
creativity-killing delays. "These patent wars are death,"
he said in a 2012 chat at New York City's 92nd Street
Y. "Everyone can find a prior art for everything. So the
new trick is to get judges to block devices country by
country. It's bad for innovation" [source: Ngak].
That aversion makes it all the more remarkable that
Google has become one of the most prolific applicants
for patents around. MIT Technology Review reported in
2013 that Google's brain trust of scientists and
engineers was winning about 10 patents every day that
the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office is open for business.
Indeed, the company has become one of the top 10
patent recipients in the U.S. [source: Regalado].
Technology Review theorized Google quietly changed its
view on patents to protect its Android operating system
for mobile devices, after seeing the way that Apple did
the same when it introduced the iPhone in 2007.
Many of its patents cover Android , as well as the search
engine technology and other services that have been
Google's bread and butter. Others have to do with
game-changing future gadgetry that the Internet giant
is developing, such as driverless robotic cars. But
Google's innovation machine is also churning out even
edgier innovations, many that might leave you
scratching your head.
Here's a sample of 10 of the weirdest patents that
Google has sought in recent years.

Technological Advances

INTRODUCTION
Technology influences human existence by bringing new
risks as well as improvements to our lives. To try to
minimize the likelihood of unwanted side effects of a
new technology, humans will employ risk analysis. You
can use the resources found here to help you
understand how technology influences human existence
by examining the benefits and risks of different
biotechnological advances.
EXPLORATION
Today, people are living longer and healthier lives
thanks, in large part, to technological advances in the
field of medicine. Read about some of the most
important innovations in Health Technologies that we
may take for granted now. Prepare a five-minute
presentation of your topic to give to the class. Use your
answers to the questions on the student sheet to guide
the development of your presentation. In addition to
briefly describing the technology you have selected, be
sure to describe the benefits and risks associated with
this technology.
Also include a short essay (no longer than one page)
explaining what you have learned about the relationship
between risk and benefit in the development of new
technologies.
Sometimes, medical advances have unforeseen
consequences. For example, there is no doubt that the
development of antibiotics has greatly contributed to
human health. However, the over prescription of these
drugs has lead to antibiotic resistance. In Phage
Comeback , you will read about how researchers are
looking at older methods of treating infections and
combining them with new technologies to create even
better treatments.

10 Big Science and Technology Advances to Watch

With so many remarkable things happening
in the science and tech worlds, it’s hard to
choose which to talk about. Here are a few
ongoing developments worth keeping your
eyes on.
Medicine
Stem Cell Heart Generation– For the first time, a
human heart has been created using stem
cells, a major step forward in organ
generation. A couple years ago
scientists rebuilt the heart of a rat using stem
cells; the same team is behind the latest
breakthrough. If all goes as planned, the heart
will continue to grow and eventually begin
beating automatically. The implications of this
development are huge, including overcoming
the problems of transplanting donated hearts.
More info
Hybrid MRI / PET Imaging – Simultaneous
positron emission tomography (PET) and
magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) could
provide the broadest spectrum of diagnostics
possible, at least by current-tech standards.
MRI is especially useful for examining soft
tissues in the body, and when combined with
PET (which is better at structural evaluation)
it can provide extremely detailed imaging of
organ tissue. The duo would work especially
well in evaluating the true extent of liver
damage, as one example, without exposure to
high levels of radiation. The problem is that
these technologies don’t play well together, so
integrating them is no small challenge. More
info
Applied Sciences & Engineering
Mimicking Porosity in Nature – “Graduated
porosity” in beehives, trees, seashells, bones
and many other marvels of nature allows
these materials to endure incredible stress
without compromising the integrity of the
entire structure. Bones, for example, can
fracture in one place without affecting the
rest of the bone. The problem is that these
structures have evolved for specific purposes,
and it’s not easy to synthesize eons of
complexity. We are, however, getting closer to
figuring out what clams and bees already
know. More info
Nano Batteries - Scientists have created the
equivalent of a rechargeable lithium-ion
battery the size of a nanowire, thousands of
times smaller than a human hair. But unlike
previous nanobatteries, this one is actually
built right into a nanowire. This infinitesimal
power source could provide nanomachines
with the continuous power needed to
accomplish whatever uses they’re designed
for, such as exploring the cardiovascular
system of a heart disease patient. More info
Transparent Batteries – While we’re talking
about batteries, it’s worth noting the first
completely transparent battery was created
this year. Developing a transparent power
source was the last obstacle to creating
transparent digital gadgets.
Plasma Arc Waste Disposal – Imagine
harnessing the power of lightning to turn
garbage into glass, or into a gas that can be
used as an energy source. This technology is
gaining momentum in the waste disposal
industry and is even in use at some solid
waste facilities. The advantages include less
garbage in landfills, less carbon from
incineration, and creating a natural gas
power resource. The problem: it’s expensive
technology, and in these days of economic
woes few public entities can afford it. More
info
Ocean Desalination – The U.S. lags behind the
Middle East and Australia in figuring out
ways to remove salt from ocean water to
make it drinkable, but the technology is being
used in a handful of coastal cities and we can
expect several more desalination plants to
launch sooner than later.  Brackish water
desalination is already widely used
throughout the country. Two big questions
facing ocean desalination: (1) how badly will
it disrupt the ocean’s ecosystem, and (2) what
to do with the salt brine? More info
Information Technology
Paperless Paper – For us stubborn paper lovers,
there may soon be a product available that
provides the look and feel of paper, with the
advantages of a digital device. In fact, the
technology is already available, though it
hasn’t yet translated into a marketable
product. It’s called electronic paper (not to be
confused with digital paper, a different
technology). Before long, the plastic shell of e-
readers may not be needed and you’ll be able
to handle “paper” books, magazines, etc with
all the bells and whistles your Kindle or Nook
provides now. More info.
Neuroscience
Using EEG to Put the Brakes On - Researchers
have been exploring how to harness brain
signals via electroencephalography (EEG) for
several years, with some remarkable
advances. Now a group of German scientists
have figured out how to use EEG to put the
brakes on a moving vehicle.  This is a big deal
because the normal reaction time for a person
to apply the brakes is often too long to
prevent an accident. The scientists showed
that using EEG, they reduced braking distance
by nearly four meters–the length of an
average-sized car. More info
DNA Neural Networks - Researchers at the
California Institute of Technology say they
have created the first DNA neural network
that ”thinks.” They used DNA molecules to
build four neurons made up of 112 distinct
DNA strands. The amazing part is that the
network can be trained to play memory
games and come up with correct answers. If
this all sounds a little strange, that’s because it
is…but it’s also incredibly cool.