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.
