The Most Interesting Products We Saw at CES 2018

[69Mustang]

No, just exposing an inferior system. It will show Apple was right to give up on under-screen sensors for FaceID.

Inferior? Is it because you have some tangible info that leads you to believe it's inferior? I've never known or heard of any half baked tech from Synaptics. Or is it because it didn't come from Apple? That seems to be your only criteria. If it comes from Apple: good. If it comes from anyone else: bad.

 

[sinoka56]

No, just exposing an inferior system. It will show Apple was right to give up on under-screen sensors for FaceID.

Like how the Face ID can't even distinguish identical twins?

 

[Snoopy4]

I'm guessing the average person who can afford "The Wall" and is willing to pay that much. Likely has 10 to 12 foot ceilings and a 20 to 25 foot wall in their theater room. "The Wall" still would not cover the wall for them. At least in the McMansions.

I'd have no reason to go to a movie theater again. How long until these are $500?

Soon enough. That’s the product people have been waiting for. Scalable TV. My hunch is it will be available in 2.4:1 as well. That would be the chit. Expensive as hell today, easily over 100k. 10 years from now...I can see 25k for the 146”. Forget the theater if that becomes a reality.

I think Sony or LG had a role up led screen. Also slick, but would probably flap in any breeze which would be annoying.
[doublepost=1515825141][/doublepost]

The wall being 146" is only about 6 foot tall, the average wall is 8' tall, so doesn't really replace a project yet. Also curious how this would compare, price wise, with a 4k projector?

Replacing a projector is king. At 146” you need to sit back 16’ for the recommended THX viewing distance. That’s one big ass screen.

 

[deanthedev]

Inferior? Is it because you have some tangible info that leads you to believe it's inferior? I've never known or heard of any half baked tech from Synaptics. Or is it because it didn't come from Apple? That seems to be your only criteria. If it comes from Apple: good. If it comes from anyone else: bad.

That’s all you’ve got? A stupid irrelevant comment claiming I think it’s no good because it’s not from Apple? Pathetic.

Synaptics system is optical based (Qualcomm is ultrasonic). Think for a minute about which system could accurately measure the depth of the ridges and valleys of a real finger vs a printed copy. That and the fact people who tried the Synaptics version talking about how hit & miss it was if your finger wasn’t poistioned just right. This doesn’t appear ready for prime-time (which is probably why Vivo is using it and not Samsung in their S9).
[doublepost=1515826810][/doublepost]

Like how the Face ID can't even distinguish identical twins?

Where did Apple claim it could?

 

[sinoka56]

Where did Apple claim it could?

You said that under-screen FP scanners are inferior but FP are unique enough that it can distinguish identical twins / people that look alike for that matter ... unlike Face ID

 

[George Dawes]

g-d help us if apple bring out one of those robotic pets

 

[boswald]

All the "ping pong robot" needs is some kind of propulsion system, a link to a satellite-based military defense network and a neural-net processor. Imagine the possibilities!

 

[6803390]

Last few months I was advocating fingerprint under the display. Now, I am not too sure whether it is good...

I tell you why:

* Requires Oled screen - I prefer lcd due to the longevity
* Screen protectors could be an issue - self explanatory

I see why Apple does not want to include it - including security reasons.

Having said that, I noticed that few people complained about that iPhone X has to be positioned in a certain way in order for Face ID to work. Perhaps include both biometrics?

 

[lbmdk1]

Bigger TVs, useless robots and concepts scooters, which will never go into actual production = The same as last year

 

[jclardy]

Inferior? Is it because you have some tangible info that leads you to believe it's inferior? I've never known or heard of any half baked tech from Synaptics. Or is it because it didn't come from Apple? That seems to be your only criteria. If it comes from Apple: good. If it comes from anyone else: bad.

I'd say it is inferior just from a usability perspective. Touch ID was great because you could easily feel the indention of the home button and click it as you are picking the phone up out of your pocket. With an all glass front and back, you are now "guessing" to where the button is, whether you are on the right side of the device and the precise position vertically and horizontally on the glass surface to unlock it. They would surely aid you with haptic feedback, but I'm not sure it would be enough to make it as smooth of an experience.

After using Face ID though, I don't want to go back. Face ID makes the lock screen actually useful now because I don't have to tap a notification then authenticate, I am just already authenticated by looking at the notification in the first place.

 

[TheShadowKnows!]

No, just exposing an inferior system. It will show Apple was right to give up on under-screen sensors for FaceID.

Sorry, dude. But the only thing you are exposing is your blind faith on all things Apple.

There is a place for under-display fingerprint authentication, and Apple's Asian competitors will use it as a calling card, no doubt. Here are some reasons:

1. no need for precise alignment of receptor to emitter with always-on detection
2. reduced complexity and increased yields (see 1)
3. improved mean-time-to-failure and extended battery life (see 1)
4. lower end-user cost (see 1 thru 3)
5. improved ergonomics with "touch anywhere" to authenticate (when the fingerprint is unblocked)
6. improved aesthetics (one-continuous piece of glass -- no discontinuities)
7. perfect display-to-size ratio (see 6)
8. ...

And, yes. Apple will never acquiesce to go back to a TouchId Mark III under the display. FaceId is their signature differentiator, going forward. That much we know given their public comments.

But, I ask, if there is ever to be a SE Mark II (which I love), wouldn't it benefit from an under-the-display fingerprint sensor?

 

[rhoydotp]

Those “silly robots” are used for programming. Dancing is just a demo to show what you can do with it but that doesn’t make them silly. Dance demos are often used to show what a robot is capable of.

Totally agree! I was impressed with the fast twitch moves by the robots yet still controlled. Really getting closer to a time where robots will be part of daily life.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

I'm guessing the average person who can afford "The Wall" and is willing to pay that much. Likely has 10 to 12 foot ceilings and a 20 to 25 foot wall in their theater room. "The Wall" still would not cover the wall for them. At least in the McMansions.

I'd have no reason to go to a movie theater again. How long until these are $500?

Well, we don't know what The Wall costs. If it's as expensive as you suggest then there is no "average person" in the mix. It would only be for the very high income folks, the ones who buy the $25K projectors. Decidedly that is tiny market of a tiny market.

But below that top of the line market there is a decent mid-range HT market. I'm not among the very high income folks. I don't live in a McMansion. I live in a TH. My HT AKA The Loft has standard 8ft ceilings. The wall my projector screen is on is 16 ft wide. My projector screen is 100 in. My current project cost me $5K -- 8 years ago. If I could get a 100in modular screen like The Wall for $5K I'd bite. No brainer b/c projectors are compromise.

Single panel 90" flat screens are available for $3K. Seems Samsung could be competitive here since presumably cobbling several smaller flat screens into one should be less expensive than producing one large one. The only question is can they get all those panels to stay in sync with each other over time.

 

[Plutonius]

I think that instead of "most interesting" in the title, it should say "best way to waste money" .

 

[X38]

I thought FaceID sounded like a good idea, but after a couple months living with it, I'm starting to think in-screen TouchID would be a better solution. FaceID still fails to unlock often enough to be irritating and the inability to unlock without having the iPhone pointed at me and facing upright turns out to be a pretty serious nuisance. It's especially bad in situations such as meetings where I have my iPhone laying on a table and I need to discretely glance at something - with TouchID I could just leave the iPhone on the table, but with FaceID I have to pick it up, often rotate it, and point it at me, which is often rather disruptive for the meeting. It turns out having a way to discretely access information relevant to a meeting at my fingertips was one of those iPhone things that I'd long since taken for granted but used frequently. TouchID was much better in this scenario. Unless Apple can get FaceID to work with hemispherical coverage and any orientation, it would be better to either switch to in-screen TouchID or include both.
[doublepost=1515855605][/doublepost]

Last few months I was advocating fingerprint under the display. Now, I am not too sure whether it is good...

I tell you why:

* Requires Oled screen - I prefer lcd due to the longevity
* Screen protectors could be an issue - self explanatory

I see why Apple does not want to include it - including security reasons.

Having said that, I noticed that few people complained about that iPhone X has to be positioned in a certain way in order for Face ID to work. Perhaps include both biometrics?

Yes, after experience with FaceID, I agree including both would a big improvement.

 

[Supermacguy]

I'd love to actually have the TouchID sensor be on the screen. I really don't like FaceID, and despite ppl saying it's here to stay, I feel it's not an improvement on the human/phone interaction. As others have said, I'd really like Apple to have TouchID and FaceID both in a phone. You can have the best of both features, if you set it up properly. Something in the sys prefs like "always use touchID first if verified" or "require both touchID and faceID for purchases".
[doublepost=1515855958][/doublepost]The BEST piece of tech was surely the Aflac duck for kids with cancer.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

What a snoozefest CES was. It seems all these conferences are getting more boring every year. Enough with the voice assistance who cares about Alexa, Siri, Cortana. I have a Echo that is collecting dust simply because I don't like talking to it. I rather type on a keyboard and use a UI to load music.

1. CES is always a snooze fest. But it's not intended to be entertainment. It's a trade show. Once upon a time those of us outside the trade had to wait until the March issue of Popular Science or PCWorld or Sound and Vision magazine to find out what the new product announcements were. So it seemed more exciting. Now we get it real time plus we are a lot more jaded about tech now because products are announced year round now, not held until CES.

2. I care very much about voice assistance. Apparently lots of others too because Echo was the big gift for the 2nd year in a row. I use Siri myself to manage parts of my home -- one of my door locks (August lock), my thermostat (Ecobee3), all of my lamps in the house (Hue + LIFX), and my chandelier (Leviton Homekit Dimmer). IMHO that is where Siri shines. Where it falters is that you have to have an iDevice to use it. I wish Apple would make or license something like the Dot. It would make Homekit so much better. Meanwhile, yes, I do envy all of the Alexa compatible devices.

 

[velocityg4]

Soon enough. That’s the product people have been waiting for. Scalable TV. My hunch is it will be available in 2.4:1 as well. That would be the chit. Expensive as hell today, easily over 100k. 10 years from now...I can see 25k for the 146”. Forget the theater if that becomes a reality.

I think Sony or LG had a role up led screen. Also slick, but would probably flap in any breeze which would be annoying.

It's hard to guess on the prices. In 2011 Toshiba introduced the Regza 55x3. A 55 inch 4K TV for $12,000. Which as far as I can find is the first consumer 4K TV in that size range.

Now you can pick up a 55" 4KTV for about $400. Once manufacturing matures and some competitors enter the market. Prices of the panels can potentially plummet. Looking at lower end 4K TV prices. It seems like price has gotten to the point where most of the cost is shipping and materials. They must be insanely cheap to produce.

I don't know many details about the wall. Estimates seem to show around a 9" diagonal module. The question becomes how cheap can they get those module? Once manufacturing matures.

 

[deanthedev]

Sorry, dude. But the only thing you are exposing is your blind faith on all things Apple.

There is a place for under-display fingerprint authentication, and Apple's Asian competitors will use it as a calling card, no doubt. Here are some reasons:

1. no need for precise alignment of receptor to emitter with always-on detection
2. reduced complexity and increased yields (see 1)
3. improved mean-time-to-failure and extended battery life (see 1)
4. lower end-user cost (see 1 thru 3)
5. improved ergonomics with "touch anywhere" to authenticate (when the fingerprint is unblocked)
6. improved aesthetics (one-continuous piece of glass -- no discontinuities)
7. perfect display-to-size ratio (see 6)
8. ...

Touch anywhere to authenticate? You do realize the sensor is not full screen, and is located in a specific location, right?

Extended battery life? Where’s the data for this? Extended vs regular fingerprint or extended vs face recognition? Which face recognition (regular camera based or FaceID)? Extended by how much? 1 minute, 10 minutes, 100 minutes? What’s the current consumption of the Synaptic sensor system vs other systems?

Sounds like you copied/pasted something without even understanding what any of it means. This reads like a bullet point list from a sales chart Synaptics uses to try and convince OEMs to use their system.

 

[TheShadowKnows!]

Touch anywhere to authenticate? You do realize the sensor is not full screen, and is located in a specific location, right?

Extended battery life? Where’s the data for this? Extended vs regular fingerprint or extended vs face recognition? Which face recognition (regular camera based or FaceID)? Extended by how much? 1 minute, 10 minutes, 100 minutes? What’s the current consumption of the Synaptic sensor system vs other systems?

Sounds like you copied/pasted something without even understanding what any of it means. This reads like a bullet point list from a sales chart Synaptics uses to try and convince OEMs to use their system.

LOL! So much bitterness. Did you get your Apple blossom hurt?

"Notably, Kuo adds that the decision to boost battery capacity across the board stems from the TrueDepth camera system that Apple debuted on this year’s iPhone X. The TrueDepth camera system, which powers features like Face ID, will reportedly be used on all new iPhone models next year."

 

[cmaier]

Why would the FAA need to approve a scooter (unless it flies)? They don't have jurisdiction over personal ground transportation devices.

The faa needs to approve it if you bring it on a plane.

The FAA doesn’t allow large li-ion batteries on planes since they tend to explode. And scooters tend to have ****** batteries that explode (hence amazon banned sales of many, etc.)

So what they’re saying is “ours won’t burn down your house.”

 

[SonicSoundVW]

Jibo is a piece of garbage. Its not surprising the LG version didn't perform, the Jibo didn't either. lol

 

[blkhawk105]

Phone on a table? Why unlock the phone on a table if you don’t plan on “looking at it” and using it?

Often times in development you don’t need to actually pick up the phone, but you can’t load a new build to a locked device.

 

[FightTheFuture]

Unfortunately, Apple has now gone so all-in on FaceID that they almost can't add TouchID back without admitting they were wrong. Too bad.

Were they wrong? iPhone X is selling quite well.

This sounds a lot like complaints of Apple ditching ports.

 

[macs4nw]

..... I will say that I think it's interesting that Samsung introduced the Micro-Led TV. At least it shows that this technology will Eventually be here, once it can be achieved on a mass production level.

The 'Wall' is absolutely mind-blowing. I would love to actually experience the quality of a microLED screen that size firsthand. Patience I guess.

Imho, as far as mimicking reality is concerned, there is so far no substitute for huge screen sizes (such as the spectacular and slightly curved IMAX screens), not even the at the time much touted 3D technology, since then all but dropped, which I found to have peculiar distortion artifacts, especially relative sizes between body parts e.g.

As a table-tennis player and aficionado, I'm also very impressed by Omron's Forpheus ping pong robot and am wondering how well it can detect and counteract the trickiest and deadliest table-tennis force: spin in its many forms.