TechTheDay

The question: Were there any? Is CES 2015 showing real advances in consumer electronics and mobile technology? It appears it’s still too early to see what 2015 really has to offer when it comes to new technologies. The devices showcased in this year’s Consumer Electronics Show don’t seem impressive enough or are not offering anything significantly new. Nevertheless, there are still a number of standout or noteworthy products being showcased in this year’s CES. The following are some of them:

1. LaVie Z – Lenovo’s Clamshell Laptop

Lenovo may have no intentions to revive the extra rare clamshell form factor through the company’s 2015 range of smartphones but it appears the Chinese tech company wants the design reiteration on their laptops. The LaVie Z is a light (at only 1.72 pounds) 13-inch laptop-tablet hybrid that takes on some Lenovo Yoga tablet design inspiration but with a clamshell design. Lenovo claims that it is the lightest 13-inch laptop or tablet hybrid in the world.

2. Zenfone 2 and Zenfone Zoom – Copy and Cheap

Asus outed two new Zenfones on the first day of CES 2015, presenting two great devices that undeniably take hints (in terms of design and features) from the popular devices of other companies.

The Zenfone 2 is the latest in the Taiwanese company’s popular Zenfone series. Overall, its design does not impress as it carries over the design language of the older Zenfones but with the conspicuous emulation of LG G2’s volume rocker buttons at the back, the brushed metal finish of the plastic chassis, and the “laser-aided” focus feature of the camera. However, the specs and price are bound to attract attention. The Zenfone 2 is equipped by a powerful Intel chipset capable of trumping the competition in benchmark results, a full HD 5.5” display, and a relatively big battery at 3000 mAh. The Zenfone 2 is also the first announced smartphone (mobile device in general) to come with 4GB of RAM. For the price, it’s a real bang for the buck $299 as announced on CES. Yes, that’s a high-end spec’ed smartphone with a considerably lower price as compared to the flagships of leading brands.

The Zenfone Zoom, on the other hand, also screams with “copy and cheap” features. It looks like a Nokia Lumia 1020 (from the back) with a different color because of the big circle portion where the camera lens and dual flash LEDs are mounted. The name, on the other hand, is obviously inspired by Samsung’s Galaxy Zoom series. It only offers 3X optical zoom but it does not have the bulkiness of the Galaxy Zoom (which has 10x optical zoom). The rest of the specs are comparable to the Zenfone 2. The price is around $400.

3. Various Wearables

The 2015 CES offered a deluge of wearables, as expected, led by various smart watches and fitness bands from various manufacturers. Almost all major players in the mobile industry presented their version of wearables on the CES floor. Sony did not have a new watch but it debuted a metal version of their relatively old Smart Watch 3. LG, Samsung, Lenovo, Garmin,  BBM, as well as Motorola showcased their wearable devices. Mediatek also took the opportunity to showcase their new chip specifically intended for wearable devices, for the Android Wear platform in particular. Moreover, Google introduced the Nixie wearable drone, a small device with a camera that can fly to take photos with an aerial view.

4. Saygus Super Phone

A relatively unknown brand, Saygus, generated a considerable amount of buzz at CES with the introduction of the Saygus V2. This device supports up to 320GB of storage courtesy of its 64GB native storage and two microSDXC card slots that support up to 128GB storage capacities. It has top of the line specs that include a full HD 5-inch display, 21 MP rear and 13 MP front cameras (both having optical image stabilization), 3GB of RAM, and the latest Qualcomm mobile chipset, the Snapdragon 810 clocked at 2.5GHz. It is also capable of wireless charging and has a fingerprint scanner.

5. Type-C USB Connectors

Users of USB devices who get frustrated with the problem of wrongly inserting their USB devices or connectors are sure to be excited as the Type-C USB standard had been announced and is  expected to adopted for devices to be released in the later part of the year. Their main advantages: reversible insertion and a smaller size. They are about the same size as the micro-USB ports in most current devices but they can support faster data transfers and can be plugged in both directions.

6. Self-Driving Cars

Google is not going to be the only to offer self-driving cars in the future as Mercedes presented the driverless F 015 Luxury in Motion concept car. Just like what its name says, the F 015 Luxury in Motion indeed looks luxurious, especially in its interiors.

7. iWallet

No, it’s not an Apple product but it’s an interesting device. It is a wallet created using durable carbon fiber. What makes it gain the “i” prefix is the way it is protected using advanced technologies. It uses a fingerprint sensor. It features RFID-shielding to secure contactless credit cards. It also has Bluetooth connectivity so it can be synchronized with a smartphone for it to sound an alarm if it is already too far from the paired smartphone. It costs $549 so this wallet is going to be quite heavy on your old wallet.

There have been many other devices showcased at CES but so far these have been the more notable ones. You can head to the official CES website to learn more about the products exhibited at the event.