LG announces trio of new soundbars including flagship SJ9 with Dolby Atmos support

LG has taken the wraps off a trio of new soundbars at CES 2017: the SJ9, SJ8 and SJ7, with Dolby Atmos, 4K and high-resolution support featuring across the range.

• CES 2017: All the announcements, TVs, laptops and more to expect from the show

The flagship SJ9 is fitted with several speaker drivers including two upward firing drivers to bounce sound off the ceiling and create an enveloping sound effect. It will support any high-resolution audio files you may want to play and even claims to upsample audio files that aren’t hi-res to 24-bit/192kHz quality.

The LG SJ9 also supports 4K pass-through so you can plug your 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray player or 4K-compatible games console into it and then have an HDMI cable from the SJ9 to your 4K TV. Or, if you just rely on 4K streaming from Netflix or YouTube, you can cast directly to the SJ9 via built-in Chromecast support.

The SJ8 soundbar has a party trick up its sleeve in that it can replace the stand on select LG TV models thanks to a slim 38mm profile. It too can support 4K pass-through, high-resolution audio and streaming via Chromecast.

LG

Finally, the SJ7 soundbar delivers a peak power rating of 320 watts and can be placed either horizontally or vertically depending on what you want to use it for. The ‘bar itself is split into two pieces that wirelessly connect together. One half has a battery built in and it’s this piece that can be used as a rear speaker to create a surround sound effect or a portable Bluetooth wireless speaker.

LG has yet to confirm price and availability of all three models but we’ll update this story as soon as we know more.

Mattel’s Aristotle is an Amazon Echo style speaker aimed squarely at your kids

Mattel is planning on releasing an Amazon Echo style speaker aimed at children according to a number of reports.

Pitched somewhere between a smart baby monitor and an educational assistant for your kids, this new Echo-like speaker is going to offer a range of features including the ability to read bedtime stories, answer questions and give a more immersive experience to play time when combined with other future Mattel products.

Aristotle is purported to include an HD camera, Bluetooth speaker and internal lamp. With that in mind it’s easy to see that it’ll be able to do a lot more than the Amazon Echo.

For babies Aristotle could act as a monitor, providing soothing sounds and a comforting nightlight to ensure a peaceful slumber for your little one. Parents can apparently tweak these settings and program a sort of auto-soothing sequence when Aristotle senses an upset in the baby’s room.

For older children, Aristotle’s purpose is to “comfort, entertain, teach and learn” – answering questions, playing games, testing knowledge with trivia (possibly including use of the camera and flash cards) and more.

Privacy and functionality concerns

By all counts, it seems like Aristotle will be a powerful addition to your child’s bedroom, but how many parents will want artificial intelligence replacing them at bedtime?

There’s also concerns over privacy with Mattel’s last outing into Wi-Fi-enabled toys resulting in Barbie being hacked. This meant intruders could get access to audio recordings and even a live-feed from the microphone. With a camera included with Aristotle this could be even more concerning with the potential for 24/7 footage of a child’s bedroom falling into the wrong hands.

Mattel is promising stronger safeguards and encryption as well as parental control to allow adults to limit the use to specific times of day/night. So this might alleviate some concerns here.

We’ve also seen how the Amazon Echo struggles with understanding our children when they try to issue it commands, so how well Mattel’s product will handle this issue remains to be seen. Mattel have said that reading a paragraph of test text will be enough for Aristotle to learn the child’s voice, but we’ll have to wait and see if that’s enough.

Aristotle is due to launch sometime in June 2017. Check back here for more details once we officially hear from Mattel.

Crazy and wacky gadgets of CES 2017: Connected beds, robots, and more

While the likes of Samsung, Sony, LG, and Panasonic concentrate on launching the latest and greatest devices that are sure to enhance and enrich our lives, a number of manufacturers use CES to launch gadgets that aren’t, perhaps, 100 per cent with that goal in mind.

In the past, CES has offered gems like a belt that loosens itself the more you eat, a fork that will tell you you are eating too quickly, an umbrella that would tell you it was about to rain, and supposedly next big thing in personal transportation that never happened.

CES 2017 is no different, with a number of companies launching gadgets that will make you laugh and cry rather than reach for your credit card. Yep, these are the wacky, crazy, or just down right bonkers gadgets of CES 2017.

How about a cute robot that follows you around the house, or maybe a bed that warms your toes when you get in it, before raising your head when it detects you start to snore?

We’ll be adding to this article as we discover more wonderful, magical, marvellous gadgets.

The Smart Cane

Dring

Created by French company Dring, the smart cane is designed to detect any unusual situation like falling over or lower activity and then automatically alert carers and family, without any action from the user, if needed.

Sleep Number 360 Smart Bed

Sleep Numbers

Whatever you think of your bed, this bed is “smarter”. Not only will it warm your feet to help you fall asleep faster, but it will also detect when you are snoring and adjust the mattress to create the ideal position while you sleep to make you stop.

If that wasn’t enough it will also adjust the hardness of the mattress as you toss and turn to help give you the best night’s sleep while even going as far to wake you when you are sleeping your lightest.

Kuri robot

If you like the idea of Amazon Echo but are frustrated that it’s not in every room of your house, Kuri is probably the gadget for you, maybe. 

It’s a small cute robot that looks like its escaped Pixar’s Wall-e (the design lead used to work at Pixar) and will follow you around the house so you can bark orders at it any any point. In return it will look cute, blink its eyes at you, control your gadgets via IFTT, let you check on your house with its built in HD camera, and even read your kids a bedtime story if you’re stuck in the office.

Nest Protect can turn off GE’s ovens when you burn dinner

It’s hard to figure out how some connected home tech is actually useful, but GE and Nest have nailed it with their latest team-up. The Nest Protect smoke detector can now shut off GE Appliance’s connected ovens if it detects smoke and then trigger the oven to send a notification to GE’s Kitchen app. If Nest detects that you’re away, it’ll also tell the app to alert you via smartphone. The goal, of course, is to stop an embarrassment from becoming a disaster if you lose track of your roast.

“Our integration with Nest Protect helps us ensure that our connected oven owners are safer when cooking, especially when the oven is left unattended,” says GE Appliances VP Paul Surowiec. The devices also work with Amazon’s Alexa and various IFTTT systems, meaning you can operate them with your voice and connect to smart home systems from Wink, Quirky and others.

The Nest Protect system, meanwhile, can detect smoke or carbon monoxide, emitting an alarm and spoken warning, while at the same time notifying you via your smartphone exactly where the problem is located. Now that the second-generation smoke detector is past its earlier issues, having it monitor your oven make a lot of sense. GE says the Nest Protect integration is now available and works with any of its in-built or free-standing connected ovens.

Source: GE Appliances

HP’s revamped 15-inch Spectre x360 packs a 4K display

We generally liked HP’s redesigned Spectre x360, but it had a few flaws: It dropped some particularly useful ports, and there was no 15-inch model for people who need more screen real estate. Consider those issues solved. HP has unveiled a 15.6-inch edition of the new Spectre x360, and it’s a lot more than just an upsized version of a familiar 2-in-1 PC. To start, you’re getting much nicer visuals. The larger Spectre ships with a 4K IPS-based touchscreen and dedicated graphics (albeit an older GeForce 940MX chip), both of which are miles ahead of the 1080p display and integrated video on the 13-inch system. However, it’s the subtler additions that you might appreciate the most.

Most notably, the ports you missed are back. HDMI and a card reader return alongside one each of Thunderbolt 3, USB-C and conventional USB. You’ll also get two new front-facing, Bang & Olufsen-tweaked speakers. And if you liked the overall performance of the 13-inch computer, you’ll be happy here. It ships with the same low-voltage 2.7GHz Core i7 processor and speedy 256GB solid-state drive as its smaller sibling, but you’ll get 16GB of RAM out of the box instead of 8GB. And despite the 4K panel, battery life is still estimated at a healthy 12 hours and 45 minutes. About the only drawback is the weight: At 4.4 pounds, it’s relatively heavy for a thin-and-light system.

Pre-orders for the larger x360 start today at both HP’s website and Best Buy, although the ship date and configuration will depend on where you shop. If you want first crack, you’ll have to score one from Best Buy at a $1,499 starting price. Exhibit some patience, however, and you can get one through HP on February 26th for $1,280. At that last price, it’s a fairly easy choice: If you’d prefer a larger display or are willing to live with one to get more ports, it’s likely to be worth the premium.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from CES 2017.

Source: HP

Acer built a more durable Chromebook for clumsy students

Apparently, the rugged Chromebook Acer built for schools back in 2015 just weren’t durable enough. Today at CES the company just announced a new, more durable notebook. Now, schools can equip students with a Chromebook 11 N7 C731 that can bear up to 132 pounds of force, resist case and hinge damage while bouncing around in student backpacks and survive falls from as high as 48-inches — more than twice the drop height of the old model.

Acer says it designed the new Chromebook 11 for compliance with US Military Standard MIL-STD 810G — specifically the spec’s requirements for enduring high and low temperatures, humidity, mechanical shocks, drops, vibration and the effects of rain, dust and sand. The notebook isn’t waterproof, but its spill-resistant keyboard’s gutter system claims to be able to drain up to 11 ounces of water away from the machine’s vital components. Those keys are mildly student-proof too, and are designed to be difficult for more destructive students to remove.

Durability aside, the Chromebook 11 N7 seems to be a promising education machine. With 12 hours of promised battery life, the notebook has more than enough juice to get through a school day. The machine’s 1,366 x 768 display comes in both touch and non-touch varieties, too. There’s also plenty of connectivity options: two USB 3.0 ports, an HDMI socket and an SD card reader. The N7 will be available later this month starting at $230 with 4GB of RAM.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from CES 2017.

Dell intros the $799 Inspiron 7000, details Alienware CPU upgrades

The XPS 13 2-in-1 might be Dell’s biggest laptop news at CES this year, but the company also has some major updates in store for gamers. Take the new Inspiron 7000, for one, a $799 laptop that really pushes the boundaries of what you’d call a “budget” machine. The company’s Alienware laptops are also getting another performance boost, thanks to the addition of Intel’s latest seventh-generation CPUs.

At first glance, the Inspiron 7000 looks like the inevitable union of Dell’s consumer laptops with the Alienware lineup. Its plastic case doesn’t have the many visual flourishes of its premium gaming counterpart, but the red accents around the front and rear fans make it seem like much more than a typical Inspiron. And yes, it’s really strange seeing elaborate heatsinks on this product line.

Hardware-wise, you can choose between Intel’s seventh-gen i5-7300HQ or i7-7700HQ processors, and NVIDIA’s GTX 1050 or 1050 Ti GPU, for the Inspiron 7000. You can also opt for 1080p or 4K screens in 14-inch and 15-inch variants, as well as up to 32GB of RAM. Of course, going crazy with specs will definitely rocket you past the $799 base price, but even with its most basic hardware it’ll still be a decent gaming machine.

As for the refreshed Alienware hardware upgrades, you’ve got the option of using Intel’s i7-7700HQ CPU or the i7-7820HK. And, for the first time, the massive Alienware 17 can fit in NVIDIA’s GTX 1080 mobile GPU.

You can grab the Inspiron 7000, or any of the new Alienware models, starting on January 5th.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from CES 2017.

Acer’s new gaming PCs include a VR-ready desktop

If Acer’s $9,000 Predator laptop has you in sticker shock, take a breath: The company also trotted out some affordable gaming notebooks at CES. Specifically, the company is rolling out a refresh of it Aspire V Nitro laptops, outfitting 15- and 17-inch models with new seventh-generation Intel Core i7-7700HQ processors, NVIDIA GeForce 1060 or 1050 graphics, built-in Tobii eye-tracking and up to 16GB of RAM. The internals aren’t the only upgrade, either: The new Nitro also features a USB-C port, a fingerprint sensor and the option for a 3,840 x 2,160 UHD display. The new models, dubbed the Nitro ‘Black Edition’ start at $1,199. Looking for a powerful notebook for a little less? Acer has one more option for you.

The new Acer VX 15 trade’s the inconspicuous chassis of the V Nitro for a red-tinted frame, a slightly less powerful GPU and a much cheaper $799 starting price. Even so, the VX is no slouch. The VX’s NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti GPU lends it enough power to play modern games, though it probably won’t hit maximum settings in games like The Witcher 3 or Titanfall 2. Still, with 16GB of RAM, a 1TB HDD and the same Core i7-7700HQ CPU found in the Nitro laptops, it’s a powerful machine for the price.

Finally, Acer is rolling out a new desktop PC at CES: the Aspire GX series. These machines will ship with seventh-generation Intel processors, up to 64GB of RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 graphics and a bevy of storage options. That’s enough power to drive a modern VR headset! Starting at €799 in Europe, the GX isn’t too expensive either, though we’ve yet to see how US pricing shakes out.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from CES 2017.

Intel unveils its 7th-gen CPUs for desktops and high-power laptops

Intel hasn’t forgotten about desktop aficionados. Only a few months after debuting its seventh-generation CPUs for ultraportables, the chip giant is rounding things out with new processors for more powerful machines. There’s the “H-series,” targeted at “performance laptops and mobile workstations,” and the “S-series,” which are meant for more traditional desktops. They’ll complement the two other lines of seventh-generation CPUs, which cover ultra-thin designs (the “Y-series”) and faster ultraportables (the “U-series”).

Naturally, you can expect the new desktop chips to perform better than their predecessors. Intel claims the S-series i7-7700K CPU is 25 percent faster than the i7-4770K (which, it’s worth noting, is three generations older). There’s likely a much smaller performance gap when comparing it to Intel’s fifth and sixth-generation CPUs. The company also claims the i7-7700K can “create, share and stitch” 4K 360-degree videos 35 percent faster than the 4770K. That’s a particularly niche use case to call out right now, but it might become more important as 360-degree video takes off.

When it comes to the H-series chips, Intel says they’ll perform about 20 percent faster than a comparable fourth-gen chip (the i7-4700HQ) and handle 4K 360-degree videos 65 percent faster. You’ll see the H-series in bulkier gaming and desktop-replacement laptops, and it sounds like they’ll pair pretty well with modern mobile GPUs like NVIDIA’s 10-series and AMD’s Polaris lineup (which recently made an appearance in Dell’s latest Alienware laptops).

The highest-end S-series CPU, the $339 i7-7700K, will feature a base clock speed of 4.2GHz with boost speeds up to 4.5GHz. In comparison, the 6700K was clocked between 4GHz and 4.2GHz. The new chip still packs in four cores and eight threads (thanks to Hyperthreading) and it includes Intel HD 630 graphics.

For the first time, Intel is also offering an unlocked Core i3 model, the $168 7350K, a dual-core CPU with four threads running at 4.2GHz. It’s something overclockers will appreciate, since they can tweak its speed settings to their heart’s content. And beyond that model, Intel claims all of its new seventh-gen chips will overclock better than previous models, thanks to several features that will stabilize the chips when pushing them beyond their listed speeds. The CPUs will also run on the company’s new 200-series chipset, which will support up to 24 PCI Express 3.0 chipset lanes and 10 USB 3.0 ports (along with a wealth of other technical upgrades).

Together with the new CPUs, Intel is also debuting an intriguing new technology called Optane Memory, which plugs into M.2 connections on motherboards to speed up systems. It’s not clear, exactly, how it all comes together, but Intel claims it’ll deliver SSD-like system speeds when used with a traditional hard drive. We’ll have to wait and see if it’s actually a better option than using an M.2 SSD with a hard drive, though — especially as SSD prices have fallen considerably over the years.

Just like with the earlier seventh-gen CPUs, you can expect Intel’s new desktop chips to handle 4K video pretty efficiently. That won’t mean as much for battery life savings, but it could make them much more useful for playing 4K on home theater PCs.

Basically, there’s a lot to look forward to if you’re buying a new desktop this year. But the new chips are more compelling if you’re upgrading from a system that’s a few years old, rather than something from last year. That’s a tad disappointing, but at the very least it’ll lead to some good deals on last year’s high-end CPUs.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from CES 2017.

Acer’s 21-inch gaming laptop will cost you a staggering $8,999

You knew Acer’s wonderfully overdone Predator 21X gaming laptop was going to cost a pretty penny, but probably not this much. The PC maker has revealed launch details for its 21-inch desktop replacement, and the system will cost a mind-numbing $8,999 when it ships in February — you may have to choose between this and a nice used car. There are plenty of reasons for the over-the-top price tag, at least. In addition to the signature 21-inch curved 1080p display and mechanical keyboard, you’re getting an overclockable 7th-generation Core i7-7820HK processor, 64GB (!) of RAM, dual GTX 1080 graphics chips, Tobii eye tracking, as many as four 512GB solid-state drives in a RAID stripe and a 2TB hard drive. You probably won’t need to consider a replacement for a long, long while. And don’t worry if this is absolute overkill, as there’s a vaguely affordable model in the mix.

Acer is updating the Predator 17X (below) at the same time, and it arguably delivers more than enough power for most laptop gamers. The 17.3-inch rig doesn’t have a ship date yet, but it will sell for $2,599 with the same Core i7 processor as its larger sibling, 64GB of RAM, a single GTX 1080 graphics chip and either super-fast NVMe or RAID-striped SATA solid-state drives. Unless you absolutely crave the perks of the 21X, you’ll probably be fine with this model.

To cap things off, the company is also introducing a slew of Predator-badged displays, highlighted by the Z301CT. The ultra-wide HD curved screen boasts Tobii eye tracking and an extra-fast 200Hz refresh rate. It’s not a throwaway purchase at $899, but there’s enough here that it might be worth checking out when it arrives in February.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from CES 2017.

Source: Acer