The first Hyperloop test is now just months away

2016 was a big year for Hyperloop One as the company inched ever closer to proving its near-supersonic travel tubes work. At the same time, the business tweaked its plans, intending to become more of a platform and less of a train company. As 2017 approaches, it’s readying its a three-kilometer test track in North Las Vegas and pushing forward with its Global Challenge. To tell us the state of the company and what innovations we can expect, Co-founder Josh Giegel, CEO Rob Lloyd and Global ops chief Nick Earle joined us on the Engadget stage.

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

NVIDIA’s GeForce Now let me play ‘The Witcher 3’ on a MacBook Air

Apple’s MacBook Air is known for being sleek and portable — but not so much for being a hardware powerhouse. Even the latest Air still relies on weak integrated graphics, so it’s not exactly the sort of machine you’d expect to run a modern title like The Witcher 3. And yet, that’s exactly what I managed to do with NVIDIA’s GeForce Now, its game streaming service (recently expanded from the Shield devices) that lets you rent a virtual gaming PC in the cloud.

Being able to play The Witcher 3 on such an underpowered system is intriguing enough, but I was also surprised by how well it ran. I tried as hard as I could to make the game stutter, but even when I moved the mouse around like a madman, there was surprisingly low latency between my movements and what was on screen. I also tried hard to find compression artifacts in the stream, but they simply weren’t there. It looked as if I was playing the game in 1080p with “Ultra” quality settings locally, and not streamed from some super-powered server.

I also had the chance to play Rise of the Tomb Raider on an iMac, which uses slightly faster hardware than the MacBook Air, but it’s still not fast enough to run high-end PC games. I was also surprised by the low latency in that game, and even on a large monitor there weren’t any compression artifacts to be found. GeForce

Based on my short demo, GeForce Now seems like the game streaming service many of us have been waiting for. NVIDIA says it’s learned quite a bit since its GRID cloud gaming service. Its servers are now powered by Pascal GPUs, and while the company isn’t divulging the details of its virtual system hardware, reps say it’s the equivalent of a $1,500 gaming PC.

Pricing might become a problem, though: When it launches in March, it will cost $25 for 10 hours of GTX 1080-class gaming (which would be ideal for complex games like The Witcher 3) or 20 hours of GTX 1060-class gaming. That will add up quickly, especially as you dive into large open world games. I could see GeForce Now being a nice secondary solution for gamers who don’t get to travel with powerful rigs. And it might even introduce some newcomers into the world of PC gaming. But at its current price, it probably won’t become anyone’s primary gaming solution.

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

Hello Egg Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

Hello Egg is part timer, part Amazon Echo and part crystal ball.

Chris Monroe/CNET

If you’re a crappy cook, the Hello Egg might be the kitchen assistant to guide you pass burnt grilled cheese sandwiches.

Makers of this smart speaker-like gadget showed off the Hello Egg’s skills, which include voice recognition and video projection, at CES in Las Vegas Thursday. The Hello Egg, which will cost $150 (about £120 or AU$205) when it’s released later this year, is like an Amazon Echo designed just for your kitchen. It looks like the crystal ball the Wicked Witch of the West used to spy on Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz,” with an eye that looks like an egg yolk that moves around the screen. You can ask your Hello Egg for a recipe, and it will project videos that how to complete each step. And, true to its name and egg-timer-like shape, it can act as your kitchen timer, too.

You can preorder a Hello Egg online. Its creators also plan to launch an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign for the product in March.

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Nvidia Spot Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

The Nvidia Spot.

James Martin/CNET

The Google Assistant’s expanding its repertoire as an entertainer. At CES, Nvidia showed off the new Shield TV. Say the word and you can search for content, pause or rewind with your voice, all powered by Google’s software. The Shield TV will even display information if you search the internet, and it works with SmartThings to control your home. If you buy the $200 streamer, you won’t even have to be in the same room to talk to Google, thanks to a $50 add-on called the Nvidia Spot.

The Shield TV is out later this month. The Spot’s release date hasn’t been specified. An always listening controller with the Google Assistant built-in, the Nvidia Spot sure sounds a lot like a Google Home. The Spot looks different — a round orb as opposed to a white cylinder. You’ll also be able to easily move the Spot from room to room and even attach it to walls.

Otherwise, a lot of the functionality sounds the same as Google’s own product — you’ll be able to command your TV, search the web and control your smart home via voice command. Nvidia specified SmartThings integration for Spot and Shield, but Google Assistant works with more platforms than that on Google Home — so I wonder if Spot has a more limited version of the Assistant.

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Nvidia’s platform will offer more streaming options than Google’s products can do on their own. With a Google Home and a Chromecast streamer plugged into your TV, you can control Netflix and YouTube with your voice. Shield’s promised those platforms, plus Amazon Video, Google Play movies and Vudu.

We’ve been looking for Google Home to expand its functionality at CES. The Shield TV is a nice step — if somewhat redundant. The Spot itself looks to serve the same purpose as Home, and the integration expands upon something the Google Assistant already did. Still, I’m glad to see the Google Assistant gaining new partners — it needs to in order to keep up with Amazon at CES.

Stages Hero Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

The Stages line includes two products: noise-canceling headphones called Hero, and a device called the Sidekick that lets you retrofit your headphones of choice.

Chris Monroe/CNET

It’s great to have a set of headphones to block out the world. But what if you want to let a few voices in? That’s the concept behind the Stages Hero, a set of noise-canceling headphones we spotted at CES in Las Vegas on Thursday. The headphones include a circular mic that lets you choose a specific direction from which to hear ambient sound. So if you’re talking to the co-worker who sits in the cubicle across from you, but you want to block the co-workers on either side of you, you can select to hear ambient noise from your left and right sides, but not your front. You can also set key words (“Hey, Ashlee”) and program specific voices that will break through the ambient sound.

Stages will launch an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign for the headphones on January 12. They’ll cost $299. The campaign will also include the $199 Sidekick, a device that looks like an Amazon Echo Dot that connects (with a jack or Bluetooth) to your existing headphones and retrofits them with the same skills as the Hero headphones.

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Kwikset Obsidian Keywayless Smart Lock Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

The Kwikset Obsidian smart lock.

Mark Licea/CNET

Kwikset is no stranger to touchpad deadbolts that let you in whenever you enter a code, but until now, those locks have also let you use a key. Not the Kwikset Obsidian, though. With a retail price of $180, it’s the brand’s newest deadbolt, and it doesn’t use a key at all — it’s the touchpad, the app-enabled smarts, or bust.

Ditching the keyway eliminates the risk of the lock ever getting picked or forced open with a bump key, and it makes for a tidy little design, too. Like the name suggests, the Obsidian is all black and very minimalistic, with the touchpad making up almost the entirety of the deadbolt’s exterior.

To unlock it, you’ll press and hold on the touchpad for a second or two to wake it up, then enter your code. If you like, you can enable a setting that’ll have the touchpad display two random digits for you to press before you put your code in — that way, clever intruders won’t be able to glean which numbers you press by examining the fingerprints on the lock. I like that feature a lot, especially since the lock’s glossy touchpad tends to smudge just a little bit.

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If the batteries ever go dead, you can hold a 9-volt battery up to these nodes to give the lock enough power for you to enter your code and get inside.

Ry Crist/CNET

The interior of the deadbolt looks just like other Kwikset smart locks and houses the electrical components and the four AA batteries that keep it powered. The Obsidian will give you plenty of warning before those batteries run dead, but should you ignore or miss those warnings and come home to a dead deadbolt, you won’t be left locked out for long. Just hold a 9-volt battery up to the two nodes on the bottom of the lock’s front to give it the juice needed to accept your code, turn the bolt, and let you inside.

To use the lock’s smarts, you’ll need to download its app on your Android or iOS device. You can use that app to create unique codes for everyone who lives in your home, then track their comings and goings. You’ll also be able to create codes that only work on specific days or at specific times, as well as one-time codes that expire after a single use. None of that will cost anything extra.

The Obsidian will be available with your choice of a Z-Wave or Zigbee radio to connect it with your smart home setup.

Mark Licea/CNET

That’s the same solid approach to user management that we saw with the Premis, Kwikset’s new HomeKit-compatible smart lock. The Obsidian won’t work with Siri like that lock will, but it will work with a variety of connected home platforms, including SmartThings, Wink, and Control4. Kwikset says that the Obsidian will be available with both ZigBee and Z-Wave radios inside, so you can pick which one suits your setup best.

The Obsidian’s already got some competition — namely from Yale, which has a key-free lock of its own. That’s one of the next products I’m planning to test following CES, so stay tuned for a full review in the coming days.

As for the Obsidian, it’s slated to arrive later in 2017 (Kwikset’s representatives wouldn’t get any more specific than that when I asked them for a time table on the CES show floor). Whenever it gets here, we’ll be sure to test it out at the CNET Smart Home.

Sennheiser HD1 In-Ear Wireless Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

The Sennheiser HD1 Wireless ships soon.

Sennheiser

Sennheiser’s In-Ear Momentum may not be great, but the company’s new HD1 In-Ear Wireless, which shares the Momentum’s bud design, is one great-looking neckband-style headphone.

Due to hit stores later this month, the HD1 costs $200 (about £140 or AU$270 converted). It has sheepskin leather stitched onto the neckband — with stainless steel accents — that gives it a premium look missing from most of today’s around-the-neck Bluetooth headphones.

I’m trying to track one down here at CES 2017 and once I do, I’ll report back on how it sounds and performs as a headset — it should be good because Sennheiser does make an excellent mono Bluetooth headset.

The HD1 in its carrying case.

Sennheiser

Here are the HD1’s key features:

• 10-hour battery life
• Charges in 1.5 hours
• Bluetooth 4.1, AAC codec support and Qualcomm apt-X compatibility
• Integrated three-button remote and high-quality microphone
• Connect up to two devices at once, with three-way calling support
• NFC one-touch Bluetooth pairing with devices that support NFC pairing
• Voice prompts to notify pairing status and to provide battery life warnings
• Vibration alert for incoming calls and support of USB audio with USB charging
• Carrying case included
• Four different size ear tips are included
• Price: $200
• Shipping in January

Detail shot of the HD1’s inline remote.

Sennheiser

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Onkyo SBT-A500 Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

Onkyo

Really keen on getting an Atmos sound bar but found the prices too high? What if you could get one for less than a grand? Onkyo’s SBT-A500 is the first Atmos speaker I’ve seen for under $1,000.

It’s also one of the most impressive-looking I’ve seen at any price, with its separate receiver adding a touch of class. But this also means the system may not suit people who want as few boxes in their house as possible.

More from CES 2017

• Razer’s new gaming laptop has three (!) screens
• All the smart home products at CES 2017 (so far)

Despite having a lower price than its rivals, the SBT-A500 still packs in the features, including both Dolby Atmos and DTS:X immersive audio playback and a welcome four HDMI inputs with 4K/60p support.

Streaming music support is one of the best I’ve encountered, with Chromecast, DTS Play-Fi, AirPlay, Bluetooth and the forthcoming FireConnect multiroom system.

This is a 3.1.2 system, which means it has three sets of front-firing drivers, plus two ceiling-pointed drivers and a (wireless) subwoofer. The bar has a relatively low 2.1-inch profile, which hopefully means it won’t block your TV’s infrared port, but it’s also wall-mountable. The bar connects to the receiver via a “multichannel audio cable,” but you’ll need a rack or AV unit to store the receiver itself.

The SBT-A500 ships in the US this month for $999, with UK and Australian pricing yet to be announced (that’s about £810 or AU$1,360 converted, but expect the final price to be wildly different).

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Sony’s Kaz Hirai: 4K and HDR are here, robots are coming

By all accounts, Sony played it safe at CES this year. Outside of an OLED TV that projects sound from its screen, the company was light on game-changing product announcements. So when I sat down with Sony CEO Kazuo Hirai for an exclusive interview, we focused on the topic that’s been on everybody’s lips this week: artificial intelligence.

Last July, Hirai announced that Sony was reinvesting in AI in a big way for the first time since cutting funding in 2006. He says its ambitions go far beyond a refreshed Aibo, but not to rule out the possibility of robopup resurrection. As to whether we should be worried about our autonomous K9s turning into agents of a robot uprising? Hirai says it’s up to companies like his to keep the AI hounds at bay.

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

Google makes its essential Android modding tools easier to get

Android users have a long history of unlocking their phones, sideloading apps and installing custom OS builds — but getting the tools to do all that has always been kind of a pain in the ass. Users who wanted to play around with their phone’s backend had to download the entire Android SDK just to get access to two specific tools. Not anymore. Google has quietly released its ADB and Fastboot tools as lightweight, independent packages.

The company doesn’t have a dedicated page for these tools, but Google software Engineer Elliot Hughes shared them on his Google Plus page. In total there are three links: one for Linux, one for Mac and one for Windows. It seems a little overdue to offer these tools now, as the craze for custom Android ROMs has died down considerably in recent years — but it’s still a nice gesture. Check out the original Google Plus post at the source link below.

Via: Lifehacker

Source: Google Plus