Logitech’s new headset brings cinematic sound to your matches

Gaming headsets have gotten a lot more stylish in the past year, with companies like SteelSeries and LucidSound packing cinema-quality sound into catwalk-ready cans. Now, peripheral giant Logitech is taking them on with its newest release, the G533. This $150 headset boasts 7.1 surround sound, a simple-but-classy design and, most important to gamers, wireless capability without lag or interruption.

The G533 deviates from the standard design seen in Logitech’s older models like the G930 while also moving the gaming line forward with features like 15 hours of battery life and DTS Headphone:X audio. But the biggest change is one already seen in the company’s current Artemis Spectrum headsets: Logitech’s Pro-G audio drivers. The Pro-G drivers use a hybrid mesh material that gives them more flexibility than traditional materials like mylar. That means smoother transitioning between frequencies, with less distortion and clearer sound.

In practice, the G533 produces sound that’s a lot like being in a theater. As promised there’s no distortion or popping, but the positional audio is also excellent, granting a sense of location as if sitting in the center of a cavernous hall with perfectly balanced sound. As I closed my eyes during a scene from Interstellar, I could hear the voices of the crew and rumble of the ship’s engine as if I were sitting in the IMAX theater where I saw the film originally. In shooters like Battlefield 1 the surround sound becomes doubly important, and I definitely felt immersed by the gunfire and explosions unfolding around me.

The illusion created by a good audio setup can easily be broken by a set of heavy, sweaty cans, but the Logitech G533 avoids discomfort thanks to sport mesh earcups that are light, breathable and can be removed for washing. The G533 also maintains the plastic build of its siblings but tries a glossy look on the outside of the cups instead for a touch of class, with textured buttons on the left cup to make one-handed control easier. The mic has been slimmed down into a half-inch-diameter tube that flips up into the left cup when not in use.

While the G533 may be a wireless headset, players are still stuck plugging a two-inch-long USB dongle into their machine. However, the connection is strong and clear with no delay — even in environments with a lot of electromagnetic interference. The headset’s range is 15 meters, which meant I could move about our office with rarely a break in the audio, and when I did move in and out of range the G533 reacquired its signal within a few seconds.

If you’d like to take the G533 on your next Overwatch round or Final Fantasy XV road trip, the headset goes on sale later this month for $150.

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

Lego Boost teaches kids to bring blocks to life with code

If you’ve ever wished your childhood Lego creations could come to life, your dreams are now closer to reality. Lego has just unveiled a new subbrand called Boost which promises to do just that. The base set contains a combination of sensors, motors and a unique companion app that teaches kids how to code so that they can program their new robot friends. Lego’s Mindstorms could let you do this too, but that’s a decidedly more advanced system aimed at young adults. Boost, on the other hand, is designed for kids ages seven and up. The Lego Boost base starter set is priced at $160 and will be available later this year.

The first Lego Boost product is what the company is calling a “creative toolbox,” which contains three Boost bricks plus 840 other Lego blocks. The core unit is the Move Hub, which contains a six-axis tilt sensor, two input and output ports, a power button and a light that changes color. It’s powered by six AAA batteries and is covered in the usual Lego studs so that kids can build on top of it. Other Boost bricks include a combination color and distance sensor and an interactive motor. The motor has a tachometer in it, which tells the software how much it’s turned and at what speed. This, Lego says, allows for finite control and more minute movements.

The set also comes with building instructions for five models: Vernie the Robot, Frankie the Cat, the Guitar 4000, the Multi-Tool Rover 4 (essentially construction-type vehicle), and an Autobuilder, which is a machine that builds tiny Lego creations for you. But before you can build any of those, you have to download the companion Boost app. The app is essential to the process; it has all of the instructions plus it’s the key method of programming and interacting with the Boost creations.

Once you get the app, it will ask you to create a “Getting Started” vehicle, which is really just the three Boost blocks put together. This is basically a tutorial mode that walks the kids through the Bluetooth pairing process and familiarizes them with the app and the hardware. They’ll immediately get into the coding interface — which consists of drag-and-drop modules — and learn how to make their little vehicle move around. Then the kids can choose whichever of the five models they want to build. When they do, the app asks them to build their creation step by step.

With Vernie the Robot, for example, you’ll first create the head, then the upper torso, shoulders and then you’ll be instructed to plug in the Move Hub. Press the green button and the robot comes to life. Because the app knows you’re building the robot instead of the other creations, it immediately assumes the character of Vernie and start talking, asking for your name and introducing itself. It will then suggest going for a drive, but because you haven’t built his tracks yet, it will just vibrate. Vernie will then prompt you to complete his build. Simon Kent, Lego Boost’s lead designer, joked that this is probably the first time a Lego creation has told you to continue building it.

Indeed, Vernie has a lot of built-in charm. Its head moves when it talks to you, and when you shake its hand (thus triggering the tilt sensor), it greets you like a friend. Kent says this is part of what makes the Boost toys feel so personal and alive. “You don’t need to program those aspects in or code from scratch,” he says. “It’s much easier than Mindstorms.”

From there, it’s a matter of coding the robot to do what you want. The app has a freeplay area that lets you code your creation with all kinds of different modules — the green ones indicate movement, the purple is for speech (it uses the tablet’s microphone and speakers for audio) and the blue ones are for action. The code is horizontal, and runs from left to right, so it’s easy for kids to grasp. Plus, the modules are icon-, not text-based, so you don’t have to know how to read.

What I really like about the Boost app are the activities. There’s a Western-style one, for example, where you can outfit Vernie with a handlebar mustache and a little shooter gun. You can also build a target for Vernie to shoot at. The app will then prompt you to compile a code string where Vernie will shoot whenever it hears a clap. Start the activity, and Vernie will pivot around emitting a radar-like sound. Clap, and Vernie will stop and shoot its tiny Lego bullet. I tried this out in a demo, and it worked quite well, though sometimes it would trigger even at the slightest sound. “That could just be because of the app,” said Kent, adding that it was still in beta.

As the child plays through these activities, they’ll learn about new coding functions. So the more activities they do, the more coding modules they’ll accumulate. One particularly funny Vernie activity is to, well, pull its finger. When it does, it’ll emit a farting sound. “It’s immature, but kids love it,” said Kent. There’s another one where Vernie dances to music, and whenever you clap, it’ll spin. The clap will even activate the light on its chest to change like a disco ball.

The other Boost creations are pretty great too. The Guitar 4000 lets you play your own music, the MultiTool Rover is a vehicle that can be any tool you wish and the AutoBuilder uses a grid reference palette to put together Lego bricks for you. I was particularly taken with Frankie the Cat. It starts off as a kitten, which meows and purrs as you cradle it. From there you can program it to instill in it all the various characteristics of a cat.

Feed it from a “milk bottle” and it will purr even more (the milk bottle has an orange tip, which triggers the color sensor in the cat’s “mouth.” Give it too much milk, and it will fart. Lift it by its tail and it will meow angrily. Its eyebrows twitch and its tail wags. You can even leave the program running in the background so you have to figure out what is it that the cat is meowing after — does it want milk, or a rub? “It’s a nurturing, Tamagotchi style of play,” said Kent.

But what makes Lego Boost especially amazing is that you can use it with your existing Lego bricks. That means that if you have a Lego Ninjago set lying around, you can totally use that with Boost too. Boost lets you build three different bases — a walking base to create their own robot animal, a driving base for a vehicle and an entrance base for a castle or a fort. Lego calls this a “creative canvas” that encourages kids to think creatively and use their Boost bricks and coding skills with all manner of different creations.

“We know that children dream of bringing their Lego creations to life,” said Kent in a statement. “Our chief ambition for Lego Boost is to fulfill that wish.”

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

Aira uses smart glasses to help blind people navigate the world

Aira is designed to make life a little easier for blind and visually impaired people. Using a pair of smart glasses or a phone camera, the system allows an Aira agent to see what the blind person sees in real-time, and then talk them through whatever situation they’re in. Aira promises to make everything from grocery shopping, calling an Uber or world travel more accessible for blind people across the globe.

Aira doesn’t replace existing assistance systems. Instead, it’s designed to enhance them. A blind person navigates the world using whatever tools they normally do, such as a cane or guide dog, and only calls the Aira agent when needed. When the agent picks up, he or she sees a live video feed and the location of the person calling on Google Maps, alongside general biographical information.

Apparently, the video feed is crisp enough that the Aira agent can read items off of a menu and catch other small details. Aira is available in full now, in three packages: $300 for 750 minutes, $1,000 for 3,000 minutes and $2,500 for 10,000 minutes. That’s three, six and 12 months, respectively.

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

SpeedX’s Unicorn bike comes with smarts already installed

If you’re serious about cycling, you’ll want to track every ride. How far you went, the amount of calories you burned — that sort of thing. Until now, that’s meant equipping your bike with a slew of third-party sensors and a less than sleek cycle computer on the handlebars. Not so with SpeedX. The company is building carbon road bikes that integrate all of these components in a sleek, seamless way. Its latest creation, the Unicorn, takes the concept one step further with a new, detachable “SpeedForce” computer that runs on Android and — in a first for the cycling industry — comes with a built-in power meter to measure your effort on the pedals.

At CES, I was able to hop on the bike for a brief moment. I couldn’t ride it, because I was in a hall packed with curious visitors, but that didn’t stop me from pretending I was Chris Froome and Nairo Quintana for a moment. The new computer was underwhelming, because it didn’t turn on — the bike was merely a prototype, so I could only imagine what its various screens looked like. Lame. Otherwise, it’s quite the looker. All of the break cables are hidden inside the frame, so it feels like a complete, unblemished package. It’s the cycling equivalent of an all-in-one desktop, basically.

SpeedX is also touting a new “Vibration Control System,” which uses different carbon fiber blends to give the frame some flex. For now, I’ll have to take the team’s word that it works — the showfloor was caked in carpet, with not a single pebble or discarded paper plate to test its effectiveness.

The concept isn’t for everyone. If you’ve already sunk hundreds of dollars into a top-end road bike, you’re probably better off buying the ride-tracking parts separately. It’ll be cheaper and easier to upgrade when you decide to switch them out. For novice cyclists, however, or people that are ready for an all-new rig, the SpeedX Unicorn could be worth considering. The only problem is getting one — SpeedX is using Kickstarter to crowdfund its bikes, and doesn’t have a good track record shipping them in a timely manner. With the Unicorn, maybe that’ll change — but seeing some unfinished prototypes today didn’t fill me with confidence.

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

Send your love around the world in this box

LoveBox is a French messaging startup that, in exchange for $120, will let you send messages of love to your amour… or your paramour. Simply hand your beloved one of the boxes, pair it to your phone with the companion app, and you’re all set. Then, when you’re out and about, you can send text-message length missives back home, for the box to receive over WiFi.

On the front of this boîte d’amour is a little plastic (or paper) heart that’ll spin whenever a communication is received. Then, once the box is opened, the recipient will see a dot matrix display embedded into a mirror that shows both the message and their own face. Yes, that is actually what you’re meant to be using this thing for, we haven’t made a mistake.

The story, because of course there’s a story, is that company founder Jean Gregoire was going to the US. Afraid of leaving his loved one alone for an extended period of time, he developed the technology for her alone. Then, at some point afterward, he decided that he wanted to share his invention with the rest of the world.

Considering that you could do the same thing with a $10 dumbphone, the ratio of money to utility here is pretty damn out of whack. But then romance was never about cold, hard calculations, instead it’s about showing how devoted you are to your loved one and that budgetary concerns don’t matter.

But, just so we’re clear, you’re a dummy if you buy one of these instead of just sending a text message the normal way. Even if you are deep in the throes of love.

Nick Summers contributed to this post.

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

DataTraveler Ultimate GT Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

Meet the world’s largest capacity flash drive.

Kingston

At CES in Las Vegas, Kingston announced its new DataTraveler Ultimate GT flash drive. With 2TB of storage, it is the world’s largest capacity flash drive. Despite looking a bit bloated, you will now have plenty of storage for all of your kid videos and cat photos.

The drive has a metal alloy case for shock resistance. It sports USB 3.1 through a USB Type-A connector, but sadly lacks USB-C — time to break out the dongle.

The Kingston DataTraveler Ultimate GT will ship in February, but no word on pricing yet.

Daqri Smart Glasses Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

Daqri

Maybe, in your future robotics assembly plant, you’ll be wearing a pair of augmented reality smart glasses, linked into your coworker’s viewpoint as you help them align joints. At least, that’s Daqri’s plan.

At last year’s CES, the eye-catchingly odd Daqri Smart Helmet was announced. The helmet was designed for factory-type enterprise locations where hands-free work was required. Unlike Microsoft’s HoloLens, it was designed to be a bit more rugged. But now Daqri’s latest product wants to find a lower-key way into your industrial office.

Not for a dinner date.

Daqri

Daqri’s newest streamlined product is more like a pair of superwide glasses, similar to what other competitors like ODG and Epson offer. Daqri’s press release promises heads-up guided work instructions, a co-worker observation mode where someone could wear a pair and see their companion’s POV and give guidance, and indoor/outdoor use. The Smart Glasses connect to desktop PCs, but we haven’t had a chance to demo a pair yet.

How one might use smart glasses at a factory.

Daqri

Here are some photos provided by Daqri of the smart glasses in everyday corporate use, though, to satisfy your James Cameron sci-fi fantasies. Daqri will start taking reservations for its Smart Glasses at CES, with the cost for a developer edition coming in around $5,000. Daqri promises a wider field of view than the competition, with what they call 44 degrees per eye. The Smart Glasses use USB-C to connect, and can work across Linux or Windows, supporting CAD software and working with Unity for developers. They won’t be compatible with Microsoft’s Windows Holographic environment, however. That’s a shame, because there’s going to be a lot of competition in the smart glasses space.

Daqri

Then again, if I were building an aircraft in the future, I’d probably want to wear one of these, too.

Daqri

GeniCan Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

The GeniCan will scan barcodes of the things you throw away to figure out what to add to your shopping list.

GeniCan

It was only a matter of time before our trash bins got brains. The GeniCan is a Wi-Fi-enabled attachment for your garbage cans that will respond to voice commands, scan barcodes to build your grocery list and automatically order items you need through Amazon’s Dash Replenishment service. The GeniCan company will demonstrate the device this week at CES in Las Vegas.

The GeniCan will fit on the side of most rectangular garbage or recycling bins.

You can preorder the GeniCan now for $125, or about £100/AU$170 (the full retail price will be $149, or roughly £120/AU$200), and the company aims to begin shipping them in early 2017.

The GeniCan attaches to the side of most rectangular garbage cans (or recycling bins, if that’s your fancy). Before you toss your empty box of Frosted Flakes, you hold the bar code up to the GeniCan, and it will automatically add “Frosted Flakes” to a grocery list in your GeniCan iOS or Android app. If the GeniCan can’t find a bar code, you can use voice commands to tell the device what you want to add to your list. Order a lot of your household items from Amazon? Once you register for the Amazon Dash Replenishment service, anything that the GeniCan scans that’s available through Amazon will ship automatically. Imagine: you throw out an empty diaper box, and another one is automatically on the way.

We first learned about GeniCan during its 2015 Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign. The company surpassed its funding goal and raised a little more than $7,800 to help create this product. The hard part will be to convince you to literally throw $149 into your trash.

Somfy One Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

The new Somfy One is an all-in-one security device.

Somfy

Motorized shade company Somfy has decided to enter the DIY home security fray with an all-in-one device dubbed the Somfy One. Somfy’s inaugural home security product follows the company’s 2016 acquisition of security startup Myfox, whose tech-centric but pricey DIY system we reviewed in 2015.

Smart home at CES 2017

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Here’s an overview of the $229 (£185 or AU$320 converted) Somfy One’s core features:

• HD resolution
• Motion sensor
• 24-hour free event-based cloud storage
• 100-decibel siren
• IntelliTag door/window sensors
• Key fobs
• Optional continuous recording
• Optional professional monitoring (only available in Europe)
• Night vision

Up until this point, startups have been the brains behind all-in-one DIY security systems. The Piper Classic, the Piper NV and their closest competitor, the Canary Smart Home Security Device, all got started on crowdfunding sites. Like Somfy One, all of them have offered high-definition cameras with built-in sirens and additional security features that go beyond your typical HD cam.

But the Somfy One seems to offer a few more options than its counterparts. In addition to the IntelliTag door and window sensor accessories that use vibration detection to differentiate between a knock and a forced entry (a carryover feature from Myfox), neither Piper nor Canary systems support professional monitoring. The Somfy One is also supposed to work with Amazon Alexa, IFTTT and Nest at launch.

If Somfy decides to integrate the Somfy One with its line of connected shades and other products, this motorized shade company could become a surprise contender in the smart home security market.

Click here to find out what else is happening at CES 2017.

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Linksys WRT32X MU-MIMO Gigabit Gaming Router Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

The Linksys WRT32X’s paint job will fit in perfectly in many gamers’ bedrooms.

Linksys

Linksys’ stackable WRT design has been making a comeback as general home routers in the last few years, starting with the WRT1900AC. Now it ventures into the gaming realm as the company unveiled today, here at CES 2017 in Las Vegas, the Linksys WRT32X MU-MIMO Gigabit gaming router.

Killer Mode

If you’re a hardcore gamer, you probably know the Killer line of networking features, made by Rivet Networks, a vendor that makes network adapters for gaming PCs. Linksys says the new WRT32X router uses enterprise-grade hardware to build a platform that delivers the best online gaming experience, by combining customized Linux firmware with Killer networking features.

This built-in “Killer Mode” can automatically detect a Killer-enabled computer, then syncs its Killer engine to the Killer Network Manager on the PC. This means that not only the computer itself but the entire network, hosted by the WRT32x, is tuned for the best gaming experience.

But the router doesn’t just work for games only. Linksys says while it prioritizes gaming traffic, it also include features that allows other online activities like streaming or downloads to work smoothly. It’s also smart enough to prioritize only the actual gaming traffic and not all traffic related to games. Downloading a patch for a game, for example, will be treated as a regular download and not automatically prioritized.

Powerful hardware

Other than that, the WRT32X is a powerful AC3200 router that runs a 1.8GHz dual-core processor and has the combined Wi-Fi bandwidth of 3,200 megabits per second. It also supports MU-MIMO and dynamic frequency selection (DFS) and is open source-ready with OpenWrt and DD-WRT right out of the box.

The WRT32 is slated to be available in the spring in the US and will cost $300. UK and Australian availability were not announced, but that converts to £245 or AU$415.

Click here to find out what else is happening at CES 2017.