CES 2017: Faraday Future Shows Off ‘FF 91’ Connected Electric Car for 2018 Release
Secretive electric car company Faraday Future today held a press event at CES 2017 where it unveiled its first production vehicle, the autonomous FF 91. The unveiling comes just as Faraday Future has been rumored to be “on the brink of collapse” amid financial difficulties and employee departures.
Faraday Future has been a bit of a mystery despite its ambitious plans to remake transportation with a fleet of intelligent electric cars. Unfounded speculation had at one point suggested Faraday Future might somehow be related to Apple and its Project Titan vehicle efforts, but Faraday’s partnership with Chinese electronics company LeEco, which has electric car ambitions of its own, proved otherwise.
Nick Sampson, senior vice president of R&D and engineering at Faraday Future, took to the stage tonight to discuss Faraday’s work over the past two and a half years on “reformatting the future of mobility” with a focus on disruption.
Sampson repeatedly teased Faraday’s work as “more than a car” and a “whole new species” before delving into some of the connectivity aspects of the FF 91 with fiber internet speeds and 802.11ac Wi-Fi in the vehicle and large HD screens to allow media, games, and other content to seamlessly transfer to and from the car. Each passenger has their own profile of content and other preferences that automatically syncs to whatever FF 91 they are in.
Faraday’s autonomous driving chief Hong Bae then took the stage to discuss how the FF 91 will use facial recognition to recognize the driver and continuously learn from your driving behavior while also taking into account weather conditions and other factors to forecast your needs and automatically adjust car settings for comfort, performance, and safety using the most comprehensive sensor system of any production vehicle. A combination of over 30 sensors including cameras, radar, retractable LIDAR, and ultrasonic sensors combine to enable these features.
Automomous capabilities will also enable driverless valet that will allow the car to drop you off and park itself, and automatically return when you summon it via an app. A live demo showed the car cruising a parking lot on its own searching for a parking spot, eventually finding one, and then backing itself into the spot.
Peter Savagian, vice president of propulsion engineering, then arrived to discuss how the FF 91 is based on a “variable platform architecture” that will make it easy to develop vehicles of many different sizes and styles.
The FF 91 includes the most powerful electric propulsion system and largest and densest battery of any car, offering class-leading range and an open charging system that offers the fastest charging speeds of any car. With 130 kWh of power on board, the FF 91 can reach in excess of 378 miles of EPA adjusted range, making it competitive with traditional gas-powered vehicles.
On the power side, Savagian touted 1,050 horsepower with instant torque for “an insane amount” of power and teased a 0–60 time that compares favorably with the world’s fastest hypercars. A live on-stage demo then showed a Bentley Bentayga, a Ferrari 488 GTB, a Tesla Model X P100D in Ludicrous Mode, a Tesla Model S P100D in Ludicrous Mode, and finally the FF 91 launching from a dead stop.
A video then showed an official speed test where the FF 91 hit 2.39 seconds for 0–60, beating the Tesla Model S’s 2.50 seconds to become what Faraday says is the fastest production electric vehicle in the world, despite the fact the FF 91 isn’t yet in production.
Richard Kim, vice president of design, discussed how the FF 91 is the “world’s first all in one car model” with a drag coefficient of 0.25 to maximize range. Kim also highlighted the attention to interior design, where space was maximized for passenger comfort while offering the driving dynamics of a mid-sized car.
Kim then walked through a number of other features, including the lights, cameras, sensors, mirrors, capacitive buttons that replace door handles, and more, focusing on their integration into the design of the car. A few comments from LeEco founder YT Jia followed, and then a brief walkthrough some of the features and a photo op with Jia.
Wrapping up, Sampson discussed availability and pricing, noting that registration begins online at Faraday Future’s website. A refundable $5,000 deposit secures a car with estimated deliveries beginning in 2018, but final pricing was not announced. Additional details on the FF 91 will be released in the coming months.
Tags: CES 2017, Faraday Future, FF 91
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Swarovski to launch its own Android Wear smartwatch in 2017
Jewellery brand Swarovski will announce its own Android Wear smartwatch during BaselWorld in March. And it will have Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chipset inside, as revealed by the chip manufacturer at CES 2017.
Swarovski has long been associated with tech, with different companies adorning special edition versions of their phones and, even, other smartwatches with the firm’s trademark crystals. This is the first time that Swarovski is going it alone, however.
Other fashion labels have already started to move into the smartwatch sector, with Fossil, Diesel and Armani just a few. Swarovski will no doubt command a high price for its own device, we’re sure.
- CES 2017: All the announcements, TVs, laptops and more from the show
- Best smartwatches and fitness trackers of CES 2017: What to expect
BaselWorld in Switzerland is the world’s biggest trade show for watch manufacturers to show their wares. It seems an ideal venue for the announcement.
Qualcomm didn’t show an image of the watch, so not much is really known about it at present. But if it looks anything like the Swarovski crystal adorned version of the Huawei Watch from 2016 we know a few people that can’t wait to get their hands on one.
We’ll be reporting live from CES 2017 all week, with hands-ons, previews and the latest news here on Pocket-lint as it happens. Make sure you check back regularly.
Netflix has another app now, but it’s for DVD and Blu-ray movies
Last year, Netflix used its CES keynote speech to announce the launch of (nearly) worldwide access to streaming. This year it won’t take the stage directly, but ahead of the show it’s highlighting something a little more limited in appeal: an app built for its 4.2 million or so remaining DVD rental customers. These days the disc side of the business is billed separately and segmented over on DVD.com, but it’s reportedly still profitable. Managing your queue of discs (which often includes movies and TV shows that have left streaming, or never show up there at all), has been missing from official apps since it disappeared after an update back in 2011.
Beyond just managing what’s in your queue and in what order, it can also deliver notifications for when your discs have been returned to Netflix or a new one is being shipped out. Browse, search and recommendations, it’s all there, however at least right now, the app is only available on iOS. The number of disc subscribers keeps shrinking, but if Netflix ever adds Ultra HD Blu-ray to its catalog we’re sure there will be people ready to hang on as long as those envelopes keep coming.
Source: Netflix DVD Blog, iTunes
Bloomlife’s baby bump wearable tracks your contractions
While there are several ways to entertain your unborn child with the latest chart toppers, the kind of technology that’s invaluable during pregnancy is typically reserved for hospitals and clinics. But a company called Bloomlife wants to bring one key piece of monitoring kit into the home. It’s created a “pregnancy wearable” — a small device that sticks to your baby bump — which measures contractions by reading the electrical activity of uterine muscle. A companion app for iOS and Android receives this data, timing contractions in real-time and promising a much more accurate reading than existing contraction calculators.
False alarms known as Braxton Hicks contractions are common during pregnancy, but any new sensation can be alarming when you’re carrying a little one around. Bloomlife’s wearable doesn’t offer diagnoses of any kind, but by capturing the frequency and lengths of contractions, it’s intended to help you learn more about your body and perhaps save you an unnecessary trip to the hospital. The app lets you look at past monitoring sessions too, so you should have a better idea of the difference between a false alarm and the more regular contraction patterns associated with labor.
Bloomlife has been testing its wearable for most of the past year, both with pregnant women and in clinical studies to ensure the device is comparable to hospital-grade equipment in terms of accuracy, safety and reliability. And now the company is ready to start offering pre-orders. Because the wearable is only useful for a limited time, the company is leasing the product instead of selling it. A one-month rental will set you back $149, with two- and three-month leases costing $249 and $299, respectively. The first deliveries are coming within the next few months, and expectant parents will be able to schedule an order so they only start paying when they need to.
Bloomlife didn’t just develop the wearable for “peace of mind,” though. The company hopes that the data these devices collect could be used in the future to identify the early signs of complications during pregnancy, which could make the monitor much more valuable in the long run.
Click here to catch up on the latest news from CES 2017.
Source: Bloomlife
Netatmo adds a connected smoke alarm to its smart home range
Netatmo is known for connected home products like the Presence AI-assisted security camera that can tell crooks from coyotes, but for CES, it’s expanding into a new niche: built-in products. On top of a new smoke alarm and siren, the company has teamed up with French companies Velux and Legrand on AI-equipped in-wall smart switches, power outlets, skylights and blinds.
On the consumer side, Netatmo launched the Smart Smoke Alarm (above) as an addition to its home security and monitoring lineup. Much like the Nest Protect, it sounds an 85 decibel alarm when it detects smoke, but also sends a real-time alert to your smartphone. That’s accompanied by a message like “smoke detected in the kitchen,” telling you where, exactly, the problem is. If triggered in error, the alarm can be switched off either manually or from the app.
The battery lasts 10 years and notifies you before it needs changing, and it also sends you weekly self-check report. It’s compatible not only with Netatmo’s own security app (and others via IFTTT programming), but also with Apple’s HomeKit platform, Netatmo says.
Additionally, the company revealed the “Indoor Security Siren” as a WiFi and Bluetooth LE accessory for the Welcome face-recognizing indoor security camera. If the camera spots someone it doesn’t recognize (or if an alarm is triggered via Netatmo’s Tags), it’ll wail at a screeching 110 decibels and send a real-time notification to your smartphone, like “movement detected on garage door” or “unknown face seen.” Thanks to a vibration and impact-detecting tamper-proof option, it’ll also go off if someone tries to disable it.
As with the smoke detector, the siren works with Netatmo’s security app or via IFTTT programming. Both devices are coming in the second half of 2017, but there’s no word on pricing just yet. (For reference, the Nest Protect smoke alarm costs $99.)
The announcement that’s arguably more interesting is about products aimed at contractors, not consumers. If you live in Europe and are building or renovating a home, you’ll be able to have Netatmo products built into your house thanks to a partnership with French companies Velux and Legrand.
The first, “Celiane with Netatmo,” is a range of smart switches and power outlets (above) that let you control lighting, rolling shutters and any other appliances or smart devices plugged into them. The system will be compatible with Apple HomeKit and Amazon Alexa, meaning you’ll be able to control lights or, say, a coffeemaker using your voice.
And while you may not have heard of Velux, the word pretty much means “skylight” in France. The “Velux Active with Netatmo” system (below) will allow “automatic, centralized and remote control of your roof windows, blinds and shutters.” Using sensors that measure light, temperature, humidity and air quality, it’ll automatically open and close the shutters, blinds and skylights to keep the optimal indoor environment.
Products from those two partnerships, coming in the second half of 2017, are mostly aimed at European customers. However, the company said it will announce more team-ups later this year, so if you’re doing a renovation project or building new home on the other side of the Atlantic, there might be more news coming soon.
Click here to catch up on the latest news from CES 2017.
Oh hey, they have smart hairbrushes now
L’Oreal has been gently getting into the technology game, first by partnering with Dr. John Rogers on a skin damage-tracking tattoo. Now, the cosmetics giant has hooked up with Withings to develop a smart hairbrush that’s designed to keep your scalp at its best. The Kérastase Hair Coach, as it’s called, was apparently inspired by people’s apparent propensity to brush their hair too forcefully, causing long-term damage.
In order to combat this, Withings used its engineering know-how to cram the brush with tech. That includes a microphone that can listen to the sound of your hair to offer insights on frizziness. In addition, a gyroscope is capable of analyzing your brushing patterns to measure the force that you apply when unknotting your mane. Finally, a conductivity sensor helps determine if your hair is wet or dry (in case you weren’t sure yourself).
All of this data is pushed to a smartphone app that crunches it alongside the local weather information to give you tips on how to best care for your hair. As you might expect, you’ll also get recommendations for which other of L’Oreal’s Kérastase-branded products you should buy in order to ensure that your mop remains lustrous. It’s unclear how much the brush will cost, but it’s expected to retail for less than $200 and will begin shipping part-way through the year, according to the two companies.
Click here to catch up on the latest news from CES 2017.
Your next home security system could deploy patrol drones
Security cameras are great, but only when they’re actually pointed at whatever is going on. With Alarm.com’s forthcoming smart security system, however, unexpected events will always be in focus thanks to a veritable swarm of drone investigators.
Alarm has developed a machine learning algorithm, called the Insights Engine, that continually monitors sensors placed around your property to learn how things are normally run and to quickly identify unexpected events — say, a break-in or a water leak — when they occur. If the system does spot something out of the ordinary, it will deploy a swarm of autonomous UAVs built on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Flight drone platform to investigate. These little fliers will swarm over the event site and provide live video feeds to your phone. You can also opt in to share that video data with either Alarm.com’s central monitoring facility or directly with emergency responders. Finally, then, we can stop relying on Lassie to alert us every dang time Timmy falls down a well.
Click here to catch up on the latest news from CES 2017.
LG’s Stylo 3 pairs a solid mid-range phone with a mediocre stylus
Now that the Galaxy Note 7 is just a footnote in smartphone history, what’s a person supposed to do if they want a phablet with a stylus? Well, there’s always the LG Stylo 3. It was the most interesting of the mid-range mobiles LG announced before CES officially started, and it’s a testament to how good non-flagship phones can be. Mostly.
The MediaTek name doesn’t mean a whole lot in the US right now, but LG chose one of the chipmaker’s octa-core processors to run the Stylo 3, along with 3GB of RAM. Throw in a mostly clean build of Android 7.0 Nougat and LG’s lighter-than-ever UX 5.0+ and you’ve got the makings of a pretty snappy little machine. I should point that the interface here is identical to the one seen on the LG V20, and at first blush there didn’t seem to be a huge gap in performance either. Swiping around around, launching apps, scrolling up and down through Engadget’s home page — all of that felt smooth, more or less. Then again, these devices didn’t have carrier bloatware or anything, so the conditions are pretty ideal; I’m looking forward to seeing how the Stylo stands up in the real world.
I wish the 13-megapixel camera on the Stylo’s back were better, though. The light in LG’s rented ballroom was mediocre at best, and the Stylo struggled to capture detail or correct colors in just about every shot. It should do better under brighter conditions, but that’s true of any smartphone camera. A sensor’s true character is only really apparent when the going gets dark, and the Stylo definitely falls short. The 8-megapixel selfie camera was mildly better, if only because it proved to be most decent at capturing wide-angle selfies. Images the Stylo didn’t capture, however, looked sufficiently bright and clear on the phone’s 5.7-inch, 1080p IPS LCD screen.
And then there’s the stylus. It’s been a while since I’ve used one of LG’s Stylos, but it’ll feel remarkably familiar if you’re used to Samsung’s Note line. A tiny software window pops up when you pull out the stylus, proffering quick access to memo, doodling, and screen capture apps — just like on a Note. That’s if you manage get the stylus out without swearing in annoyance, by the way.
A few LG spokespeople asked me if I could find where the stylus was stored, and I admit it took a few moments; that’s how well the edge of the stylus blends into the Stylo’s silver plastic frame. If you’re the type who keeps your nails on the longer side, you’ll be fine. Meanwhile, I had a lot of trouble digging the stylus out, to the point where I probably flubbed our video a few times. Once you get it out, though, writing on the screen is actually quite pleasant. The thinner stylus is tougher to hold onto than an S Pen, but LG did a surprisingly good job on the pen’s nib — it does sort of feel like writing on paper. Still, its thin build feels borderline flimsy, and I wonder if I could ever reliably get that stylus out when I need it.
We obviously can’t pass final judgment on the Stylo 3 just yet, but so far it seems like a solid option for people who like the idea of writing on their smartphones. The seemingly small gap in performance between the Stylo and something like the V20 is heartening too, though you shouldn’t fool yourself. As pleasant as the phone is, it falls far short of flagship quality. On the flip side, you most likely won’t have to pay a flagship price — LG hasn’t confirmed pricing yet, but we wouldn’t expect it to break the bank.
Click here to catch up on the latest news from CES 2017.
QuirkLogic’s Quilla is a massive 42-inch E Ink whiteboard
Canada’s QuirkLogic wants to see an end to people taking pictures of their whiteboard notes with a smartphone. That’s why it’s launching the Quilla, a 42-inch smart whiteboard that’s built around the world’s largest electronic paper display. Paired with QuirkLogic’s connected writer system, anything that you draw on the display (with the stylus) will be instantly stored for retrieval later.
The product is the result of a three-year partnership between QuirkLogic and E Ink, the company that’s been pushing electronic paper displays for years. The same technology will also be available, from E Ink itself, as a standalone display that can be used by the signage industry where low-power screens are useful.
The Quilla weighs 22 pounds and has a built-in battery that enables it to keep working for 16 hours on a charge. If you’re sufficiently baller, you can even daisy-chain displays together to increase your workspace rather than simply moving to another page.
There’s no word on pricing, although you can expect it to be significantly more expensive than, you know, just buying a whiteboard and writing things down afterward.
Click here to catch up on the latest news from CES 2017.
Source: QuirkLogic
Island puzzler ‘Rime’ is coming to the Nintendo Switch
It’s been a while since we’ve seen or heard anything about Rime. The whimsical puzzle-adventure title was first shown off at Gamescom in 2013, with a young boy exploring a mysterious, tropical island. At the time it was a PS4 exclusive, however earlier this year developer Tequila Works announced that it had bought the full rights back from Sony. Today, it’s been confirmed as a multiplatform release for the PS4, Xbox One and, most notably, the Nintendo Switch. IGN has all the details, including a new trailer which reintroduces the Ico-meets-The-Witness concept.
Rime is one of the few games confirmed for Nintendo’s new system, alongside Breath of the Wild, Stardew Valley and (probably) Banjo-Kazooie spiritual successor Yooka-Laylee. It gives us an idea of what the hybrid system is capable of — the debut Switch trailer dropped a few hints, with Skyrim and a new Mario game featuring prominently, but otherwise its graphical capabilities are a mystery. Rime, while not the most demanding title, has a bright and distinctive aesthetic, mimicking games like The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker and The Last Guardian. Right now, it’s a rare example of what the Switch can handle both at home on the go.
Source: IGN
