Intel Studios is a high-tech soundstage for capturing 360-degree video

Intel built a high-tech soundstage in Los Angeles for capturing volumetric video in real-time. More than that, the chipmaker has forged an “exploratory partnership” with Paramount Pictures to see what’s possible with the technology that can capture a scene from pretty much any point of view — even that of a horse during a Wild West shootout.

Paramount’s chairman Jim Gianopolulos said that he thinks filmmakers will adapt to the technology well. The slow-mo panning (think The Matrix’s bullet-time shots) and perspective-swapping might not have a place in traditional movies, but VR tie-ins could benefit from the data-rich tech.

The chipmaker has spent over a year building out the 25,000 square-foot studio with 10,000 square feet dedicated just for video capture. To house all the data generated from shooting, there are 10 petabytes of local storage. Needless to say, if you’re making 360 degree video, this is where you’ll want to shoot.

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CES 2018: Incase Announces New MacBook Pro Sleeve With USB-C Port and Integrated 14,000mAh Battery

Incase today announced the upcoming launch of a new IconConnected Power Sleeve for the MacBook Pro, which is designed to be an all-in-one protection and power solution for Apple’s latest notebook computers.

The IconConnected Power Sleeve combines the protection of the Incase Icon sleeve with a built-in battery that’s able to provide additional power to a MacBook Pro right from the case. The Power Sleeve features a built-in 14,000mAh battery with a USB-C port and an included USB-C charging cable.

In addition to being able to charge a MacBook Pro, the Power Sleeve also includes a USB-A port that can be used to charge iPhones, iPads, and other USB devices.

According to Incase, the Power Sleeve is able to provide more than one charge to the MacBook Pro, and multiple charges for devices with smaller batteries like the iPhone and iPad.

“For over 20 years, Incase has created innovative solutions that provide a better experience for Apple users through good design, with a rich heritage in MacBook protection and most recently, with an emphasis on connected solutions,” said Paul Okui, Vice President of Product, Incase. “The IconConnectedTM Power Sleeve bridges the Incase connected and protection product ecosystems into one refined, powerful sleeve designed to meet the evolving demands of today’s MacBook Pro users.”

The Power Sleeve will be available for both 13 and 15-inch MacBook Pro models with USB-C ports, and when it launches in the third quarter of 2018, it will be priced at $199.95.

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CES 2018: Nokia Launching $99 Beddit-Style Sleep Tracking Accessory

Nokia is adding to its health accessory lineup with the launch of a new sleep tracking accessory called the Nokia Sleep (via The Verge), which is debuting at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show.

Like Apple’s own Beddit sleep tracker that it acquired back in May, the Nokia Sleep is a thin under-the-sheet accessory that has built-in movement sensors to track metrics like sleep length, sleep quality, and snoring, which can be viewed in the accompanying Health Mate.

Nokia Sleep will provide users with an overall sleep score, which is also how the Beddit sleep tracker works. Unlike the Beddit, though, it can integrate with other smart home products to do things like activate the lights when a person has fallen asleep or woken up.

The Nokia Sleep will be available for $99, which is $50 cheaper than the Beddit, but it also offers fewer sensors with no heart rate monitoring.

Tag: CES 2018
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Hogar’s Google Assistant speaker has a built-in smart home hub

Hogar Controls has unveiled the Google Assistant-powered Milo Smart Home Speaker with a built-in home hub that supports the Z-Wave Plus and Zigbee home automation standards. The versatile device can get you the news and weather from Google’s AI, stream music across Bluetooth and WiFi, and control your blinds, lights, locks, thermostats and other devices via the hub.

Other features include a touch controller, a three-microphone array that allows voice recognition even when you’re not close to it, a speaker with a 2-inch driver plus dual two-inch passive radiators for “clear highs and deep bass,” and an aluminum and fabric design, in light gray or black.

Hogar said the Milo is the first-ever smart speaker with Z-Wave Plus, but Toshiba recently released its own smart speaker/hub combo, the Symbio, with that feature (the Symbio also includes a camera). Nevertheless, the products highlight a bit of a trend at CES this year to put home hub features in smart speakers, since they’re often sitting in a central spot in your house.

That only works, however, if they do all their tasks well, and that’s often not the case with all-in-ones. Both the Milo and Symbio are voice-controlled, for instance, but you’ll also need to use an included app to power many of the smart home functions. Considering that such devices are generally marketed as being simple to use, the home automation functions might be too complex for the average buyer.

Google recently unveiled a “sync” setting for its own Home-powered devices that might make things a bit easier, however. For a user comfortable with Zigbee or Z-Wave Plus, the Hogar Milo Smart Speaker has a lot of functionality for the $149 price — a hundred bucks less than the Toshiba model.

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Lenovo Thinkpad X1 hands-on: A meatier, more useful update

Last year, Lenovo refreshed its popular Thinkpad X1 line of flagship laptops by adding a new color option, slimming down the profile and using the latest-generation Intel chipsets. This CES, the company has more substantial changes to reveal. The new Thinkpad X1 series now come with microSIM card slots and e-SIM technology, so they’ll remain “always on, always connected,” per Microsoft’s marketing language. The X1 Carbon laptop and X1 Yoga convertible are also the first PCs announced to sport screens with Dolby’s Vision HDR technology, and feature built-in privacy shutters for the webcam.

All three X1s are also equipped with twin far-field microphones that can hear you from up to four meters (about 13 feet) away, so you can shout at Cortana from across the room if you wish. At my demo here in Vegas, the Thinkpad X1 Yoga was able to hear me and Lenovo’s reps from at least 12 feet away. Those who don’t like using Cortana will be glad to know Lenovo will be including the Amazon Alexa app for PCs on the new Thinkpad X1s by the end of January, so you could be saying “Alexa” instead of “Hey Cortana”.

At last year’s CES, I mentioned that the Thinkpad X1’s screens weren’t as colorful as the competition. Lenovo must have noticed, because the new Thinkpad X1 Carbon’s and Yoga’s screens are sumptuously vibrant. Dolby’s Vision HDR standard is not commonly used in the consumer tech industry, which is still struggling to agree on a common definition for displays. In cinema, however, Dolby is well-established and the Thinkpad panels rendered rich colors, with nuanced gradients, deep blacks and high contrast. I especially dug the matte coating on the screen, which helped minimize glare and didn’t affect the generous viewing angles.

Cosmetically, the black models of the X1 Carbon and Yoga have a smoother soft-touch coating than before that makes the systems feel more premium. Both laptops feel as sturdy as their predecessors, despite being just 2.49 (Carbon) and 3.08 pounds (Yoga).

Of course, the new devices are all equipped with the latest (eighth-generation) Intel Kaby Lake R chipsets, with up to quad-core options. You can get up to 1TB of SSD storage, and 16GB of RAM. I also liked the generously spaced keys and 1.8mm travel on the Carbon and Yoga keyboards, and even though I’m not a fan of pointing sticks, I found it responsive.

On the X1 Tablet, Lenovo stiffened the companion keyboard to make the whole system feel more like a typical laptop. This is one of my favorite detachable keyboards so far, thanks to the comfortable keys with 1.5mm key travel and roomy touchpad with dedicated left and right mouse buttons.

The X1 Tablet also has a new 3:2 screen aspect ratio on its 3K panel, which looked bright and produced vivid colors when I saw it. I prefer the Dolby Vision HDR displays on the Carbon and Yoga, as they were more colorful, but the tablet’s screen is a lovely canvas in its own right.

Speaking of canvasses, you can draw on the X1 Yoga and Tablet with included styluses. The Yoga’s slides into a slot built into the underside of the laptop, while the Tablet comes with a holster attachment that snaps onto the slate. I like that Lenovo offers a way to keep your pen with your computer so you won lose it. The tablet’s stylus is thicker than the Yoga’s, by the way, and feels more like a real pen. It detects up to 2,048 levels of pressure so you can get more precise with your drawings.

All told, the 2018 Thinkpad X1 refresh appears to be more substantial than last year’s, and offers a few useful new features like the Think Shutter and eSIM capability. This is one of the first Intel systems with eSIM we’ve seen, too — HP just unveiled the Intel version of its always connected Envy X2 convertible at CES as well. The new Thinkpad X1s will be available this month, starting at $1,709 for the Carbon, $1,889 for the Yoga and $1,599 for the Tablet, so if this preview already has you convinced you have to buy one, you don’t have to wait much longer.

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Lenovo Smart Display hands-on: Google Assistant gets a new kind of home

In case you hadn’t heard, Google’s Assistant doesn’t just live in phones, speakers and televisions anymore. You’ll see the Assistant pop up in small, connected screens meant for use around the house later this year, and we just spent a little time with Lenovo’s first efforts: the 8-inch and 10-inch Smart Displays. It’s hard not to think of them as just a pair of surprisingly handsome tablets, but after getting a sense of how the Google Assistant works on a purpose-built screen, it’s clear that Amazon’s Echo Show has some serious competition.

But first, the basics. The 8-inch screen on the smaller Smart Display runs at 1,200×800, while the larger version’s 10-inch panel runs at 1,920×1,200. Other than that, the two versions of the Smart Display are essentially the same. Both use Qualcomm’s SDA 624 chipset, both have large vertical speaker screens next to the left of their screens and both use tiny sliders on their right sides to physically cover their built-in 720p cameras. The (definitely non-final) software I tested on the Smart Displays worked best in landscape mode, but you can turn either of the Smart Displays on their sides to stand vertically thanks to a handy triangular hump.

And don’t be fooled: these aren’t just off-the-shelf Android tablets running a special Google Assistant skin. Google Assistant director Chris Turkstra confirmed the Smart Displays actually run the Android Things OS and boot directly into the Assistant interface — you won’t be installing apps or swiping through the usual Android home screens. (Well, at least without a little extracurricular hacking.)

But what are they actually like to use? Well, when they’re inert, the Smart Displays are basically just digital picture frames that cycle though images in a Google Photo album. When you start talking to them, though, the Assistant’s calming female voice responds with crispness and clarity through Displays’ speakers. If you close your eyes and start talking to a Smart Display, the experience is nigh-indistinguishable from chatting up a Google Home speaker. That’s a good thing, too: Alexa’s deep ties to Amazon are nothing to scoff at, but if you’re anything like me, having a voice assistant that can reach into the well of data I’ve already given Google gives the Assistant a distinct edge.

Chris Velazco/Engadget

As handy as Google’s Home speakers are, though, they’re not great at succinctly conveying lots of information. Google’s move to embrace these small screens, then, is proof that pictures are worth a thousand words. I spent my time with the Smart Displays asking it to show me restaurants around Las Vegas, requesting YouTube videos to watch and fiddling with a fun little trivia game that should keep parties interesting. These are the sorts of basic requests I throw at Google’s Assistant all the time anyway, but the screens really shine in areas you may not expect. Thanks to partnerships with online recipe sources like NY Times Cooking, the Smart Displays offered more nuanced, visual directions as you’re trying to prepare some dinner.

More interesting are the ways the Smart Displays tap into existing Google products: video calls over Duo are both super-simple to initiate and worked fairly well despite some lousy Wi-Fi. If you ask the Smart Display for directions somewhere, they’ll automatically show up on compatible smartphones. And if you’re the sort who has a few Nest cameras around the house, tapping into them through these small screens is a breeze. What remains to be seen is whether — and how — third-party developers will work to build experiences for a completely new kind of Google product.

In general, the Smart Displays seem full of promise, even if I’m still not totally sold on the idea of festooning a home with smart displays. Aren’t our lives already ruled by plenty of screens as is? Still, if you’re already invested in Google’s ecosystem, the Lenovo’s new screens should slot into your life nicely. The 8-inch model will sell for $199 while the 10-inch model costs $249 — expect both to be available sometime this summer.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from CES 2018.

Lenovo Miix 630 hands-on: A solid keyboard and Snapdragon power

Last month, we saw the first Snapdragon-powered PCs from ASUS and HP — laptops and convertibles that promised 20-hour battery lives, constant connectivity and a full Windows 10 experience. Here at CES 2018, Lenovo unveiled the 12.3-inch Miix 630 detachable, which is its first offering for Microsoft and Qualcomm’s platform. At first glance, it’s not significantly different from HP’s convertible, but closer inspection reveals some key differences.

Since Lenovo is known for the excellent keyboards in its Thinkpads, the company said it spent a lot of time and focus on the Miix 630’s. The keys here have 1.3mm of travel, and bear a similar layout to the Thinkpads. Although the folio is not as rigid as that for the new Thinkpad X1 Tablet, I still enjoyed typing on the Miix 630, thanks largely to the comfortable keys.

Another difference between the Miix 630 and HP’s Envy x2 is that Lenovo included an embedded eSIM capability in addition to having a nanoSIM card slot. Since carriers haven’t rolled out eSIM support yet, this difference doesn’t mean much at the moment. But in the future, if embedded eSIM technology becomes more prevalent, the Miix 630 has the advantage of readiness.

Otherwise, the Miix 630 is just like the Envy x2, which isn’t surprising given these are first-gen devices that have to adhere to Qualcomm and Microsoft guidelines while the platform is in its infancy. But Lenovo does offer more RAM and storage options, going up to 8GB of RAM and 256GB of UFS 2.0 storage. The Miix 630 was responsive during my testing, keeping up with my quick repetitive swiping through pages of apps, thanks to the Snapdragon 835 chipset. I didn’t push it too hard, though, so I can’t tell if it will lag under more taxing situations yet like editing 4K video.

The Miix 630’s 12.3-inch 1,920 x 1,280 display was bright, clear and vibrant enough for Netflix viewing or Instagram, and writing on it with the included Lenovo Active Pen was smooth and comfortable. It has a 13-megapixel infrared camera on the front to support face recognition logins via Windows Hello, and a 5-MP camera on the rear, you know, because it’s 2005.

Like the HP and ASUS systems, the Miix 630 promises to last up to 20 hours of video playback, and supports gigabit LTE where available. Lenovo was careful to emphasize that this is its first offering for the Windows on Snapdragon platform, and said that there may be more form factors coming in the future. The Miix 630 will be available in the second quarter of the year starting at $799, which is costlier than ASUS’ $599 Novago. We don’t yet know how much HP is asking for the Envy x2, so we can’t tell which is the better option at the moment, but it’s clear that fans of Lenovo’s keyboards who want an always connected convertible should seriously consider the Miix 630.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from CES 2018.

Razer gaming devices now sync with your Hue lights

If you own enough Razer gear, you’re probably used to a light show. But wouldn’t it be nice if that show extended to your entire room? It will very shortly. Razer and Philips have formed a partnership that will let you sync any Chroma-equipped Razer device (including laptops and peripherals) with Hue lights. If a game supports it, you can change the lighting color of your whole environment in tune with gameplay. Your room may turn blood red during a battle scene, or go an appropriately Razer-themed green when you’re in a forest.

Outside of games, you can still use the syncing option to set the mood.

The update will go live sometime in the afternoon Pacific Time on January 9th, when Razer posts an update to its Synapse 3 software. You’ll need a Hue V2 bridge, color Hue lights and the latest Hue mobile app to make everything work. When you’re ready, titles like Overwatch, Quake Champions and a range of “other popular games” will support the feature. This could easily prove to be a novelty, but consider this: if you’re deep into the Razer ecosystem and were thinking of getting smart lights, you now have an added incentive to make that upgrade.

Source: Razer

JBL Link View is a Google-powered smart display with audio clout

While Amazon might have been the first to come to market with a smart display — the Echo Show and the Echo Spot, respectively — it’s now no longer the only ones. At this year’s CES, Google is announcing a slew of smart displays from several companies, and one of them is the JBL Link View from Harman International. Think of it as a Google Home, but with a touch screen.

Measuring 13 by 5.9 by 3.9 inches, the overall Link View looks a bit like a halved football, but with a display set in the middle. That display measures 8 inches across and features a HD 1280 x 720 resolution. And, because of the Google partnership, it works with Google Assistant as well as Nest cams and most other Google products. As we saw from the Echo Show as well as the Echo Spot, having a display in addition to a smart speaker is phenomenally useful. You can use the display for video calls, watching YouTube, follow step-by-step recipes and yes, watch YouTube clips.

Though there are many smart displays announced here at CES, the Link View might have an edge over the competition when it comes to audio. Thanks to its Harman roots, the JBL Link View comes with two front-facing 10W speakers, a rear-facing passive radiator for deeper bass, plus 24 bit HD audio streaming. There’s also a built-in Chromecast for multi-room playback.

There’s no word on pricing just yet, but according to JBL, it’ll be in stores by summer this year.

Sony’s new soundbars can virtualize Dolby Atmos sound

Sony always makes home audio products a part of its CES presentations, and 2018 is no difference. Perhaps most notable are the HT-Z9F and HT-X9000F, two soundbars that include Dolby Atmos surround sound. Of course, true Atmos requires overhead speakers, and these are just 2.1(HT-X9000F) and 3.1 (HT-Z9F) soundbars. As such, this requires some virtualization, which happens courtesy Sony’s “virtual surround engine,” which the company claims can replicate the wide soundstage Atmos provides. And regardless of whether you’re watching content mixed for Atmos or not, the more expensive HT-Z9F include a “Vertical S” button that Sony says will provide virtual 3D sound. The HT-Z9F will retail for $900 and the HT-X9000F will cost $600 when they arrive this spring.

If virtual Atmos sound doesn’t cut it for you, Sony is also introducing the SS-CSE Dolby Atmos speakers, which are meant to be placed on top of either the SS-CS3 bookshelf speakers or the SS-CS5 standing floor speakers. They’ll really work with any speakers you have, but naturally they’re a better physical fit with Sony’s own hardware. They fire audio upwards to reproduce the sound of the ceiling-mounted Atmos speakers you’d find in a theater; you’ll need a compatible receiver, though. Sony doesn’t have pricing for these speakers yet, but they’ll also be available in Spring 2018. Between these new speakers, Sony’s existing home theater speakers and its STR-DH790 receiver, you can get a full Atoms-Capable home theater solution from Sony. It won’t be cheap, though.

Finally, if your needs are a bit more modest, the compact HT-S200F soundbar might fit the bill — Sony is billing it as a more compact audio solution. It has a build-in subwoofer and also offers virtualized surround sound; it also includes a USB port for playback from devices other than your TV. Like the rest of Sony’s new speakers, this won’t be available until the spring, but there’s no word on pricing just yet.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from CES 2018.