Harman is designing smart interiors for tomorrow’s autonomous cars

The days of owning your own car may soon be coming to an end, what with the growing popularity of ride sharing matched with the promise of autonomous vehicle technology. Should that self-driving car service future come about, Harman International want to be ready with audio and connected vehicle systems to match whatever you’re riding in to your specific mood and tastes.

On Monday, Harman announced its new Configurable Entertainment and Moodscape experiences, built using the company’s new AudioworX development platform. Configurable Entertainment is geared towards commercial ridesharing companies like Uber and Lyft and will allow them to “offer multiple in-car brand and entertainment experiences through a single set of in-vehicle hardware,” according to the release. To do this, the company also announced that it is developing shape-shifting speakers. If the car you hailed arrives equipped with a BOSE sound system and you want a Harman Kardon, the vehicle’s central soundbar will literally change shape to look and sound like the HK.

The Moodscape concept is just as nuts. Using a QLED display, biometric feedback, GPS and app syncing, tomorrow’s autonomous cars will be able to match its music to your mood, whether you’re on the way to the gym or a funeral. It will also conceivably be able to generate personalized audio alerts. That QLED display, it’s going to be mounted on the ceiling, called the “MoodRoof” and generate “immersive visual landscapes” that you can watch instead of a billowing headliner.

By 2025, all of these designs, along with level 5 autonomy — are expected to be rolled into what is essentially a person-sized shoebox on an electric truck chassis. Behold the future of autonomous transportation everyone, the Rinspeed Snap. Harman plans to show off all of these concepts at CES 2018 in Las Vegas from January 9th -12th.

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

Philips launches new 4K TVs with Dolby Vision HDR

If you’re building a 4K TV with HDR, then you have to pick a side: Dolby Vision or HDR10+, and Philips is squarely in the former camp. This year, the company is expanding support for the standard, launching a new line of displays that will offer deeper, richer, Dolby-branded colors. The 69-and-59-series televisions come in a variety of sizes running from 43-inches through to 75-inches, and all offer Philips’ NetTV smart TV platform. Other bullets on the spec list include macro dimming, wide color gamut, dual-band 802.11ac WiFi and HDMI 2.0a with HDCP 2.2.

At the same time, the company is also pushing out a line of series 57 TVs, which offer a more affordable 4K display without the benefits of HDR. In addition, Philips is pushing out a new UHD Blu-ray player (BDP7303) that offers both generic HDR and Dolby Vision, plus upscaling for sources like Netflix, YouTube and Vudu. It’ll turn up at some point this summer for a price that, perhaps unsurprisingly, has yet to be announced. Similarly, Philips’ new TVs will be available in April 2018 for amounts of cash nobody’s yet determined.

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

Philips’ kitchen-friendly TV packs Google Assistant

A voice assistant can’t help you chop vegetables, but it can talk you through how to get your own to look like they were sliced by a professional. It’s one of the reasons that Philips has crammed Google Assistant into its new Android TV for kitchens, the 7703. The 24-inch Android TV comes on a large plinth that is also a 16-watt Bluetooth speaker to fill your kitchen with tunes. The unit also has Chromecast integration, letting you push content from a mobile device to the display with very little fuss.

The headline feature here is, of course, the presence of Assistant, which will let you bark instructions at the display when you’re otherwise engaged. Because the always-on microphone is built into the TV, you’ll not have to even awkwardly cram your elbow on a remote to prompt the interface to begin working. Plus, when you’re finished preparing the meal, you can ask the TV to fire up Netflix and let you watch Chef’s Table to fuel that inferiority complex. Plus, there are two HDMI inputs for adding in a games console or set-top box, should you need one.

It’s not the first device we’ve seen that’s tried to blend smarts and screens for the kitchen, and we’ve seen plenty of other attempts. Like Sony and Archos’ attempts to build tablets that are capable of being used by the cooking fraternity. Hopefully Philips’ effort will have better luck, although we won’t find out pricing and availability until the second half of the year.

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

SOLOS smart cycling glasses are going for a run

While the consumer smart glasses craze has ebbed, the technology has found a niche in the sport training world — especially among cyclists. At CES 2018 on Monday, SOLOS debuted the latest iteration of its smart cycling glasses, also called SOLOS.

In addition to new abilities like being able to listen to music and communicate with the rest of your cycling group, the smart glasses can now be used by runners as well. The SOLOS software has been freshly rejiggered to work for runners including the most common tracking metrics like elapsed time, speed, pace, cadence, and heart rate. In addition to music, the glasses can also display visual notifications (say if you get an important email) and provide audio turn-by-turn navigation.

The glasses reportedly offer around 5 hours of battery life, though I’m primarily concerned with trying the read the HUD while these goggles and the rest of my head are bobbling about as I run. Audio directions shouldn’t be as much of an issue as the headset includes both directional speakers and earbuds, depending on your preference. The system is compatible with Android Wear 2.0 and ANT+ which means you’ll be able to integrate them with your existing Strava, Training Peaks, and Under Armor equipment. The glasses will retail for $500 when they hit the market some point in the first quarter of 2018.

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

Yale’s Nest-controlled smart lock arrives in early 2018

Yale, the lock company that recently purchased August, recently joined forces with Nest on a new smart lock, and we now know more about the product and when it will arrive. The Nest x Yale lock gives you a key-free, touchscreen deadbolt with a lot of options for remote unlocking and granting access to family or guests. For one, you can unlock it by entering a passcode (it holds up to 250), which can be limited to specific times of day for cleaners or others who need limited access.

At the same time, it works with the Nest app, giving you a host of remote and security features. For instance, you can use it with the Nest Secure so that when you unlock the door, it also deactivates the alarm. You can also marry it with the Nest Hello video doorbell to see when people arrive and then let them in remotely.

Yale points out that the lock is protected on the outside by reinforced hardware, and there’s no keyhole cylinder to pick. As for as the other type of security, it uses “multiple layers of bank-level encryption tech” to protect it from hacking, the company notes.

The Nest x Yale can be opened via the touchscreen even if the power or WiFi fail. It will warn you well before the battery dies, but should that happen, you can enter a code by touching a nine-volt battery to the terminals at the bottom of the lock.

The Next x Yale smart lock will go on pre-order in February, with deliveries slated for March. Unfortunately, we don’t know the price yet, but as a frame of reference, August’s least costly Smart Lock runs $149 while its Smart Lock Pro sells for $279.

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

Aptiv’s self-driving Lyfts took erratic Las Vegas traffic in stride

One of the reasons that automakers are pursuing self-driving cars is that, while they’ll initially be too expensive to put up for sale to individuals, ride-hailing services (aka mobility) offer the technology the chance to mature in a way that’s financially viable. Aptiv, a tier-one supplier of autonomous technology, is working hard to make sure its system is in a lot of those vehicles, and at CES this year, it showed off how that system might actually work in conjunction with Lyft.

The cars (modified BMWs) were hailed by the Lyft app. Not the one on my phone, but one used by the team showing off the vehicles. Once it arrived in the staging area near the Las Vegas Convention Center, our driver drove it out of the parking lot on to the street and put it into autonomous mode with Caesars Palace as our destination.

During the trip, our car was cut up by two buses, a few cars and had to handle the sometimes erratic behavior of tourists mindlessly crossing the street in the City of Sin. It did all of this in a surprisingly calm fashion. There were no sudden and unnecessary brake maneuvers. Everything was as smooth as a seasoned driver. It was an improvement over Aptiv’s autonomous demo last year when the company was still called Delphi.

The specially equipped BMWs accomplished this by being outfitted with a ton of sensors. They each had nine LiDARs, 10 radars, a trifocal camera, vehicle-to-infrastructure data about stop lights, and differential GPS (higher quality GPS with increased location precision). Plus Aptiv mapped the roads around the destinations it was offering to riders.

The result of all that tech is that while there were set destinations, the cars didn’t have to stay on a set route. As long as a road had been mapped, the car should have no problem getting somewhere and back autonomously (not counting parking lots).

Even with multiple potentials for collision, the robot Lyft performed as well as a human driver in an environment that can be less than ideal. But it’s still just another step towards autonomous ride-hailing services becoming widespread. Aptiv expects its level four driving suite to be available to OEMs and other partners in 2019 and believes that at least one of its customers will have it on the road in 2020. Even then the rollout will be slow as regulations are adopted that work with self-driving taxis that’ll be taking us to casinos.

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

LG’s 2018 4K TVs include AI and smarter HDR

After a fair amount of teasing, LG is ready to take the wraps off of its 2018 4K TV lineup — and in many ways, it’s an evolution of what you saw last year. Its flagship OLED lines (the Signature-badged W8 and more-conventional E8) and the LCD-based SK9500 have designs that are largely familiar to their predecessors but carry some significant upgrades under the hood. The centerpiece, as LG mentioned earlier, is AI: All three lines support deep learning and Google Assistant control to allow for natural language voice control over everything from the TV itself to smart home devices. They also bring active HDR that improves the image quality of HDR10 and Hybrid Log Gamma content by analyzing individual images.

The headliner, as with last year, is the Signature-badged wallpaper OLED model — in this case, the W8. The new version is still designed to cling to your wall and stuffs most of its hardware into the soundbar below. It packs LG’s fastest chip, the Alpha 9, which drives AI, picture quality and “ultra-fast” response times. LG had already teased support for 120FPS high frame rate video.

The E8 is a direct parallel to the E7 and brings the W8’s technology to a more conventional TV. It too has the Alpha 9, but it integrates a 60W 4.2-channel soundbar (complete with Dolby Atmos). The G8, C8 and B8 are straightforward evolutions of last year’s models as well. And if you’d rather stick to LCD, the SK9500 goes with the Alpha 7 processor while bringing display upgrades that include an IPS panel (for better color at wide viewing angles), upgraded Nano Cell display tech and denser LED local dimming. The upgrades promise more accurate colors, deeper blacks and higher peak brightness.

LG still hasn’t outlined the pricing or release dates for these sets, but it’s safe to presume the W8 and E8 will cost a pretty penny while the SK9500 will be (relatively) affordable. All told, there’s no rush to upgrade if you scored one of LG’s higher-end TVs in the past year or two. If you’re new to the 4K game and have money to spend, though, these might be worth a glimpse.

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

Source: LG Newsroom

Ring adds more camera and light options to its home security line

Ring’s evolution from a smart doorbell to the biggest name in home security has reached a new milestone today. The company has announced a pair of new indoor/outdoor video cameras to better compete with its rivals, as well as a series of outdoor security lights.

Much as Ring’s policy of splitting its product lines into “pro” and “regular” editions, the Ring Stick Up Cam is now available as the Cam Elite or the “new” regular Cam. Whereas the first generation of the product was simply a button-free version of the OG Ring doorbell, the new editions are far sleeker and smaller.

You’ll struggle to spot many differences between the two, both of which pack 1080p HD video and two-way audio, letting you shout at would-be intruders. The Elite, however, requires a wall outlet or Power over Ethernet rather than batteries, since it’s also packing advanced motion sensors than its sibling.

The other announcement is Ring’s attempt to make garden lighting a little more security-focused, thanks to the recent purchase of company Mr. Beams. Ring is now offering motion-activated outdoor security lights to line your pathway, as well as step lights and spotlights for the exterior of your home.

At a glance, these initial offerings look like very slightly re-designed versions of the Mr. Beams NetBright Path Lights. We’ve already asked if people’s existing Mr. Beams hardware will work with the new Ring systems and will update this when we hear back.

Finally, Ring has revealed that its DIY home security system, which was announced back in October, will begin shipping in Spring 2018. Pricing and availability for the other devices are yet to be announced, but we’ll add the deets here when we have them.

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

Google Wallet and Android Pay are finally united under one brand

Google’s payment strategy has been more than a little confusing. It originally offered tap-to-pay under the Google Wallet badge, but it moved that functionality to Android Pay while turning Google Wallet into a money transfer service. Thankfully, Google knows it’s a mess and is cleaning things up. The search giant is uniting all its payment efforts under a singular Google Pay brand. Whether you’re tapping your phone at the cashier, buying a gift on the web or paying a friend for last night’s pizza, you’ll see the same name.

You’ll already see the new branding through Airbnb, Dice, Fandango, HungryHouse, Instacart and other services. Don’t be surprised if other services quickly follow suit.

In many ways, not much has changed. For now, at least, this isn’t a functional change. However, it was arguably due for a while. Whether or not you minded the Google Wallet/Android Pay split, it created an arbitrary division. In contrast, Apple Pay and Apple Pay Cash are treated as two sides of the same coin — they might work differently, but they share something in common. Google Pay may help by giving people an easier-to-understand concept.

Source: Google

Toyota introduces e-Palette, its mobile retail space

The news of CES is mobility and Japanese automaker Toyota isn’t about to be left out. At the annual consumer electronics conference the company that brought us the Prius announced its mobile marketplace, e-Palette meant to open up opportunities for businesses to create on-demand services and to “blur the lines between brick and mortar and online commerce.”

It’ll be fully electric and support autonomous driving technologies either from Toyota or from the companies that use it. It’s an open platform for ride-sharing, retail, delivery, or really anything a business can think of.

“Just think how great e-Palette will be at Burning Man,” Akio Toyoda, president of Toyota Motor Corporation said during the press event.

Toyoda started off the press event announcing, “It’s my goal to transition Toyota from an automobile company to a mobility company.” He announced the automaker’s latest competitors, Google Apple and Facebook.

The automaker already has partners for its new mobility platform. The e-Palette Alliance includes Pizza Hut, Uber, Mazda, Amazon and Didi. It’s not too difficult to imagine an Amazon locker on wheels rolling into your neighborhood.

While this isn’t a consumer product, it does show that Toyota is thinking about how it’ll transition to a world with fewer people buying cars. Toyoda said he’s “Less concerned with getting there first, than getting it right. For me, e-Palette is one such example.”