The holidays are one of the busiest times of year for technology. Retailers are getting ready for the rush by learning about what’s new. I recently had the chance to attend a mini technology trade show as manufacturers touted their newest gadgets and tech to London Drugs.
Smart TVs are amazing
TVs are no longer giant furniture-sized room hogs. Today’s newest TVs can blend seamlessly into your room by doubling as art. Samsung’s Frame TV is one of them. Engineered to hang on a wall with a slim and near-invisible cable, the Frame also has a large built in art gallery of masterworks and photography so when it’s not broadcasting television, it displays hyper-real art that looks like an actual painting, not like a shiny TV screen. It’s impossible to describe accurately in words; the effect is worth seeing for yourself.
LG has also gone the route of TV-as-art. Its new set is a sheet of glass that also features access to professional artworks. While it doesn’t have the option of getting wrapped in a wooden frame like Samsung’s does, it’s still ultra thin and the video picture is stunningly realistic in 4K resolution.
Sony showed off its near-flat TV that also features something called Acoustic Surface. Essentially it’s got a speaker built into the TV screen so the audio on a singer’s lips, actually sounds like it’s coming from her lips, not a tinny speaker under the set.
See how these Art TVs work in my YouTube video.
Augmented Reality for real people
One of the most amazing demonstrations I saw came from ASUS. The company showed off its new phones that come equipped with Augmented Reality capabilities. Why might you need that? ASUS demonstrated the ability to virtually place furniture in your room using the Wayfair app; just use the phone’s video camera to view your room, then virtually place the furniture in your exact space. The effect is amazing, and brilliant.
I saw an amazing demonstration from BMW and ASUS where you can take a virtual tur inside and outside a car, using Augmented reality and just your phone.
Wireless earbuds are getting better
Wireless earbuds are getting betterIf you’ve looked into wireless earbuds recently, you know battery life has been an issue. After all, getting just 2 hours on average from a set of buds isn’t going to do much for anyone. Fortunately manufacturers have been working hard to improve the hardware. Samsung’s IconX earbuds now boast more than double the battery life of before, going from about 2-3 hours to 7.
Similarly Jabra is now making its own fully wireless earbuds that delivers 4.5 hours of play time, coupled with a portable charging case that gives you a total 13.5 hours of power at your disposal. The Elite Sport earbuds are small and completely wire-free making them perfect for athletes or commuters.
Both of these wireless earbud options now making investing in a pair of these worthwhile.
That’s just a snippet of the cool new tech I was able to see and test out in 24 hours. Watch for all the products named here to be in stores and online at London Drugs.
