YouTube to showcase 4K video streaming at CES 2014

YouTube is set to demo its 4K Ultra HD video streaming capabilities using a new Google codec, VP9, at the forthcoming CES 2014 event. 

Beauty and the geek: Can wearable tech be fashionable?

Gadget lovers are slipping on fitness bands that track movement and buckling on smartwatches that let them check phone messages.

Some brave souls are even donning Google’s geeky-looking Glass eyewear.

For the technology industry, this is an exciting time, but also a risky one. No one really knows

whether the average consumer can be enticed to make gadgets part of their everyday attire.

The question is: Can tech companies create wearables with the right mix of function and fashion?

Wearable computing devices are igniting an explosion of hope and creativity that’s engaged both

startups and big companies including Samsung, Sony, LG and others. At the International Consumer

Electronics Show this week, companies are showing off hundreds of new watches, wristbands

and eyeglasses with built-in video screens or cameras.

The industry is encouraged by the attention Google’s Glass is getting. Companies are also encouraged

by the success —albeit on a small scale— of the Pebble and Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatches.

Intel Corp., the world’s largest maker of computer processors, is on the wearable computing bandwagon,

too. Its CEO, Brian Krzanich, demonstrated a onesie that can measure a baby’s temperature,

pulse and breathing rate. It sends a wireless signal to a parent’s “smart” coffee cup, which

shows a smiley face in lights if the baby is sleeping well and a worried face if the child is too hot or close to waking up. The outfit can also send a signal to a smart bottle warmer, so it can be ready

with warm formula when the baby wakes.

“We want to make everything smart,” Krzanich said, showing off the brains of the onesie —a computer

the size of a stamp.

The smart onesie is one example of the many gadgets at the show that are designed to demonstrate

what technology can do. What’s less clear is whether they tackle real problems, and improve life so

much that people will care to buy them.

The wearables industry is haunted by an earlier false start: Bluetooth headsets, which were commonplace

a few years ago, fell out of favor. The shift away from phone calls and towards texting

was one factor, but many say it simply became uncool to walk around in public with a listening

device protruding from one’s ear.

It’s easier to convince consumers to wear gadgets on their wrists, and that’s where most of the

industry’s energy is focused.

“The wrist is one of the few places where it’s socially acceptable and technologically feasible to

wear a gadget,” says David Rosales, the chief technology officer of Meta Watch Ltd., a spin-off of

watchmaker Fossil. Rosales has been making smartwatches for years, but only now does he believe

they can break into the mainstream. It’s not so much a matter of technology — smartwatches

worked fine in 2006, as one of social acceptance, he says.

Smartwatches are still a small market: the Consumer Electronics Association estimates that just

under a million of them will be sold in the U.S. this year, up from 600,000 last year.

“I don’t think consumers get the idea of smartwatches,” says Russ Crupnick, senior vice president

of industry analysis at research firm NPD Group. In a survey, the group found that the feature US

consumers most desire in a smartwatch is the ability to make and receive calls — something the

watches generally don’t do. He thinks the image a smartwatch projects of the owner is a more important

driver.

“I think this is about jewelry … I think at least in the near term, it’s about what having one of these

things says about me and my personal brand,” Crupnick says. “It’s human nature to brand ourselves.”

Fitness bands are also an effective way to brand oneself, and they’ve seen a big surge in interest recently.

The CEA says that last year, 13 percent of US consumers said they intend to buy a wearable

fitness product in the next 12 months, up from 3 percent the year before. But the staying power

of these products is questionable — much of their motion tracking can be done by smartphones,

which already contain the motion sensors that let the fitness bands act as advanced pedometers. At

CES, some bands are being revealed that do more than phones can; Epson’s Pulsense, for instance,

measures a wearer’s heart rate by shining a light through the skin.

Glucovation, a startup from Carlsbad, California, is among the companies that want to take wearables

one step further: into the skin. It’s developing a patch with a tiny needle that measures the

wearer’s blood glucose level and relays it wirelessly to a smartphone. That could be useful not just

for diabetics, but for anyone trying to control their eating habits.

The patch, which is at least two years away from being sold, would be worn discretely under clothing.

Google Glass is the opposite: it’s blatant and in your face, literally. Many people balk at the

image of the man-machine integration it conveys, and since it contains a forward-facing camera,

the gadget has given rise to privacy concerns. In theory, Glass wearers could be recording or taking pictures of anything they see, unbeknownst to others.

But even if some people balk at wearing gadgets of their own accord others— such as children and

workers —may not be able to avoid wearables. New York-based Filip is making colorful, rubbery

wristphones for kids. They can track the kids location and can place calls to five pre-programmed

numbers. They can also show text messages, like “Time for dinner!” AT&T started selling them in

November for $200.

Startup XOEye Technologies is building cameras into safety glasses. They can stream live video

for 45 minutes over Wi-Fi before they need a recharge. The wearer can talk to and hear whoever’s

watching the video. In effect, the glasses provide a way for an expert or supervisor to look over

the shoulder of a remote worker to walk them through repairs. Conversely, an expert could wear

the glasses and walk the viewer through a process. At XOEye’s trade show booth, a screen showed

high-quality eye-perspective video from an employee at the company’s office in Ann Arbor, Michigan,

working on an electrical box.

“You’ve got all these industries where you’re wearing safety glasses anyway,” says Anthony Blanco,

XOEye’s head of business development. “Basically, this lets them operate more efficiently.”

The gadget’s battery life is too short for all-day video streaming, but the glasses can be set to snap

photos every 30 seconds instead, which extends the battery’s limit. That could give employers a

way to track workers all day, sort of like an eye-level security camera. Blanco sees the potential for

cutting down on worker’s compensation fraud.

“Let’s say you have a guy who says he injured his back in a fall from a ladder on a Friday,” Blanco

says. “You could check the photos and see that no, you got injured in a softball game over the

weekend.”

Critics pan ‘clumsy’ wearable tech offerings at CES 2014

Despite the hoopla, wearable gadgets like wristwatches for checking your text messages or

eyeglasses that capture video are unlikely to make a splash with consumers anytime soon,

given the clumsy designs, high prices and technological constraints of many of the current

offerings.

That is the conclusion drawn by many industry executives and analysts who trolled the vast exhibition

halls of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week.

Most of the wearable products on display at the industry’s premier showcase looked like awkward

attempts to shoehorn technology into new forms without an original or compelling benefit for the

wearer, skeptics say.

Stacy Rasgon, a semiconductor analyst at Bernstein, spent a day at CES busily snapping photos of

every fitness band, watch and other wearable device he came across.

“I have 20 different photos, but if I look at the pictures I couldn’t tell you which product is from

which vendor. They all look the same,” Rasgon said. “Wearables sound like a great idea and there’s

going to be a lot of experimentation. People are throwing spaghetti against the wall to see what

sticks.”

Sony Corp , Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and Qualcomm Inc showed off new or recently launched

smartwatches, most of which act as extensions to cellphones, letting users check messages and appointments.

Wristbands – like the popular Fitbit that tracks physical activity – also accounted for

a big chunk of the devices on display at CES.

“For wearables to finally match up with the hype, (they have) to be a true solution, where it isn’t

about the technology – it’s about what the technology enables you to do, something you couldn’tdo before,” said Mike Bell, the senior executive leading Intel Corp’s wearables push.

“The function, form and experience have to be as important as the parts you slap inside,” he said.

Intel this week unveiled its take on wearables that Bell believes serve a clear purpose and could

catch on, including prototype earbuds with a built-in heart rate monitor that changes the music on

a smartphone to keep pace with a workout. It also announced a collaboration with luxury department

store Barneys New York to develop smart bracelets intended to look like they were dreamed

up by a fashion designer – not an engineer.

The wearables mania gripping the industry is in part a response to slowing smartphone and tablet

markets. After growing 39 percent in 2013, global smartphone shipments are forecast to expand

by just 18 percent annually through 2017, with prices steadily falling, according to market research

firm IDC. Tablet shipments are seen up 22 percent this year, compared with 54 percent in 2013.

Tech executives say many consumers are intrigued by the potential for wearable gadgets, but they

are also cautious. A survey by research company Yankee Group in December found less than 10

percent of respondents planned to pay $200 or more for a fitness wellness device.

A survey by Wakefield Research, commissioned by U.S. cloud-services company Citrix Systems ,

last November found 91 percent of respondents were excited about wearables, but 61 percent said

they had no plans to purchase one.

Simon Randall, whose British-based OMG Life Plc makes a wearable camera called Autographer,

is not surprised. He recalls the lukewarm reception when Nokia , his employer at the time, introduced

camera-phones more than a decade ago.

“New things take time to be broadly adopted but if there’s an intrinsic benefit at the heart of them

they’ll prosper,” Randall said.

Samsung’s $300 Galaxy Gear may have had the biggest launch of any wearable so far – but it was

panned by reviewers. It shipped an estimated 800,000 of the watches in the two months since it

was introduced in September, a figure that pales in comparison to the millions its smartphones

manage.

Some experts said Apple may have the best chance of developing a gadget that will propel the

wearable category into prime time, given its track record in consumer devices.

“2014 will be more a year of attempts than of successful products. And for a lot of manufacturers it

will be a matter of waiting to see what Apple does,” said Carolina Milanesi, a consumer tech analyst

at Kantar Worldpanel.

While the electronics show lacked sure-fire winners, some offers were definitely intriguing and

drew crowds.

Epson unveiled a $700 pair of eyeglasses that allow the user to simultaneously view data about

objects they are looking at. Sony’s prototype glasses can display captions and information about

programs a viewer is watching on TV.

Another offer was a bracelet made by Netatmo embedded with a sensor that looks like a jewel and

which measures exposure to sunlight, helping the wearer decide when to put on sunscreen.

Even Qualcomm, one of the largest companies now touting the impending wearable device revolution

and purveyor of the “Toq” smartwatch, acknowledges the hurdles ahead.

Raj Talluri, who oversees the design of its Snapdragon smartphone processors, wants to add the

same chips to watches and apparel to let them handle much more sophisticated functions. But more work needs to be done on power consumption.

“The power consumption of processors really needs to get an order of magnitude less,” Talluri said.

“People’s expectation in wearables is not that they have to charge them every day. They want to

wear things for weeks.”

AT&T kicks T-Mobile CEO out of its CES party

The escalating battle between No. 2 U.S. mobile service provider AT&T Inc and smaller rival

T-Mobile US got personal on Monday night when the bigger operator kicked T-Mobile's

outspoken Chief Executive John Legere out of its party at the Consumer Electronics Show,

according to Cnet.com.

The latest sign of an increasingly testy relationship between the two companies, which tried to

merge in 2011, comes as they fight for each other's customers. AT&T said last week it would pay

T-Mobile customers to switch. According to a Cnet.com report, Legere was escorted out of the Las

Vegas event by security guards about 15 minutes after Cnet reporter Roger Cheng posted a picture

of himself and Legere and tweeted that the executive had crashed AT&T's party wearing his trademark

pink T-Mobile t-shirt.

Around the same time that Legere was being escorted out, AT&T's mobility chief Ralph de la Vega

was announcing that his company had won a deal to provide wireless connections to Audi vehicles,

beating T-Mobile US, Cnet reported. According to the Cnet report, Legere went to the party because

he wanted to see a performance by rapper Macklemore, whose agent gave the executive and

his entourage a pass for the party.

While AT&T and T-Mobile did not respond to requests for comment, Legere retweeted multiple

tweets about the incident, including Cheng's tweet that Legere was kicked out. Legere, an outspoken

critic of his industry rivals, spent most of 2013 directly marketing against AT&T in particular.

AT&T is most vulnerable to competition from T-Mobile because both companies have the same

network technology, which makes it easy for consumers to switch between their services without

having to buy new phones.

AT&T fought back by launching an offer on January 3 to T-Mobile customers for a $200 credit

if they switch to AT&T. Legere responded in a tweet directed at AT&T Chief Executive Randall

Stephenson asking “do you really think you can buy them back?” Legere has been tweeting heavily

to build up anticipation for his company's next competitive move, which is to be announced at a

January 8 CES press conference.

Driverless cars will still need to clear legal framework

Las Vegas: Hydrogen-and solar-powered vehicles are on the streets. So are cars that can get

you through stop-and-go traffic while you sit back and send texts from behind the wheel.

Cars are even using radar, ultrasonic waves and cameras to jump into the passing lane and

get around slowpokes.

Sure, all of these technologies are still in the testing phase, but that hasn’t stopped car makers and

technology companies from showing off a new paradigm of driving at the International CES gadget

show this week. It’s a world in which you no longer grip the wheel with excitement, but instead

relax with a book or movie as your car chauffeurs you to your destination.

That was the point of one simulation by Delphi Automotive PLC, a provider of auto parts and technology

to major manufacturers including Ford, GM and Volvo. The scenario, using a stationary but

souped-up Tesla Model S, imagines “autonomous driving lanes,” much like carpool lanes today.

The company imagines that vehicles might someday enter these lanes and then run on auto-pilot.

The feat is possible today with a mixture of technology that keeps cars inside lanes and adaptive

cruise control that matches a car’s speed to the vehicle in front of it.

While in the autonomous lane, the car’s window glass frosts up and functions that had been disabled

for the driver — like video playing from a mini projector — turn on. The driver can pursue

other activities, like surfing the Web or even taking a nap.

When the driver’s exit nears, the car gets increasingly persistent, demanding that the driver take

back control. First, the video player stops. Then a female voice intones, “Place both hands on the steering wheel and look ahead in the driving direction.”

Finally, the seat starts vibrating and a driver-facing camera ensures he or she is looking at the

road. The driver taps a steering wheel knob, takes control, and drives on. The experience is similar

to airline pilots who grab the controls for take-off and landing but let a computer do the rest.

“These technologies exist now and the carmakers assure us they’re ready to go,” said Jim Travers,

associate editor of autos for Consumer Reports magazine. “It’s really not that far off.”

Though technological innovation isn’t an issue, there are many speed bumps on the road to this

envisioned future. Consumers must accept the safety and reliability of such systems, governments

must draft and pass legislation and the insurance industry needs to draw up guidelines to answer

tricky questions such as who’d be at fault in the event of a crash.

“That’s one of the biggest issues for the industry as a whole for autonomous technology,” said Glen

De Vos, vice president of engineering for Delphi’s electronics and safety division. “The legal environment

has to keep pace. Today we’re at the very beginning.”

Clio Glass speaker

ClearView Audio’s Clio Glass speaker shows off a unique design with an ultra-thin, curved acrylic

glass transducer. Unlike traditional cone speakers that push out sound from the rear, company’s

“Edge Motion” system ensures that the sound is pushed out through the sides. So it emits sound in

multiple directions. The Clio is available for pre-order at $349, but will start shipping only by late

March.

3Doodler 3D printing pen

Among all the 3D printers at CES this year, what caught our eye was a 3D printing pen. Making 3D

printing even easier, 3Doodler has allows freehand drawing of 3D objects. It “looks” as simple as

using a sketch pen or crayon. The 3D pen began as a Kickstarter project, the company has already

shipped 20,000 such pens to all those who contributed to the project. It works by heating and

melting corn-based plastic that cools off immediately. It’s a bit like sketching in the air.