It’s that time of the year again! Cherlynn and Devindra break down some of the best tech they’ve seen at CES 2022, as well as a bunch of weird and awful products. Get ready for notebooks with hybrid Intel chips and better NVIDIA graphics! And how about a foldable laptop or two? Our big takeaway: it’s going to be an interesting year for Windows laptops. Also, we dive into Razer’s crazy gaming table and Samsung’s wild, rotating 55-inch gaming monitor.
Listen above, or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you've got suggestions or topics you'd like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcasts, the Morning After and Engadget News!
After introducing a six-person self-driving box and a frickin' ridable drone concept last year, GM's latest luxury self-driving EV idea is much more grounded. The InnerSpace concept looks like a futuristic car from the outside—but inside, there's a two-seat loveseat surrounded by one of the widest screens we've ever seen. There's no steering wheel or pedals, of course. Instead, there's a built-in ottoman and a compartment for slippers and a blanket. Where GM's going, you won't need any sort of manual control.
Even stepping into the car seems like something from science fiction: the doors pop out, while the large windshield/sunroof rises up. As usual, concepts like the InnerSpace are a way for car designers to flex their muscles and imagine what future vehicles could actually be like. While it certainly seems out of reach for most people, perhaps Cadillac's more affluent clientele would be intrigued by owning a personal spaceship. At least it's better for the environment than full-sized luxury SUVs.
“Electrification and autonomous driving will fundamentally change the role of vehicles and the experiences customers have with them,” Bryan Nesbitt, GM's executive director of Global Advanced Design, said in a statement. “We’re exploring where that will go with these innovative concepts, envisioning mobility as an ally of wellness, giving customers the ultimate luxury, more personal time rather than taking it.”
As someone who hates the act of driving, but lives in a place where I can't avoid it, it'll be interesting to see how car makers turn these self-driving concept vehicles into a reality. And maybe after getting these wild designs through their systems, they'll show us more concepts for self-driving family EVs.
ASUS has a lot more to show off at CES than traditional laptops. The ZenBook 17 Fold is a full-screen foldable OLED tablet, which marks an evolution from the dual-screen Project Precog concept the company showcased in 2018.
The device comes with a Bluetooth keyboard with touchpad. When the screen is partially folded and the keyboard is positioned on the bottom half, it can effectively be used as a 12.5-inch laptop with a Full HD resolution. For more real estate, you can place the keyboard on the desk and stand the tablet up.
ASUS
When it's fully open, the 17.3-inch display has a 4:3 aspect ratio. It has a QHD resolution of 2560 x 1920, a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio, a 100% DCI-P3 color gamut, 0.2 ms response time and 90 Hz refresh rate. The Pantone-validated touchscreen meets VESA's DisplayHDR 500 True Black standard and it supports Dolby Vision.
The ZenBook 17 Fold has a 75Wh capacity battery, WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity, a Dolby Atmos quad-speaker system and 1 TB of NVMe M.2 SSD storage. You can have up to 16 GB of LPDDR5 memory as well as "the latest Intel CPU" with integrated graphics. Ports are limited to a sole Thunderbolt 4 USB-C port and a 3.5mm combo audio jack.
ASUS
It's hardly the first time we've seen a manufacturer attempt a foldable tablet PC. Lenovo revealed the ThinkPad X1 Fold at CES 2020, though we felt it wasn't up to scratch. Foldable phones, of course, have become more commonplace over the last couple of years too.
ASUS hasn't disclosed pricing though it's aiming to release ZenBook 17 Fold around the time of Computex in May. The device and keyboard weigh over four pounds combined, which could make it a hard sell for some folks. Whether ASUS can overcome that issue, as well as supply chain difficulties and problems other manufacturers have had with foldable devices, remains to be seen.
Beyond Meat's plant-based chicken substitute is coming to KFC restaurants across the US. You'll be able to pick up Beyond Fried Chicken à la carte or as part of the fast food chain's first plant-based combo meal starting on January 10th. The item will be available on KFC menus for a limited time and while stock lasts (which might not last long, based on previous runs). It starts at $7, though the price will vary depending on location.
Beyond Fried Chicken, which Beyond Meat created exclusively for KFC, debuted at an Atlanta restaurant in 2019. Lines reportedly wrapped around the restaurant, which sold out of the plant-based item in just five hours. Other test runs took place in 2020 at restaurants in Nashville, Charlotte and Southern California, with locations in the latter region selling out of Beyond Fried Chicken in one week.
If you happen to miss out on Beyond Fried Chicken during this run, you'll still be able to find Beyond Meat's chicken alternative elsewhere. Some grocery stores started selling the company's "chicken" tenders a few months ago.
Panasonic has a history of courting more exacting viewers with its OLED TVs, and that's truer than ever for 2022. The company has unveiled an LZ2000 line that focuses on areas some of its rivals might overlook. Gamers get special attention through reduced lag at 60Hz, HDMI 2.1 support, automatic detection of NVIDIA GPUs and a Game Control Board overlay to help you adjust common settings like the viewing mode and HDR tone mapping. These aren't the only gaming-friendly TVs debuting in 2022, but they may be particularly useful if you rarely play beyond 60Hz or frequently connect to a PC.
There are some broader audiovisual upgrades. The 4K-capable LZ2000 is now available in a 77-inch size in addition to the earlier 55- and 65-inch variants, and sensors now measure the ambient light temperature to produce more natural tones. Improved processing also improves "mid-level" brightness for well-lit living rooms, and is better at detecting content types like sports. Revamped Dolby Atmos speakers provide clearer audio, a wider sound stage and directional sound that can aim at specific points or areas. You might watch a movie at night without waking your kids, for example.
Prices will be available closer to the LZ2000's release date sometime in summer 2022. The TV isn't going to make larger rivals nervous, but that doesn't appear to be the goal —Panasonic seems happy to serve those frustrated with mainstream options.
Follow all of the latest news from CES 2022 right here!
CES might look a little different this year, but that hasn't stopped Lenovo from doing what it does best: using the industry to event to launch many, many new products. In addition to the usual laptops, the company is showing off a new smart clock, the Smart Clock Essential with Alexa. Aside from a minimalist cloth design that clearly borrows from last year's Smart Clock 2, the new Essential improves on the old by adding a pogo docking pin at the bottom and, well, support for Amazon Alexa. The original Essential clock only worked with Google Assistant, and while I was hoping this new device could handle both, the new Essential with Alexa truly is Alexa-only, while the original remains available as a Google smart clock.
As an object that's meant to sit on your bedside table, there really isn't much to the new Essential. The fabric comes in either a muted "Clay Red" or pale "Misty Blue," with the entire front face given over to the 4-inch LED display. The interface is just white text on a deep black background; in addition to the time, you'll see the day and real-time decibel levels (an interesting touch). If you expected a display for streaming video, a la the Amazon Echo Show 5, you'd be mistaken. There's also a mic switch and no built-in camera, a design choice that many people will surely find welcome.
On the top edge there are just four buttons: volume buttons, a button for activating the assistant, and another for setting an alarm. There's also a USB port for charging.
Although optional, those docking accessories are actually an important part of the story. In addition to a basic pad with room for both the clock and another wireless-charging like a phone, the company is selling what it calls the Ambient Light Dock, which doubles as a nightlight. Available in two whimsical designs — a sea lion and a squid — it has eight different lighting modes and a rainbow of colors, plus the clock's screen shows a cute anthropomorphic face when you press the assistant button. Now, why a sea lion and squid, specifically? Why not, we say. (And a canny choice if this low-tech, low-cost product is largely meant to occupy kids' rooms anyway.)
The Lenovo Smart Clock Essential goes on sale this month for $60, with the docks available at the same time for $30 apiece. Though Lenovo ultimately decided to pull its in-person exhibit at CES, we still got to see the company's new products at a socially distant briefing in New York this month. Check out our hands-on video (coming soon) for a first look.
We’re back from the holidays and gearing up to (virtually) cover CES 2022. Cherlynn and Devindra chat about some of the most interesting new tech we expect to see, like Quantum Dot OLED displays and new CPUs. And they discuss what the global chip shortage could mean for CES and the rest of 2022. (Prepare to wait a lot longer for all your near gear!)
Listen below, or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you've got suggestions or topics you'd like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcasts, the Morning After and Engadget News!
It wouldn’t be CES season without at least a couple of offbeat robots showing up. Yukai Engineering, the maker of the Qoobo robotic cat tail pillow, has revealed a soft robot that nibbles on a user’s fingertip. The company hopes the "somewhat pleasing sensation" will brighten up your day.
Amagami Ham Ham has an algorithm called a “Hamgorithm” that selects one of two dozen nibbling patterns, so you’ll never be sure exactly what you’ll feel when you shove your digit into the robot’s maw. Yukai designed the patterns — which include Tasting Ham, Massaging Ham and Suction Ham — to replicate the feeling of a baby or pet nibbling on one’s finger.
Yukai Corporation
“Amagami” means “soft biting” and “ham” means “bite” in Japanese. Yukai based the look of the robot on a character from Liv Heart Corporation’s Nemu Nemu stuffed animal series. There’ll be a couple of finger-munching models to choose from: Yuzu (Calico Cat) and Kotaro (Shiba Inu).
“Most people like the nibbling sensation but know they need to teach their children or pets to stop it, because kids and animals will otherwise bite them with full force eventually," said Yukai Engineering CMO Tsubasa Tominaga, who invented the robot at a hackathon earlier this year. "Amagami Ham Ham is a robot that frees humankind from the conundrum of whether ‘to pursue or not to pursue’ the forbidden pleasure.”
Pricing hasn't been determined, but Yukai and Liv Heart plan to run a crowdfunding campaign in the spring. In the meantime, those braving CES can check out Amagami Ham Ham at the show, and perhaps leave Yukai's booth with a slightly more tender finger.
Among the other devices Yukai will show off at CES is Bocco Emo. The company has updated the original Bocco robot to act as a smart medical device. Yukai says hospitals in Japan are using it to monitor patients' vitals (via connected sensors like pulse oximeters and thermometers) and notify nurses about a patient's condition.
During a pilot period, Bocco Emo was used to inform patients' families about how they're doing. It can also communicate with patients using sound effects, facial expressions and gestures while they wait for a nurse to arrive.
Have you ever looked at your mouse and thought "it's fine, but kind of a big fat waste of space?" Gaming accessory company XPG apparently did, because it's just unveiled a concept mouse for CES 2022 with a built-in high-speed SSD drive stuffed inside, Digital Trends has reported.
The XPG Vault Gaming Mouse is a wired USB-C mouse that the company calls a "gaming library in the palm of your hand." The prototype model supports up to 1TB of memory that can run at a surprisingly fast 985 MB/s. The storage can be controlled by XPG's gaming software app. "Gaming Launcher software... promises to make your gaming libraries conveniently portable and [add] a higher level of game integration with XPG Prime Software Ecosystem," the company said.
It looks like a pretty normal mouse, though it'd require a pretty stout USB-C cable to support those kind of speeds. It's not the worst idea we've heard, because it gives you some high-speed storage while freeing up a USB slot that'd normally be taken by a wired mouse. XPG didn't mention the mouse's DPI or any other gaming specs.
Mice with built-in USB storage aren't unheard of, though we haven't seen anything notable recently. Wild gadgets often pop up at CES, however, helping companies grab some attention and publicity. Aside from the prototype mouse, XPG also unveiled some products that could come to market next year including PCIe Gen5X SSDs, DDR5 DRAM and the XPG Wired/Wireless Alpha gaming mouse.
The following contains minor spoilers for season four, episode six of 'Star Trek: Discovery' (and vague discussion of episode seven).
There’s a bit of a trend or tradition among Star Trek shows, starting with The Next Generation. Somewhere around season three or four the show finds its way and actually becomes good, if not great. This isn’t a phenomenon limited to Trek, of course, but only Trek has a specific name for it: growing the beard. This is in reference to commanders William Riker and Benjamin Sisko, who both started their respective shows clean-shaven but grew beards around the time The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine got noticeably better. And Discovery might finally be ready to do its own metamorphosis, but instead of a beard it’s a change of format that has fans talking.
One of the complaints about Discovery’s first three seasons — besides the grimdark tone, the infallibility of Michael Burnham and all the crying — was that it largely embraced a more serial format, where each episode was another installment in one long ongoing storyline. Sure, there were occasional one-off adventures, but each episode was still firmly focused on the larger story.
CBS
Season four started off in the same manner, with the season premiere and second episode dedicated to setting up the new status quo of rebuilding the United Federation of Planets and introducing this season’s big threat: the Dark Matter Anomaly (DMA). However, unlike previous seasons where each episode would have been focused on one step toward finding a solution, the problem-solving has taken a back seat to a largely standalone A-plot.
The shift could be first seen in episode three, where Burnham and her crew are tasked with tracking down a rogue member of the Qowat Milat (as I described them to my editor: ninja nuns). The DMA is more of a C-plot in this episode, with the B-plot position occupied by the story of Gray Tal and his new android body. Episode four was Tilly trying to train and keep a group of Starfleet cadets alive (in a plot reminiscent of Voyager episodes ‘Learning Curve’ and ‘Good Shepherd’). Episode five saw the crew tasked with evacuating a planet threatened by the DMA. The anomaly may have been the instigating force in the episode, but it was in fact interchangeable with pretty much any other planetary threat since the episode was focused more on Michael’s struggle to free six prisoners on the surface.
CBS
This week’s episode finds Discovery traveling into a subspace rift created by the DMA and becoming stranded, with the ship’s newly sentient AI Zora unable to lead the crew to safety. However, while the anomaly is once again the cause of Discovery’s problems it’s also, once again, an interchangeable threat. The real drive of the episode is the problem-solving to get the crew out, and the personal struggles of characters like Zora and Cleveland Booker.
Next week will bring the Dark Matter Anomaly back to the forefront, but that’s only logical since the seventh episode marks the rough midpoint of the 13-episode season as well as the end of our calendar year. It’s not unusual for many television shows to use this time to “check in” on their major storylines and advance those plots to the next phase. But it is unusual for Discovery in that it doesn’t represent as clean a divide as in previous seasons: season one went from the Klingon War to the Mirror Universe, season two went from the mystery of the Red Angel to battling the evil AI Control. Next week’s episode represents a smoother transition than previously.
CBS
That smoothness is mostly due to the fact that the ongoing storyline hasn’t been given as much time to openly flourish, instead bubbling in the background while the show instead focuses on character-building single-shot adventures. Standalone episodes might feel outdated in an era of streaming and binging, where viewers can get their answers right away so there’s no need to make each individual chapter feel “complete.” There’s no chance to become unsatisfied by the content of an episode when the next one is merely seconds away. Even shows that premiere week by week have fallen into the trap, assuming that most viewers will binge the show later on anyway, with only the diehards watching each installment as it drops.
But for most of its existence at this point, Star Trek has been a franchise for the die-hards. The people who can’t wait for the next episode, the people who will read and write recaps on their favorite pop culture sites and those who share theories on social media. Paramount+ has put a lot of its chips on the strength of this die-hard base, stacking its production schedule with five different Star Trek shows that rarely overlap, meaning a fan who wants to see everything as soon as possible will need to maintain their Paramount+ subscription all-year-round.
CBS
While fan complaints may have played a big role in Discovery’s decision to switch to a more episodic format, it’s likely that the desire to keep fans on the hook for the show’s entire run played an even bigger part. When Discovery was the only Star Trek show, and one of the few Paramount+ offerings period, it was common for viewers to only sign up for a subscription when they wanted to binge something — sometimes even within the free week the service offers to new customers. Shows like Lower Decks, Prodigy and the upcoming Strange New Worlds already operate with a more episodic format, meaning Discovery could have created a “hole” in an ongoing subscription for viewers, a chance for them to take a break from Star Trek and from paying $6 a month.
With an episodic show it’s a lot harder to ignore it while it’s running; each episode represents a complete viewing experience, making the wait between episodes less excruciating. And when Discovery encounters new worlds and new adventures every week, it gives the fans something new to talk about, instead of rehashing the same old theories about the ongoing storyline again and again until the season ends. Star Trek was just made for episodic viewing, and embracing the format will make it easier for Discovery to hold fan interest over time.
