CES 2021: The Future of Technology is Here!

The CES event presentation comes to us annually, and the anticipation prior to the convention is always speculation on who will bring the newest and greatest tech from around the world. Although 2020 caused everyone to struggle and was a difficult year globally, we can now have hope in the future and allow 2021 to bring in some light as the year begins. 

We want to start off by reminding everyone that CES this year would have been much bigger and involved many more companies if COVID-19 hadn’t affected us all. Because of that, some companies that had planned to be at CES this year with new products and technology could not realistically finish in time for the event. So, we are including a few of those companies that I had the privilege to interview and see what’s to come in 2021.

LG and Dell 5K2K UltraWide Monitors

There is no way to start the year off with anything less than these two HUGE UltraWide 40-inch Monitors by LG and Dell. Starting with the LG 39.7-inch 5k2k curved Nano IPS display panel with integrated stereo speakers. This is the ultimate visual canvas that plays well with Mac and PC. The UltraFine OLED has pixel-dimming HDR technology and an astounding 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio, this monitor produces breathtaking clarity and fine detail with more accurate color. This LG monitor is not only for creative professionals, but anyone looking to speed up their workflow or enjoy gaming at its best! If you’re used to working until wee hours of the night doing post production and need true color, this monitor will impress the socks off of you. Check the official LG website for more info on the gorgeous display.

Next is the jaw-dropping CES 2021 Innovation Award recipient, Dell’s UltraSharp 40. This is the world’s first 40-inch ultrawide curved 5K2K (5120×2160 resolution, 21:9 aspect ratio) monitor. It is a show-stopper that will make your jaw drop. This thing is impressive. It has a picture-in-picture mode that emulates two side-by-side monitors on its mega real estate and works with your choice of PC or Mac. Designers will love, not just the massive size, but also the 1.07 billion colors it can produce. Developers will enjoy being able to see their Slack, Visual Studio, Stack Overflow windows all at the same time. Day traders will be able to view more charts simultaneously before needing to get yet another monitor. Gamers will feel like they have an unfair advantage with the extra wide field of view. Working on a monitor of this size and quality feels immersive and will make your time on the computer fly by. The UltraSharp 40 will be available January 28, 2021 and will retail for $2099.99. More Info

For anyone who spends a great deal of time in front of the computer on a daily basis, either of these awesome monitors is a refreshing oasis in a desert of disappointing technology.

Asus ZenBook Pro Duo 15 OLED

From the lightweight heavyweight gaming laptop, the MSI Stealth 15M, we progress on to the revolutionary ZenBook Pro Duo 15 OLED by Asus. The “Duo” in this laptop name refers to the fact that this has, not one, but two displays. The main display is a brilliant 15.6” 4k OLED monitor with true black and cinema-grade accurate colors. Visual creatives will be blown away by the professional-grade graphics of this laptop, courtesy of the GeForce RTX 3070 GPU. The second display, called the ScreenPad Plus, sits just above the keyboard and tilts up 9.5 degrees. This second 14″ display serves as a sort of touch pad that can be configured to show various tools and whatnot depending on the app that you are using at the time. There is great flexibility in how the ScreenPad Plus can be used; it can easily be used as a touchpad, an extension of the main monitor, as a mini second monitor, and more. This beautiful machine comes bundled with an ASUS pen – a stylus with 4096 pressure levels. Aside from the magnificent displays, the ZenBook Pro Duo 15 OLED is a real powerhouse with it’s 10th Generation Intel Core i9 eight-core processor with up to 32 GB of memory. With all that this Asus has to offer, it’s no wonder that it is a CES Innovation Award Honoree. This work of art is slated to be available in April, 2021. The retail price has not yet been released. Check HERE for Updates

Hisense 120 inch L5F 

From the office to the family room, 2021 is going to be a visual feast for all you A/V aficionados. The LG and Dell monitors have set the bar really high, but this product, the Hisense 120-inch L5F gives them both a run for their money. Just a decade ago, the thought of having a television over 72 inches in your man cave was more of a fantasy than a possible, affordable reality… but here we are – one hundred and twenty inches of pixel-perfect glory. The L5F is a short-throw (meaning that you can place this relatively close to the wall) laser projector. The unit includes speakers, Wi-Fi connectivity, TV tuner, and A/V inputs. You can use this as a smart TV, as you’re able to access apps that you would find on such a TV. The color and clarity of this 4k projector’s picture is extremely impressive. If you’re having trouble surviving all these Covid-19 lockdowns and miss going out to the movie theater, grab some popcorn and bring the movie theater to you. More Info from the Official Hisense Website.

Crew in a Box

The pandemic has changed the way we all meet, work and interact with each other. It has forced a transition that was not prepared for by the world, and has caused many people to unfortunately close their businesses and lose their jobs. The entertainment field was no exception. Award Winning Filmmaker and Clio Winner Ira Rosensweig virtually sat down with me on zoom to express his hopes to help supply jobs and get us back on our feet within the film industry. He stated “California was locked down due to COVID 19, so instead of sitting back and waiting, I immediately came up with the idea for Crew in a Box!” – The key word in this product is “Crew”. People will assume at first glance that it is just a glorified camera setup, but it is much more than that. This fully functional product allows for a multi-person camera crew, behind the scenes to control everything while keeping a distance from the talent. 

“Over the past several months, Crew in a Box has been used by many major brands, as well as 12 networks including NBC, FOX, ViacomCBS, ABC, FX, and MTV, who recently used Crew in a Box to shoot a promotional campaign featuring Vanessa Hudgens for the MTV Movie & TV Awards: Greatest of All Time show. Other celebrities who have used the product include NFL stars Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson, and actors Keke Palmer, William Shatner, Kaitlin Olson, Aisha Tyler, and Eric Stonestreet.” 

Crew in a Box is the world’s first professional-quality true plug and play remote production solution to keep all participants, including the crews and networks safely working during this pandemic and the future afterward. – (Full Story Coming Soon)

MSI Stealth 15M

For the serious L337 gamer on the go, nothing will turn heads like the MSI Stealth 15M gaming laptop. The new Stealth 15M is the thinnest and lightest 15-inch gaming laptop on the market and what’s under the hood is even more impressive. MSI achieves a Yin-Yang balance between portability and power by choosing the latest 11th Gen Intel Core i7 processor and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 with Max-Q Design graphics. You don’t have to know or understand all the specs to go RGB with envy. With the GeForce RTX 2060 working its magic with real-time ray tracing, the live rendering of explosions, reflections, and other visual effects is true-to-life and crazy intense. Not only are the graphics mind-blowing, the performance of this machine makes this a workhorse for the more serious times, with a 20% increase of speed over the previous generation. The versatile connectivity of this laptop allows the at-home user to connect it to up to three monitors. The audio performance is on par with the visual. The 3D surround sound is said to be absolutely amazing. All of this other-worldly performances is wrapped up in a body that weighs 3.73 pounds and is only .63 inches thin. You’ll have everything you need to dominate anywhere with this heavy-duty, unheavy gamer’s dream. Head over to https://us.msi.com/Laptop/Stealth-15M-A11SX-GTX and get your Stealth 15M now. Starting with a base price of US$ 1,549.

Razer Project Hazel Smart Mask

Just a year ago, masks were not much of a blip on any westerner’s radar. Unfortunately due to Covid-19, face masks have become standard issue. If masks were considered fashion, the Razer Project Hazel smart mask would be considered haute couture. Typical of everything Razer makes, they somehow made a mask that looked cool. More importantly, this mask solves several problems that just about everyone nowadays can relate to. Project Hazel is classified as an N-95 respirator. Its active ventilation brings in cool air and releases heat produced by exhalation, which also prevents a build up of CO2 in the mask. Social interaction is improved with it’s clear plastic housing which allows your smile or other expressions to be seen by others, as well as built-in mic and patent-pending Razer VoiceAmp Technology amplifier combo to overcome the muffled, unintelligible mumblings heard through the common paper or cloth masks. The mask comes with a special charging case lined with a UV light interior which kills bacteria ad viruses as the mask charges. As far as masks goes, this is the coolest looking and smartest mask on the market. If you don’t have a choice but to wear one, you might as well make a statement. As of now, Razer’s Project Hazel smart mask appears to be an ongoing research and development project, so a launch date and price has not yet been released. Check HERE for any updates.

Sony Airpeak Aircraft Drone

The drone world is getting bigger and more advanced everyday. Companies that have been leading the industry, building and designing drones for years will have some extra competition now that Sony is getting in the mix. Sony has launched the Airpeak brand to target professional photographers and videographers to further develop drone technology in the area of AI robotics. The plan for this new Sony branded UAV is the ability to fit a full size Alpha mirrorless camera to the unit and capture incredibly high quality full frame photography and video. This will change the world of Sony Alpha camera users. It will give them more creative freedom to go beyond the point and shoot style, and discover a whole new level of filming and photography.

Elevating Creativity

Sony will continue to post information about this project until the planned launch in spring of this year. Airpeak will look to getting feedback from professional drone users in the coming months. Sony is currently seeking out collaborators, so if you’re interested in becoming a part of this, or would like more information about this project as it progresses, check HERE for news and updates.

Kohler Stillness Smart Bathtub

We have come to expect modern innovation and technology to astonish and amaze us regarding our cars, our handheld devices, and even our refrigerators so why not our bathroom? Knowing we are spending much more time at home than ever before, Kohler, a leader in this category, has once again outdone themselves and unveiled a decadent addition to any bathroom for 2021. Enter the app controlled $16,000 Stillness Smart Bathtub. This can only be described as spa-like indulgence at its best but for your personal home oasis. Inspired by Japanese “forest bathing”, this 2.5 feet deep tub creates a serene and peaceful atmosphere that will transport you to your happy place. The app allows you to personalize your bathing experience by adding fog, adjusting calming LED lighting, and controlling the exact water temperature. To immerse the bather even more, it offers a range of essential oils to fully indulge the senses and bring about total relaxation using aromatherapy. Kohler itself says it has created this tub to “relax the mind, soothe the body and renew the spirit”. Who doesn’t need some of that today? The top-of-the-line ‘Infinity Experience’ model starts with the water filling from the bottom of the tub and spilling over the edge for an infinity overflow. This is made possible with cypress wood grates that create a moat in the floor to catch the water. It also offers an ‘experienced tower’ which is where the mist is created for the surface of the bathtub to produce the home spa ambiance. If you don’t need the fully loaded options, Kohler offers 3 other tier models starting at just a little over $6,000. Whatever type of luxurious experience you prefer, check out this perfect home addition that allows people to slow down, get back to nature and improve our mental health all in the comfort of our own home. HERE

ColdSnap

Another exciting invention that we got a sneak peek at is the ColdSnap, a new Keurig-like appliance that makes enjoying frozen treats faster and easier than ever before. Basically, you purchase ColdSnap pods, place them into the ColdSnap machine, and get to enjoy tasty things like ice cream, frozen yogurt, frozen cocktails, frozen smoothies, frozen coffee, and much more within 60-120 seconds. There’s no prep time, no refrigeration needed for the ColdSnap pods, and no need to ever clean the ColdSnap machine. And what’s more, the ColdSnap pods are recyclable and help reduce your carbon footprint when compared to the process making, shipping, and storing regular frozen products. The invention was created by entrepreneur and dad Matt Fonte with the help of his two daughters, Sierra and Fiona. Together, they created something fun, tasty, and eco-friendly for people to enjoy! The ColdSnap is a great investment for both families that want some quick yummy frozen delights as well as businesses looking for something to spruce up the break room and excite both employees and customers. Because come on, who doesn’t want some frozen coffee at work? Plus, the use of micro-sized ice crystals promises a great taste and smooth texture. With inventions like these, it feels like every day we’re getting closer to the food replicators from Star Trek. The ColdSnap is not yet available for purchase, but will be available online at www.coldsnap.com as well as in select US retail stores in the second quarter of 2021.

Wondercise

“Move and Improve” 

Being stuck indoors for much longer than anyone could have imagined has definitely taken a toll on our health. A lot of us are in need of some additional exercise in our lives. The common problem with staying indoors for long periods of time is laziness. We all get unmotivated and even lethargic at times from doing much less than what our bodies are used to doing. Wondercise wants to change that atmosphere of feeling stuck at home, to a much needed fun and “game-like” way of exercise for our new daily routine. Wondercise CEO Eric Chuang virtually sat down with me (very early in the morning for him) on Monday January 11th and went over all the exciting features that has been developed for this socially motivating and challenging fitness experience. His slogan “Move and Improve” defines the main focus behind the all new multi-point motion matching system. This tracks your movements through the approved wearable devices including Apple Watch series 3 or later during your in-app workouts. It will also be accessible via Wondercise’s next-generation fitness tracker, which is due for official launch in Q2 2021 and Eric revealed will be manufactured by Foxconn. The multi-point motion matching system helps you improve by giving a score, ranking and guidance on how to beat your personal best and compete with friends.

The basic app is free to use and has a very reasonable priced VIP subscription plan of USD $35.99 Annually or $4.99 a Month. This removes the ads and gives an even more personalized training plan to its users. Wondercise is available now so let’s all “Move and Improve” our fitness and health.

Ergomotion

After a full day of activity and finding the time to add in those workouts, we all need rest. We need well rounded, deep, uninterrupted sleep with the comfort of knowing we can stay asleep long enough to function properly the next day. Ergomotion, the leaders in sleep technology and the largest manufacturer of adjustable bases worldwide, have been working hard to create the best smart bed technology. Quest Connect is the branding name of their new and upcoming smart home integrated adjustable bases. It uses advanced technology based on PIEZO sensors electric vibrations that was introduced in the year 1880 to record frequencies while you sleep. The app “Quiet Night” on your IOS or Android Smartphone records breathing sounds to help improve your sleep.

If snoring is an issue, the Quest Connect smartphone app will recognize these sounds and gently raise the bed ever so slightly in attempt to help open your airway to stop your uncomfortable breathing. It will sense and respond to the environment and will continue to monitor throughout the night and make small adjustments when needed. Ergomotion has already helped millions of people get a better night sleep and is soon to be taking the approach of Smart Home Connectivity using IFTTT (if this, then that) to give a more personal touch to anyone using Quest Connect. When it’s released it will integrate the essential components to a smart, connected home, for a happy, healthy lifestyle. The starting price for the Quest Connect is $849 – Keep a look out for Ergomotion in 2021 for the “Ultimate and Ground-Breaking Sleep Experience”. Click HERE for updates

Zhiyun-Tech

When it comes to gimbals and camera accessory tech, Zhiyun has done an amazing job at creating some of the best products on the market. From the “Smooth” gimbal devices made for mobile filmmakers, to the full size camera setups using the Crane 2S and Crane 3S, Zhiyun keeps delivering high quality products to its users. Although the pandemic has slowed things down for so many companies, including Zhiyun-Tech, they are still moving forward on something amazing in 2021 that we should keep a look out for. This quote has been officially emailed to us to be revealed in this article.

“Zhiyun-Tech is going to launch a never-seen-before image transmission transmitter that combines the image transmission and motion control in one. It will revolutionize the way cinematographers monitor the images and greatly reduce the cost for camera accessories. With this product, the camera, gimbal, follow-focus and monitor can work seamlessly without compromising any performance.”

After the 45min video conference with the Zhiyun-Tech representative and PR Manager Ryan Wang, I am enthusiastically excited for what’s to come. Between their technological advancements and the pure passion this company shows, their products are bound to soar above the rest. In closing, they added one more announcement.

“We will continue to launch new products this year, which will be upgrades on our classic products in terms of performance and innovation. These upgrades fall in all product categories including professional-and-consumer-level DSLR camera gimbals as well as cellphone gimbals.” – To get the latest updates, check Zhiyun’s Official Website. (Full Story Coming Soon)

META Material

As the tech world gets larger, each products’ internals get smaller. The future of every technological advancement is broken down to the age of nano technology, and here we are. 2021 will be the start of a whole new generation of breakthroughs in almost unrealistic ways. Automobiles, cellphones, monitors, cameras, telescopes, lasers, air conditioning, televisions, holograms, the medical field, and the list goes on and on. Almost any product in the world will benefit from the energy saving company META. In one of the most exciting conversations I’ve had in a long time, I had the privilege to speak with the founding President and Chief Executive Officer of Metamaterial Inc. George Palikaras.

Mr. Palikaras expressed that Metamaterials can manipulate and utilize light and other forms of energy in ways that previously were not possible. As an example, we are used to true magnification through the use of a single thick convex lens that magnifies an object when the glass is held up to it. These lenses are easily identified by the unique shape of the glass. Now, with the evolution of nanotechnology, we can use nano patterns to create these same structures at the um level. Let’s make this more fun to understand. Everything we love about Tony Stark and Ironman is what this company is creating. Flexible transparent conductive materials that can be embedded into windshields, helmets, eyeglasses, drones, phones, etc. Instead of trying to explain the incredible advances Meta has developed, this 10min video shows a wide range of what Meta has been involved with and the future of the industry.

“Our products are designed with software and engineered at nanoscopic levels to provide a broad spectrum of properties and capabilities that go beyond those found in natural materials which are generally not possible to create using conventional material discovery or specialty chemical manufacturing technologies.”

Meta Materials are being introduced to almost every level of technology and will be a highlight for years to come. To keep up with what is new from META, check the Official Website.

Kensington’s StudioDock

Winner of CES 2021 Innovation Award

If you are immersed in the world of Apple, Kensington has developed a beautiful, all-in-one desk top docking station with magnetic connection that brings you maximum charging abilities. The Kensington StudioDock was recognized this year at CES and won the 2021 Innovation Award. This sleek and orderly docking station with base allows you to charge an iPad while simultaneously charging an iPhone, AirPods, and even an optional accessory to charge your Apple Watch. With an aluminum, understated yet eye-catching aesthetic, this dock magnetically suspends your iPad Air or iPad Pro horizontally or vertically, giving you the ability to not only charge multiple devices but use your iPad as a desktop set-up if desired. The StudioDock also offers tons of connectivity from all angles. The back and sides exhibit USB (Type-A and Type-C), HDMI 2.0 video and Gigabit Ethernet ports, one headphone port (3.5mm) and a fast SD 4.0 card reader. For those who want their iPad to work as their main computer, this definitely is an all-inclusive option to keep multiple devices charged and organized and still look good displayed in home or office.

Kensington has not given us an exact date or price point yet but be one of the first to get your hands on this innovative charging hub by going to their website and filling out a form to be alerted when it will be available.

Follinic

2021 is here and we need to continue the path of being focused on personal health and wellness. IL Science, a company based in Korea has developed a Microcurrent LED Scalp Care device to help hair growth, by stimulating the hair follicles with micro-currents and 4-wavelength LEDs at home. This product has already been approved by the FDA and has shown to be an asset to increase micro blood flow, elasticity, moisture content, hair thickness, strength, lower redness, improved hair gloss and scalp exfoliation. The device is lightweight, voice guided and takes 20min to receive a total scalp and hair care rejuvenation. Keep an eye out for this device coming to the US & UK. For now you can find more information on their official website HERE.

In Conclusion

Overall, CES was different this year, as expected. Still we were intrigued and enticed with new products and new technology from companies that have always pushed the boundaries. With the start of a new year, we want to thank all the people involved that made this event a success! Each company contributed something amazing to better our lives or make the future more enjoyable.