Podcast #1033: CES 2022

This week it's all about CES 2022! So much to talk about including Sony getting into the electric vehicle market. We read your emails as well.

Samsung

• Neo QLED - The powerful evolution of Samsung Neo QLED is built on Quantum Matrix Technology. It precisely controls Samsung's exclusive new Quantum Mini LED to express blacks, whites, and every shade in between, more accurately than ever. Enjoy great detail in dark and bright areas.
• Micro LED - MICRO LED is an inorganic, self-emitting LED designed to change the world of displays. Creating light and color on its own, MICRO LED delivers true-to-life color and contrast with optimum brightness in every scene. Discover stunning details on our biggest screen that surpass your greatest expectations. When you want more than one view, MICRO LED allows for four split-screen views. See up to four screens at once from a variety of sources — including the four HDMI ports — each giving you an immersive experience.
• The Frame - A minimalist-inspired design makes The Frame blend flawlessly with your interior. A slimmer profile, wider range of hues, and monochromatic back provide a sophisticated appearance from every angle. Connect the One Invisible Connection cable to discover what makes The Frame a modern masterpiece — on or off.³
• The Premiere - Ultra-bright, high-resolution images are projected with cutting-edge Triple Laser Technology. The Premiere LSP9T uses a triple laser light source for dramatic home cinema viewing that nearly replicates a theater experience.⁸ Get precise color accuracy and incredible contrast with the Premiere LSP9T 4K Smart Triple Laser Projector.⁹ The Premiere LSP9T is the world's first HDR10+ certified projector for realistic, vibrant viewing. $3500 for 120” $6500 for 130”
• Eco Remote - combines a built-in solar panel with new wireless charging technology that uses radio waves emitted by Wi-Fi routers. It works by “collecting routers’ radio waves and converting them to energy,” Samsung explains. And because it doesn’t require any special Wi-Fi technology, it’s compatible with almost every router in use today.
• The Freestyle - is a projector, smart speaker and ambient lighting device all rolled into one lightweight, portable device weighing only 830 grams (1.8 lbs). The Freestyle comes with full auto keystone and auto leveling features that allow the device to automatically adjust its screen to any surface at any angle, providing a perfectly proportional image every time.
• SmartThings Cooking -  A new service from Samsung SmartThings is designed to make your culinary journey seamless. An automatic Meal Planner powered by Whisk’s Food AI recommends meals for the whole week, makes shopping lists with the ingredients you need, and connects to grocery retailers for one-stop shopping straight from the Family Hub™ refrigerator or your mobile screen. Recipe instructions can be sent directly to synced Samsung cooking devices to minimize hassles and mistakes.
• Samsung Health Smart Trainer on Samsung 2021 TVs: Samsung Health seamlessly transforms the home into a personal gym, and the new Smart Trainer4 feature tracks and analyzes posture in real-time, just like a personal trainer. During and post-workout, Smart Trainer provides feedback on form, helps you count your reps, and estimates calories burned. With video and interactive training via Bixby-enabled voice control, Samsung Health Smart Trainer elevates and personalizes the home workout experience.
• JetBot 90 AI+: Coming to the US 1H 2021, this new vacuum cleaner uses object recognition technology to identify and classify objects to decide the best cleaning path. LiDAR and 3D sensors allow JetBot 90 AI+ to avoid cables and small objects, while still cleaning hard-to-reach corners in your home. Also outfitted with a camera, JetBot90 AI+ is integrated with the SmartThings app to assist you with home monitoring.
• Samsung Bot™ Care is designed to use AI to recognize and respond to your behavior. It will be able to act as both a robotic assistant and companion, helping to take care of the details in your life. It will also learn your schedule and habits and send you reminders to help guide you throughout your busy day.
• Samsung Bot™ Handy: Also in development, Samsung Bot™ Handy will rely on advanced AI to recognize and pick up objects of varying sizes, shapes and weights, becoming an extension of you and helping you with work around the house.

Sengled

The Smart Health Monitoring Light bulb claims to read heart rate, body temperature and other vital signs through entirely non-invasive sensors. It uses a radar sensor instead of a passive infrared (PIR) sensor, meaning it can read through materials and detect more subtleties. Ideally, the higher sensitivity would allow for the light bulbs to detect different people, see movement through textiles and other complexities of off-skin health tracking.

According to Sengled, a collection of Smart Health Monitoring Light bulbs connect via Bluetooth mesh to create a virtual map in your home, relying on several points of “view” for complete health tracking. To be clear, the light bulb doesn’t have a camera or anything built in. It can’t see or record you, just sense you.

Kohler can now run you a bath with just a voice command

• PerfectFill - PerfectFill consists of a drain kit and digital valve that work together to draw the bath to your preferred temperature and depth. PerfectFill starts at $2,700; that doesn’t include a Kohler spout and compatible Kohler bath. It also needs to be professionally installed. PerfectFill will be available to order in 2022.
• Kholer’s Stillness Bath, which was teased at CES last year, will be available to purchase in 2022. It starts at $8,000 and incorporates that PerfectFill tech in a smart bathtub that combines water, light, fog, and aroma to create an “at home spa-like experience”
• Robern IQ Digital Lock Box — a smart lock box that fits in a bathroom vanity cabinet for storing medication and personal items. $450
• Touchless Residential Bathroom Faucets starting at $199
• Purist Suspend can be operated by the puck-shaped remote to turn the faucet on and off and adjust the temperature. The main concept here — beyond being quite the statement piece — is reducing counter clutter. With Suspend, your kitchen faucet will no longer be in the way when you’re washing dishes (was it really ever?). The faucet hangs from the ceiling and has 180 degree rotation.

LG

• LG OLED EVO Gallery Addition - The next evolution of Self-Lit Pixels brings a new definition of brightness. The latest LG OLED TV features the all-new Brightness Booster powered by an advanced processor making the display 30% brighter than before. This cutting-edge technology revolutionizes picture quality, producing deeper shades of black and brighter highlights to reveal incredible levels of detail and color.
• LG UltraGear Gaming Setup - This setup consists of a super fast IPS monitor with ATW Polarizer technology that supports high-fidelity color for reproducing vivid scenes. The monitor is compatible with next generation game consoles. Also included in the setup is the The LG UltraGear™ Gaming PC 17G90Q and the LG UltraGear speakers to elevate your gaming experience and deliver detailed, lifelike sounds.
• LG’s smart TVs all run WebOS - now renamed WebOS 22 (for the year). The platform is getting a few updates, including the ability to add user profiles. Users will login and get their own mix of content—but not TV display settings.
• QNED Mini LED - LG is also updating its 4K QNED line for 2022.  They all feature updated Quantum Dot technology in which the Nano Cell is now an emissive layer. The crux of quantum dot is the clarifying of the light from Blue LED to running some through the Quantum Dots to run them green and then a Nano Cell layer that emits red light. LG claims a 90%+ DCI-P3 wide color gamut reproduction compared to the 70% coverage on traditional LED-LCD TVs. The use of Mini LEDs gives the displays more discrete control of black levels and dampen haloing. Their 8K displays have 2,400 local dimming zones.
• LG’s Magic Motion Remote has also seen some improvements, thanks to a reduction in redundant buttons and a smaller overall profile. 
• LG Dolby Atmos Soundbars - LG has also implemented some notable improvements to is Dolby Atmos soundbars. In addition to a new dipole-style wireless surround speaker available in the company’s flagship soundbar, LG is adding an up-firing speaker to the center channel to increase clarity, presence, and intelligibility for moments when voices can frequently get buried by otherwise explosive soundtracks for action sequences.
• Instaview Refrigerator - Simply knock twice to illuminate LG’s largest, edge-to-edge InstaView™. See favorites in an instant without ever opening the door. Bring one of the hottest trends home with the Craft Ice™ maker that automatically makes batches of three or six slow-melting Craft Ice™ per day. The UVnano™ dispenser automatically removes up to 99.99% of bacteria on the nozzle after 24 hours.*

Eve Systems' CES focus is on HomeKit, Matter, and Thread

• The Eve Outdoor Cam - The floodlight/security camera combo is expected to be available April 5 for $250. It's 1080p outdoor security camera with a 157-degree field of view and infrared night vision with an LED floodlight.
• Eve MotionBlinds will also support the Matter standard. The battery-powered motor, which can be recharged with a USB-C cable and power supply, will initially be available in custom roller shades

Roku Announces Sharp Roku TV Partnership

Sharp & Roku will be working to launch Sharp Roku TV models in 2022. Sharp will leverage the Roku TV hardware reference design and award-winning Roku OS to deliver a full line-up of exciting HD and 4K UHD TVs

Cync Portfolio Announced

GE Lighting, a Savant company, continues to expand its smart home ecosystem, Cync, with several new products.

• Cync Smart Thermostat - can be installed without a common wire, making it compatible in nearly every home. Its large, sleek, and high-contrast display makes on-site control easier than ever, and like all Cync products, no hub is required for ‘away from home’ control using the Cync app. The all-new Cync Room Temperature Sensors work with the Smart Thermostat to monitor individual rooms or the entire home and optimize the comfort accordingly. The new Cync Smart Thermostat and Temperature Sensor will be available to order in January from Lowe’s, Best Buy and Amazon. The Smart Thermostat starts at $119.99 and the Temperature Sensor at $29.99.
• Cync Outdoor Smart Camera - comes in both wired and battery/solar powered options, so users can choose the setup that’s optimal for their smart home. With 2K/1280P HD video and night vision, and a digital swivel head. Available to order in February from Lowe’s, Best Buy and Amazon. Wired Cameras start at $99.99, Battery Cameras at $129.99 and Solar Panel Accessory at $44.99.
• Cync Lights - adds 11 new products, including smart decorative filament-style bulbs in various shapes and sizes, such as candelabra and globe and the ever-popular reveal® general purpose bulbs. These additions will be offered in both white and full color options. The new Cync smart lights will be available to order in March from Lowe’s, Best Buy, Target and Amazon, starting at $11.99.  
• Cync. In Sync with Matter - Cync devices can be controlled with both Alexa and Google. Cync devices will be included in the 2022 integration of the Matter protocol that allows all smart home devices to work together regardless of manufacturer or platform.

TCL

• XL Collection - Big screens are a big deal at TCL. That's why we created the XL Collection, a curated collection of TVs with 85" displays and larger designed to meet fit any budget and exceed the highest performance standards to deliver big, big home entertainment. Now, the XL Collection is getting even bigger. Introducing TCL's 98" XL Collection QLED TV. $8K
• X9 OD ZERO TV - We've revolutionized the LED TV. Again. OD Zero, or Optical Depth Zero, refers to the distance between the Mini-LED backlight and the screen. In another industry first for TCL, that distance is zero. TCL 85" CLASS 8K OD ZERO QLED DOLBY VISION HDR SMART GOOGLE TV - 85X925PRO $10K
• Game Changing Display - This year, TCL high-performance TVs will support 4K at 144Hz, bringing smoother action and even faster game-feel to our most powerful big-screen QLED TVs featuring TCL's renowned Mini-LED technology.
• Alto Sound Bars - Alto Sound Bars will bring a whole new dimension of sound in 2022, with additional multi-channel options to make cinema-quality Dolby Atmos® 3D surround sound more accessible than ever. New Master Room Calibration technology analyzes the acoustics of a room and adjusts the sound to the space. We’re also introducing a host of advanced features, including speaker expansion capabilities, Bluetooth® 5.2, DTS:X, and DTS Play-Fi®. Plus, the next-generation of TCL’s RAY·DANZ technology will arrive, for an ultrawide soundstage.

Arlo DIY Home Security System

Introducing the award-winning Arlo Security System with All-in-One Sensors – the most versatile, customizable, and comprehensive smart home security system that you can easily setup yourself.

Just power up the Keypad which serves as your command center with a built-in motion sensor. Then place the All-in-One Sensors anywhere you want across your home or business. These small but mighty universal sensors can detect motion, door and window openings, water leaks, smoke/CO alarms and even monitor light, temperature – all managed through the Arlo Secure app.

We’re proud to announce we’ve joined Matter to help develop industry standards that will make compatibility across smart home devices more seamless and intuitive.

JBL

JBL has unveiled a full slate of products for 2022, including new true-wireless earbuds, Bluetooth speakers and gaming headphones. Boombox 3 and Pulse 5 portable speakers and Reflect Aero and Live Pro 2 earbuds, are upgrades to earlier products. Many of these speakers and headphones won't be available for several months,

Noveto N1 

The N1 (Personal Soundbar) is the perfect device for the modern professional who works from home or in shared office spaces, values their comfort and efficiency, and whenever possible, uses smart products for communication and interaction experience.The N1 combines Smart Beaming with Alexa and multimodal interaction to create the first all-in-one home office and personalized wellness space. No pricing was given and the company is saying it will launch sometime in 2022.

Tablo four-tuner ATSC 3.0 DVR

Tablo's $300 TV-connected DVR offers four NextGen TV tuners on board and will accept external hard drives up to 8TB. The DVR is compatible with any TV featuring an HDMI port, though you will need a 4K HDR TV to make the most of it. The Tablo connects to any TV antenna and will work with existing OTA signals.

The device comes with a 24-hour program guide and manual recording but also includes a 30-day free trial of the Tablo Premium Service ($20 a year). Premium Service enables the Automatic Commercial Skip function and Guide Data Service adds two weeks of guide data.

Sony

• Sony A95K QD-OLED - promises improved color and viewing angle compared to current, conventional OLED TVs. It can display the full spectrum of colors even in the brightest scenes. 
• Master Series Z9K and Premium X95K Mini LED TVs  - XR Backlight Master Drive can intelligently control Mini LED power to reduce visibility of individual zones.
• Bravia Cam - The Sony Bravia Cam is a camera and ambient sensor that can sit atop all 2022 Sony televisions. It will come bundled with the Z9K Mini LED and A95K QD-OLED televisions and will also be sold separately for anyone who wants to add additional functionality to their TV. The Bravia Cam is a webcam that can detect a person's positioning and adjust the picture and audio accordingly. Sony calls this Ambient Optimization Pro
• Premium remote - A new premium remote will come bundled with the Z9K Mini LED and A95K QD-OLED and A90K OLED televisions. The remote is 36% smaller than last year's unit and will be backlit. Also included is OK Google functionality to quickly find your remote. Sony has reduced the number of keys from 49 to 25, removing the number keys altogether. Keys are integrated into a new keypad UI. The remote also has a flush design for easy cleaning.
• SUV - Sony showed off a brand new prototype of its Vision S concept electric car, and announced that the Sony Group is starting a new division — the Sony Mobility Inc – which will start commercializing its electric vehicles. “The Vision-S also evolves mobility as an entertainment space, including gaming experience and audio. We have learned more about mobility through our exploration of Vision-S and through our partners who have supported this effort.”