The annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is perfectly timed in the first few days of January to tell the world what’s in store tech-wise, this year. Problem is, the launches are a combo of the worthwhile and the weird. Many of the gee-whiz announcements were too bizarre to interest Indians — most of us are not yet ready put down the equivalent of $199 for the “world’s first robot dog” named CHIP (for Canine Home Intelligence Pet), or would want an olfactory start to our day with Sensorwake, a $109 scent-based alarm clock which substitutes the buzzer with the canned fragrance of coffee or croissants.
So here’s a round up of what was both clever and sensible at CES, and what’s most likely to reach Indian markets some time this year.Many of the most affordable PCs — like the Aakash Tablet and Intel’s Classmate — have originated in India. But other corners of the developing world are innovative too, as CES reminded us. From Brazil comes the Endless PC a barebones computer that recognizes that an Internet connection may be hard to get — or pay for. The Endless Mini is a spherical cutie, running on an ARM chip and a Linux OS. It uses most of its storage (24 or 32 GB) to pack in full encyclopedias like Wikipedia, educational lectures from Khan Academy, recipes, health information and over 100 other apps, for offline use whenever Internet is expensive, slow, or unavailable. It can also be connected to any TV.
In its cheapest version, the Endless Mini costs just $79 (around Rs 5,000).CES watchers seemed to agree that the coolest wearable preview this year was the first ever gaming platform for kids and families, that you could wear: the Supersuit created by Bangalore- based MadRat Games, the brainchild of Rajat Dhariwal and Madhumita Halder. It consists of a vest which records hits and displays scores in the form of lights and audio, and a glove which enables interaction between players.Omron, well known for health monitoring equipment, will launch at the end of 2016 two wearable blood pressure monitors — one for the wrist, the other for the upper arm which go beyond the conventional.
Free of cuffs or wires, the Project Zero wrist BP monitor tracks blood pressure, reminds users to take medication, tracks compliance and syncs with your mobile phone through Bluetooth to log the data and connect to family or a doctor. The Zero Upper Arm monitor also tracks hypertension and detects irregular heart beats.
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