Latest tech gadgets unveiled at CES

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ByJonathan Bloom KGO logo
Tuesday, January 6, 2015
Latest tech gadgets unveiled at CES
Tech companies are assembling in Las Vegas to unveil their newest products at the International Consumer Electronics Show.

LAS VEGAS (KGO) -- Tech companies are assembling in Las Vegas to unveil their newest products at the International Consumer Electronics Show.

Among the 150,000 people expected at the sprawling consumer electronics show in Las Vegas, about 5,000 are journalists.

For writers like Dean Takahashi of Games-Beat, it's a test of endurance.

"I probably walk about 30,000 steps a day each day at CES, and by the end of it I'll be lucky if I'm not sick," he said.

All that to be among the first to touch and write about the latest gadgets and the biggest, brightest new TVs.

"These gigantic screens are going to have the most beautiful images you can possibly imagine on them," Takahashi said.

This year, Consumer Reports said the hot new feature is quantum dot technology.

"Tiny little crystals they put in front of the back light of the TV that make colors richer and more saturated," said Glenn Derene of Consumer Reports Electronics.

Like last year, it's still all about Ultra HD and curved screens, large and small.

"Computer monitors that are curved, and we're seeing a number of curved smartphones too," Derene added.

This year remains the age of wearable technology, and connected things like Belty, the belt that automatically loosens when you've had a little too much to eat, and just about every home appliance.

"Belty" a smart belt was unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show.

"You can now chat with your washing machine, you can ask it if the load is done, or do I need to switch form the washer to the dryer,"

Or you could chat with your house guests, with light fixtures that have cameras, speakers and microphones hidden inside them.

"So you can actually listen to and see and talk to anybody who's in your house even while you're away," Derene said.

For those concerned with security security, there's an app that that lets you take a selfie instead of typing your password.

"We developed technology which is lifeness, actually detecting you're a live person and we do this by various methods, one is we look at pupil dilation," Said Hector Hoyos, Hoyos Lab founder.

But to dilate the pupils of veteran journalists, CES will need something unexpected.

"I just want to be surprised with technology that's meaningful, as opposed to technology for technology sake, so something that's really accomplishing something, or changes lives. I think that's what we're all looking for," Takahashi added.

The show runs through Friday, so they have until then to find it.