T3 India

CES

LG shows off its rollable OLED TV

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LG kickstarts it’s 2019 with the announcement of a rollable OLED TV at the CES 2019. The LG SIGNATURE OLED TV R blends with the home decor when the TV is turned off but turn it on and you see how it transforms in a beautiful looking TV.

The TV supports three views – Full View, Line View and Zero View that allows the TV to unroll fully or partially to watch TV or use specific features like Clock, Frame, Mood, Music and Home Dashboard.

The TV is powered by LG’s Alpha 9 processor for AI processing and support for Apple AirPlay 2, Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa.

New adaptor means HTC Vive VR can finally work wirelessly, while HTC Vive Pro upgrades visuals to dual 4K

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HTC has revealed the HTC Vive Pro at CES 2018, a new high-resolution premium VR headset built for enthusiasts.

The HTC Vive Pro comes with a dual-OLED display with a 2,880 x 1,600 total resolution, which is a 78 percent increase over the current HTC Vive. That’s a bumped resolution of 1,400 x 1,600 per eye at 615 ppi, specs that put the new headset beyond the current Oculus Rift VR headset.

Other improvements over the standard HTC Vive include a redesigned headstrap and built-in headphones, which have their own built-in amplifier. The headstrap has been built to reduce weight on the front of the headset and to offer an improved balance. Additionally, the Vive Pro also features dual microphones with active noise cancellation and dual front-facing cameras.

Speaking on the announcement of the Vive Pro, HTC Vive spokesman Daniel O’Brien said that:

“There’s a clear need in the VR market for a premium VR experience with high-resolution display, integrated audio and the best components available today in a headset. Vive Pro offers an immediate upgrade for both VR enthusiasts and enterprises that want to utilise the best VR experience.”

As well as the Vive Pro, HTC has also announced a wireless adaptor for both the Vive and Vive Pro VR headsets that is to launch in quarter three, 2018. The Vive Wireless Adaptor features Intel’s WiGig technology and operates in the interference-free 60Ghz band, which means lower latency and better performance over other bands.

We’re enthused about both the Vive Pro and the Vive wireless adaptor here at T3 Towers. There’s no doubt that the array of bulky cables has been a barrier and inconvenience to many VR headset owners so far, so by removing at least some of those cables can only be a good thing – we’ll just have to wait and see if the latency delivered is up to standard. While the Vive Pro’s higher resolution and better audio will, without doubt, make VR experiences more immersive.

Samsung unveils world’s first curved QLED monitor with Thunderbolt 3 connectivity

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Samsung has unveiled the world’s first curved monitor to feature Intel’s Thunderbolt 3 connectivity: the Samsung CJ791.

The Samsung CJ791 is an ultra-wide (that’s a 21:9 aspect ratio) 34-inch panel with a resolution of 3,440 x 1,440 and a 1,500R (relatively sharp) curvature. It is also a QLED screen, meaning that the CJ791 can deliver deeper blacks and brighter whites than OLED monitors.

Where it is a world first though is in its integration of an Intel Thunderbolt 3 port, which provides a processing speed of up to 40 Gigabits per second (Gbps), a rate that is almost four times faster than USB alternatives. As such, the CJ791 will allow “users to enjoy connectivity across a full ecosystem of docks, displays and peripheral devices including Macs, USB type-C laptops, and other desktop accessories like storage drives or external graphics cards.”

Speaking on the announcement of the CJ791, which is to be shown off at CES 2018, a Samsung spokesperson said that:

“The CJ791 aligns Thunderbolt 3 connectivity with our best-in-class curvature and QLED picture quality to captivate and engage users, while also promoting improved organization and productivity.”

Taking a look at the specs it seems to us here at T3 that Samsung has positioned this new monitor bang in the centre of the market, with both gaming and work applications perfectly feasible. It certainly delivers the space for wide-screen gaming, providing you have a machine capable of outputting at that high resolution, something also backed up by its 4ms response time, but equally the wide view (178-degree viewing angle) and QLED colour reproduction tech would make it a great panel for photo editing work also.

Boltt unveils new fitness wearables with AI assistant service

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Despite the highly competitive market, the fitness wearable tech demand remains strong, which is why you’ll see so many companies at CES presenting their fitness wearable tech. Boltt, a startup based out of India also announced their wearables and a virtual assistant.

The wearables introduced by Boltt include connected shoes that are equipped with functionalities like energy bounce back, impact absorption, supportive cushioning balance and balanced gripping ground control for better performance while running and is embedded with a stride sensor that tracks the user’s performance that relays to the mobile app.

Interestingly, the stride sensor can be used separately outside the shoe as well that can be clipped to any shoe or can be worn as an ankle band.

Enhancing the hardware is the virtual assistant named ‘B’ that interacts with the users and gives them real-time voice coaching & interactive feedback on health and training.

Boltt plans to release the devices and service sometime later this year but will go on pre-order on Kickstarter this month.

Boltt

Odyssey is Samsung’s latest notebook for gamers

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Not to be outdone by notebook manufacturers presenting their iteration of gaming notebooks at CES 2017, Samsung too, has come up with a new notebook series dedicated to gamers. Dubbed Notebook Odyssey, the new series tries to woo gamers with its distinct design and hardware.

Samsung is expected to launch two notebooks, 17.3-inch and 15.6-inch variants later this year and while both are more or less similar, there are some subtle differences that sets both the notebooks apart.

Barring for the display size, both notebooks have a Full HD anti-glare display and HexaFlow Vent, which Samsung says is an advanced cooling and ventilation system that helps to keep the system cool.

In terms of hardware both run on the latest Core i7 processor with up to 64GB of RAM, up to 512GB SSD with 1TB HDD, Nvidia GPU and lots more.