CES 2017 Day Zero: Everything you need to know

CES 2017 doesn’t officially begin until January 5th but today (January 4th) is known as press day or “Day Zero” (because its the day before Day One of the show).

LG

LG made a few announcements during their CES press conference. The first being the LG Signature W7 TV which the company is calling the lightest, thinnest and most beautiful TV on the planet. It is just 2.57mm thin and is using LG’s OLED display technology.

It is running LG’s new webOS 3.5 and has support for four different HDR technologies including HDR 10, Dolby Vision, Hybrid Log Gamma (HLG) and Advanced HDR by Technicolor. The new television is Super UHD is 77-inches diagonally and it’s the first TV with Dolby Atmos out of the box.

LG didn’t give any details on when (or if) we’ll see this TV or even a price but I’d imagine it’ll cost a pretty penny.

LG also announced two other devices that come with Amazon’s Alexa services. The first is the LG InstaView fridge that will allow users to shop and order items by simply using their voice. For example, if you’re low on milk, you can ask Alexa and some milk will be on it’s way.

There is also a 29-inch touchscreen on the LG InstaView fridge which will be running LG’s webOS platform.

LG also announced the Hub Robot which uses Amazon’s Alexa voice technology. Think of the Hub Robot as like a cuter version of the Amazon Echo. It can talk to a whole array of home appliances and can automate and complete tasks like changing a dryer cycle or turning on a air conditioner. There is also a built-in camera in the Hub Robot and can be programmed with a different greeting for each family member.

LG hasn’t said when the Hub Robot will be available.

LG also announced a new 4K soundbar, the SJ9. It’s made to go along with your 4K TV and the soundbar is capable of playing 24-bit/96kHz lossless audio with a total bitrate 4,000 kilobits per second.

The SJ9 soundbar will be released in the next few months for $1,500 USD.

Source: LG

Asus

Asus announced their latest model in the ZenFone 3 family with the ZenFone 3 Zoom. It has a 12x zoom and a 12-megapixel secondary camera lens. Inside, there’s a 5,000 mAh battery.

The camera sensor is a Sony IMX 362 with a f/1.7 aperture with SuperPixel technology and a TriTech auto-focus system. Asus says you can get about 6.4 hours of 4K video capture on a single charge.

The phone is being powered by the Snapdragon 825 processor and there’s a 5.5-inch 1080p display. The ZenFone 3 Zoom will launch in late February.

That wasn’t the only phone that Asus announced, they also introduced the ZenFone AR which is the first phone that is both Google Tange and Daydream-ready. The phone takes full advantage of Asus’ TriCam system which utilizes motion tracking, depth perception and a 23-megapixel camera sensor.

 

In addition to the Daydream and Tango capabilities, the ZenFone AR has a 5.7-inch Super AMOLED WQHD display and a 79% screen-to-body ratio. Inside, there’s a Snapdragon 821 processor and 8GB of RAM and running Android 7.0 Nougat.

Asus hasn’t said when the ZenFone AR will be released but it should be in the next few months.

Asus also announced some new computers including the Asus Zen AiO ZN270 which has a 27-inch FullHD display with NVIDIA 940MX graphics, up to a 7th Gen Intel Core i7 processor, up to 16GB of RAM and quad-speaker Harmon Kardon audio system. It should launch sometime in March, starting at $999 USD.

Asus also updated their VivoPC lineup with the VivoPC X, it has a 7th gen Intel Core processor and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 10 series graphics. This is aimed at consumers that are looking for a VR-ready PC that is also compact. It also has four USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports and two USB 2.0 ports. It should retail for $700-800 USD.

Source: Asus

Faraday

Faraday Future just announced their first production car with the FF 91. It’s a fully connected autonomous vehicle that uses facial recognition technology to help personalize the car experience for each user.

The AI in the car will also help the car perform better and more safely including self-parking without a driver being behind the wheel. Faraday says their FF 91 has a 130 KwH battery which should last 378 miles and the electric power can get you up to 105o HP which is faster than the Tesla Model S P100D and Model X P100D and the FF 91 goes from 0-60 in 2.39 seconds.

Production for the FF 91 is expected to start in 2018 but Faraday hasn’t said when consumers can expect first deliveries. Reservations will start in March for $5,000 and is fully-refundable.

Source: Faraday Future

Google & Fiat-Chrysler

Google and Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) are showing off a concept infotainment system that is based on Android 7.0 Nougat. Android in car infotainment systems isn’t anything new but this time, Google is more heavily involved in the process.

Important thing to note is that Google’s Android Automotive initiative is different than Android Auto (the later isn’t a operating system but just a projected car interface).

Google is planning on selling their Android Automotive to car OEMs in the same way that they sell Android to phone manufacturers (by giving away the base OS for free and makes sure OEMs use Google’s apps like Google Maps or the Play Store. Any OEM that do this are part of the Open Handset Alliance and Google is trying to start the same thing with the Automotive Alliance.

Alphabet (Google’s parent company) is already partnering with Fiat-Chrysler with new subsidiary Waymo to help test out their self-driving technology by putting them in Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivans to test out.

Source: FCA