Best Of CES 2023: Project Leonardo, JBL Tour Pro 2, Lenovo YogaBook 9i, More
Unistellar Equinox 2 Smart Telescope, Valencell blood pressure monitor, and more on our list.
It literally rained cutting-edge tech from January 5 to January 8 at the Las Vegas Convention Centre and The Venetian Convention and Expo Centre, which hosted the 2023 edition of the Consumer Electronic Show (CES). For four days, visitors saw devices and concepts that ranged from the brilliant to the bizarre from established as well as relatively unknown brands. While there were literally hundreds of products on display at the show, some stood out from the crowd and could well go on to define tech in the year(s) to come.
Without further ado, here are the seven outstanding products of CES 2023:
Sony Project Leonardo: Because gaming is for everyone
One of the stars at Vegas was Sony's Project Leonardo gaming controller. Yes, it would play nice with the PS5, but make no mistake, this was not your routine button masher.
Project Leonardo is designed for differently abled gamers and has been made with inputs from AbleGamers, SpecialEffect and Stack Up. Sony says it has been made to address common challenges that gamers with limited motor control might face.
These include "difficulty holding a controller for long periods, accurately pressing small clusters of buttons or triggers, or positioning thumbs and fingers optimally on a standard controller.”
The controller is remarkably modular and comes with swappable components. There are a variety of analogue stick caps and buttons in different shapes and sizes that can be totally remapped.
Sony is believed to be working with third-party accessibility accessories. We do not know when it will actually be available but it is the kind of device that showcases the real purpose of tech — empowering people.
Valencell blood pressure monitor: Blood pressure measurement at your fingertips
Valencell came out with one of the most interesting devices of this year's CES. The company, which is best known for making heart rate sensors, displayed a new kind of blood pressure monitor.
One that is incredibly simple to use and carry around. Rather than attaching and inflating a cuff on your arm, as conventional blood pressure measuring devices do, Valencell's blood pressure monitor just needs to be attached to your finger, just like the Oximeters that so many of us used in the times of the pandemic.
Valencell says that the device uses PPG sensors to analyse blood flow and then uses an algorithm that generates the blood pressure figures, factoring the user's age and physical attributes such as height and weight.
It is still awaiting FDA clearance, but it could be a blessing for those who suffer from hypertension, anxiety and a host of issues as it literally places measuring blood pressure on their fingertips. And at an expected price of $99, which isn’t exactly a bomb either!
JBL Tour Pro 2: TWS with a smart case
True wireless stereo (TWS) earbuds have been a part of our digital lives for a while now, but innovation in most seems quite limited.
JBL is looking to change that with the Tour Pro 2. The buds themselves do not look too different from your next-door TWS, but the case that bears them is literally like nothing we have seen.
That is because JBL has placed a 1.45-inch LCD touchscreen on it, giving you access to a number of controls from the case itself. You can switch tracks, tweak active noise cancellation (ANC) modes, change volume and even change equaliser settings without having to go to an app on your phone.
There are even wallpapers for that touchscreen, for those who love to change appearances.
The TWS themselves are supposed to be pretty decent on paper, claiming to offer the trademark mainstream JBL sound signature (with just a touch of extra bass), eight hours of battery life with ANC (10 hours without) and wireless charging.
We wager this is going to be one of those rare TWS that folks will get for the case as much as for what's inside it!
Baracoda BHeart: Adding smarts to your regular watch
Baracoda may have come out with the perfect solution for those who love wearing traditional analogue wristwatches but still want to track their health and fitness data.
The company unveiled BHeart at CES 2023, a smart band that can be attached to any traditional wristwatch. The sensors and trackers that you would normally find in a smartwatch are in fact packed into the BHeart band. These sensors send data to your iOS or Android device, giving you access to health and fitness data on your smartphone or tablet. The best part of all is that it never needs to be charged.
The BHeart runs on a combination of motion, body heat and environment light (including the sun and any other light sources). In essence, it never runs out of charge which means no need to worry about carrying any cradles or cables.
If they bring in some good band designs, this could be the killer device that blends the performance and information of a smartwatch with the design of traditional analogue watches.
Lenovo YogaBook 9i: Dual displays, reimagined 
CES 2023 saw a number of notebooks being launched, but there was nothing quite like the Lenovo YogaBook 9i. This is a dual screen notebook that has two 13.3-inch OLED, 2.8K resolution displays seemingly placed one on top of the other, with a detachable keyboard at the base.
That might seem eccentric and slightly overwhelming to some, but by all accounts, it works just a treat, thanks to the sheer versatility of the setup.
You can use the detachable keyboard or use the bundled stylus to input content on the displays (both are touchscreen, in case you were wondering), or just fold the notebook and use one touchscreen to input on the other.
In a neat touch, you can even place the detachable keyboard on top of the lower display when you are using the device in a conventional single display notebook mode — the real keyboard not only fits exactly over the virtual one on the horizontal display but the touch display also adds a touchpad to the set up (the detachable keyboard does not have one).
Lenovo has also tweaked the interface to incorporate a number of gestures and touches to let you do more. You can place the displays one on top of the other, in a conventional clamshell mode, or open them next to each other…the possibilities are endless in terms of usage. Could this change the dual-display notebook scenario? It might.
Please note that this is one notebook that one can discuss without referring to the specs (it is powered by an Intel Core i7, for the record).
HTC Vive XR Elite: Specs that have the specs and the looks
Virtual reality (VR) might not have taken off in the manner that many had predicted it would, but brands like HTC continue to bet heavily on it.
The former smartphone giant unveiled the HTC Vive XR Elite mixed reality (MR) headset at CES and in best HTC tradition, it was a bit of design marvel with a very sunglass-y look. Unlike other VR headsets the Vive XR Elite is remarkably portable, weighing just 630 grammes and can actually be dismantled and carried inside a smaller package.
You can tighten or loosen the band using a knob, and thanks to the presence of six magnification options, even users who wear spectacles can use it.
On the spec side, it is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 chip and has 12GB RAM as well as 120GB of onboard storage. It has a 110-degree field of view with 4K resolution and a 90Hz refresh rate, as well as speakers that HTC claims can deliver audio with improved bass.
Battery life stands at two hours. It can work independently and does not need to be connected to a smartphone, although it can also play nice with Android devices and Windows PCs.
Will it bring the Metaverse closer to mainstream? We will find out later in the year but it definitely has the looks and specs of a great device.
Unistellar Equinox 2 Smart Telescope: Star gazing on your smartphone
Many of us love to look at the night sky and at the stars. And rare indeed is the person who does not wish they could get a closer look at planets, stars and constellations.
While this is perfectly possible thanks to powerful telescopes, these are often very difficult to use and set up.
This is why we are so impressed by the Equinox 2 Smart Telescope from Unistellar that actually runs through your smartphone. The telescope is beautifully designed but does not have an eyepiece — you get a view of the galaxies and stars right on your phone through a special app.
All you need to do is place the telescope and search for what you want to see — the telescope uses the phone's GPS to get its location and then looks around and serves up visuals. What's more, it can even be used in urban conditions, as it can see through the light pollution that is a hallmark of modern city life.
Yes, it will set you back by a hefty $2,499 but then you do not have to travel to the hills or wait for a spectacularly clear night to see stars, galaxies and nebulae.
You do not have to fiddle with settings and knobs and dials — all you need is a smartphone.
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