5 of the most important things with CES 2018

Recently, the world's largest exhibition of consumer electronics, CES, was held in Las Vegas. We were shown thousands of cool and unusual exhibits - concepts, preliminary samples, ready-made devices coming on sale soon. About some new items told Gearbest and Madrobots . And we will look at the most attractive and promising technologies, in our opinion. Those who have a real chance to change the world, and which we ourselves would not mind to buy.

1. Vivo smartphone - with a scanner in the display

The technology for which, according to rumors, fought Apple and Samsung, this year was first shown by the Chinese company Vivo. At CES 2018, she showed samples of smartphones with a fingerprint sensor embedded in the screen. It looks very cool: the entire front panel is a solid black display. There are no “home” buttons, nothing, just the thumbnail icon flickers from below. Press it - and the smartphone is unlocked.

The scanner was developed by Synaptics. It is an AI-processor, taught to recognize 300 different characteristics. Using the light emitted from the screen and reflected from your finger, the optical sensor at the bottom picks up the characteristic lines and recognizes its owner. Vivo says that the fingerprint reader does not consume extra energy on the “backlight” of the finger, and promises that the battery will not be further discharged.

Previously, such a technology was expected in the Galaxy S8, in the iPhone 8, and in the iPhone X. But the Chinese again overtook everyone. If the pitfalls are not found, we can expect that all flagship smartphones will be equipped with this technology in the next couple of years.

2. Dell x Nikki Reed - user selection

Not exactly a gadget (or rather, not a gadget at all!), But nevertheless, EnGadget magazine won readers' votes by a wide margin, gaining 30% with 29 thousand votes (second place - 9%). This is a collection of Dell x Nikki Reed Circular jewelry. Its "trick" is that all gold is collected by recycling computer waste. That is, at the entrance there are old Dell laptop motherboards, and at the exit - rings, cufflinks and earrings for 14 and 18 carats. Made, as the name implies, in collaboration with actress Nikki Reed, a well-known environmentalist. The price of jewelry from the Circular collection starts at $ 88.

Dell will also now use gold from old PCs in its new motherboards — using the newly approved new, closed-loop computer recycling cycle. The first products with such "recycled" components come out in March. The company's goal is at least 45 thousand tons of recycled material in devices by 2020.

3. Linda Project - CES is such a CES

The exhibition is full of useful devices that will find its audience. Smart electrical engineering with built-in Alex and Google Assistant, cool $ 2420 Sennheiser headphones, Samsung modular full-wall TV, Nvidia's 65-inch gaming BFGD monitor, created with HP, Acer and Asus. But electronics exhibitions are not only about this. Sometimes engineers have an idea that simply cannot be realized, even if it never gets to the shelves, and no one expects to profit from it.

CES is famous for such things - incredibly interesting in the concept, but hardly able to find a use for themselves. Of these, I would like to mention the Linda project from Razer this year. Their brilliant idea? Insert the smartphone into the laptop! Why, why? No difference! The main thing is that we can!

A similar idea has already been proposed for the HP Elite X3 and Motorola Atrix, but the Linda implementation is different. The smartphone here is not just the "brains" of the computer. It is also used as a touchpad and optional display. And the "case" of the laptop is a docking station with a display and keyboard, in which the smartphone is simultaneously charging. The idea looks silly, but it has potential. To produce such a station will be much cheaper than a full laptop, and here you get two form factors for the price of one. Plus, smartphones are becoming more powerful (here, for example, Snapdragon 835 and 8 GB of RAM), and if you do not play, their resources are quite enough. It's time to find a way to combine three portable devices, a smartphone, a tablet and a laptop, and I would like to welcome any idea in this direction.

4. Dell XPS 15 2-in-1 - the most advanced laptop

In general, with laptops this year, CES did not ask. Many companies simply presented slightly improved versions of their previous devices. Some reviewers were pleased with the Lenovo Miix 630 Tablet PC, which quickly wakes up and lives for a long time. But even more for fans of electronics, the Dell XPS 15 2-in-1, the most powerful and beautiful, stood out the most. Its screen can be used as a tablet (touchscreen, built-in Windows 10, stylus, magnetized from the side). And the keyboard is a maglev. The stroke length of the buttons is only 0.7 mm, but the magnets below help to create a good tactile sensation and even allow you to adjust the pressing force.

Display - 15.6-inch, with a resolution of 4K Ultra HD (3200x1800). The processor is an Intel Quad Core i7-8705G. Graphics - Radeon RX Vega M GL, 40% faster than mobile GeForce GTX 1050 4GB. SSD - up to 1 TB, RAM - up to 16 GB. Nothing alerted? The laptop is one of the first devices with a chip from Intel and a GPU from AMD. Two companies have not worked with each other since the 80s! And so their first collaboration gives us a great, first-class gaming laptop. Which can act as a tablet, and with a 4K-screen, folding 360 °. We hope that this company will not stop.

5. Razer Mamba HyperFlux - wireless mouse without charging

You probably heard about this development, it made a noise a couple of months ago, when it was announced. But now we were shown it live and given to touch. Gaming wireless mouse with 16 thousand DPI and 450 IPS, nine programmable buttons, brand switches ... But the main thing is the absence of any batteries. The mouse is powered from the rug induction method. She does not need to be recharged, she does not need to change batteries, and at the same time she can work indefinitely.

The 35.5x28 cm mat connects to a PC via a USB cable. Its weight is 643 grams. To meet the needs of any gamers, it has two surfaces: on the one hand - tough for quick movements, on the other - soft tissue for precise positioning of the cursor. The delivery cable also includes a mouse cable - in case you leave the mat at home or it breaks (yes, the mouse pad can now "break"). Razer says that thanks to a new charging technology, she managed to create the lightest and most convenient wireless mouse. Gamers on reddite from the device seems to be delighted, except for its price. HyperFlux is scheduled to sell for $ 249.