2014 CES Unveiled

Samsung Techwin Announces Two New SmartCams

At CES Unveiled: 2014, Samsung Techwin America introduced two new Wi-Fi IP cameras. Samsung already has a robust home security lineup and the addition of the SmartCam HD and SmartCam HD Outdoor brings full 1080p HD streaming along. The two new SmartCams also come with 128 degree ultra-wide angle lenses for improved viewing area. The new SmartCam HDs stream over IP and don’t require any type of monthly fee for monitoring or storage since all of the storage can be done locally using an SD card. Samsung also told me that there was a potential online storage partnership in the works. That, of course, would require a subscription.

Video can be automatically recorded upon sensing motion or audio. When those are detected, you can also opt to have an email or push notification sent to a mobile device. The SmartCam HDs are 2MP cameras. They have a 1/2.8-inch CMOS senor that is designed to let in a large amount of light for richer colors and detail. They also include an IR cut filter for enhanced night viewing in night vision mode. The SmartCam HD has a 16 foot range while the SmartCam HD Outdoor has a 50 foot range. Due for release in March 2014, the Samsung SmartCam HD has an MSRP of $179 and the SmartCam HD Outdoor has an MSRP of $229.

yurbuds Wireless Earphones

The hugely popular earphone company yurbuds launched a new product showcased at CES Unveiled: 2014 as the Inspire Limited Edition Wireless Earphones. Yurbuds guarantees that the limited edition Inspire earbuds will never hurt and never fall out. They are also stereo-bluetooth capable. The Inspire earbuds have 15mm drivers; pretty big for earbuds. They also have up to a 6-hour active use battery life with audible and visual battery indicators. The technology that guarantees the earbuds won’t fall out is called TwistLock, and FlexSoft is yurbuds way of ensuring that the earphones don’t start to hurt after being in your ear for a while. The Inspire earphones are water and sweat resistant and come in black or red colors. The frequency response is from 20Hz to 20kHz. The limited edition earphones have an MSRP of $169.99.

USB 3.1

Another exciting new look I got at CES Unveiled: 2014 was of the new USB 3.1 standard at work. The new USB standard can handle theoretical transfer rates up to 10Gbps; twice as fast as USB 3.0. The new standard doubles the clock rate and uses a 128b/132b rather than 10b/8b coding scheme that lowers the overhead to 3% from 20%. I watched an ATTO test that shows the new USB 3.1 transferring at over 1GB/s (around 8Gbps). At these speeds, the USB folks were streaming 1080p video over USB, directly competing with Thunderbolt.

The folks at the USB consortium also talked to me about a new USB connector, the type C. They couldn’t show me what it looked like, or even describe it to, other than mentioning that it was small and thin in order to better facilitate the thin designs of new mobility devices. I was also told that it will be completely bi-directional, with the cable determining host and client. Of course, typical type-A to type-C cables will also be available for legacy support.