CES 2014

Over the years International CES has become a melting pot of every imaginable consumer technology. The show has been a showcase for aftermarket car stereo and entertainment since the ’70s and has in recent years evolved into a showcase for new-car tech—from superbly integrated and great sounding entertainment systems to sophisticated sensors and head-up displays to Internet and Bluetooth connectivity, and more. From BMW to Chrysler, a record nine automakers are occupying 140,000 square feet of exhibit space at 2014 CES, many with booths reminiscent of the New York Auto Show. Let’s take a look…

Most companies can ruggedize a speaker, give it some mild water-resistance and slap on a “water-resistant” sticker, and call it an outdoor product. BRAVEN has taken a much more serious approach in the new BRV-X and BRAVEN 855s.

Southern rock kings Lynyrd Skynyrd—anchored by founding member Gary Rossington (guitar), original drummer Rickey Medlocke (guitar), and Johnny Van Zant, brother of original frontman, the late Ronnie Van Zant—mesmerized fans with a greatest hits show played to gritty perfection at the Hard Rock last night.

Barbecue manufacturer, Lynx, demonstrated a connected grill that will text you or speak to you when it is time to turn over your food and when it is done to perfection.

Torque, who released the innovative t103z (in-ear headphones with interchangeable sound filtering valves) last year are back at CES this year with a prototype for their next offering, the t402v.

Proclaiming that “the era of smartcookers” has arrived, Instant Pot displayed its new “iPot” – a programmable electric pressure cooker that the company calls “the Industry-First Bluetooth Smart Connected Smartcooker”, which is shown to the right in the photo above. (iPot is a much better - but easily misinterpreted – name for the kitchen appliance.) According to Instant Pot, rather than being a gimmick, Bluetooth was added because the product designers had run out of space on the smartcooker’s control panel to support all the programming features that have been requested by users of the other Instant Pot models. Instant Pot says, “Once the limiting factor of a control panel is removed, the “iPot” app can implement complex cooking functions, expand and upgrade those functions at will. This offers unparalleled simplicity, a huge variety of functions and most importantly a consistent result.” The iPot is expected to be available for sale in the US sometime in the second quarter of 2014. Pricing info was not released. Belkin is also joining the smartcooker revolution. The company announced it has partnered with Jarden Corporation, the maker of Crock-Pot and Mr. Coffee to incorporate Belkin’s WeMo technology into everyday kitchen appliances, such as the WeMo-enabled Crock-Pot Smart Slow Cooker shown on the left in the photo above, which is to released in the spring of 2014. The MSRP will be $99.99.