Kingston Wireless had a very successful time at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas; we enjoyed seeing all the latest gadgets, met a number of potential new customers and were very pleased to see several products on display that we helped to develop (including one that has one several “Best of CES” awards).

This year’s show had a record 2.0 million square feet of occupied exhibition space, upward of 3,200 exhibitors and an attendance of 150,000+. Taking centre stage were 4K HDTVs and curved screens (with 3D TVs much less prominent than last year). Samsung, for instance, were demonstrating their 105-inch curved 4K HDTV that includes a movie-theatre aspect ratio of 21×9, and boasts 11 million pixels.

Complementing the TV vendors, there were also many manufacturers of audio gear present, with products including a number of innovative new Bluetooth® speakers and multi-room systems.

Connected cars also had a big presence at this year’s show, with a record nine car manufacturers showing off their latest technology (and thus also signalling the growing importance of consumer technology in modern cars). In addition, various suppliers including Google were highlighting the increasing integration between cars and smartphones.

The most exciting products of the show for us, though, were the wearables and other appcessories. Of these, wearables are dominated by fitness gadgets but also include smartwatches, sports gear and augmented reality glasses. The non-wearable appcessories include robots and toys that integrate with a smartphone to provide a control interface. Both of these are areas were there is still lots of scope for new innovation and a vast potential market.

Bluetooth SIG Announces Finalists For The 2014 Bluetooth® Breakthrough Awards

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) have announced the finalists for the 2014 Bluetooth® Breakthrough Awards. Congratulations to all the finalists (as listed below). An overall winner, along with three category winners, will be announced at Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2014 in Barcelona, Spain on the 23rd February.

Breakthrough Products

• 94Fifty Smart Sensor Basketball (InfoMotion Sports Technologies): The 94Fifty® Smart Sensor Basketball is a first-in-class Bluetooth® Low Energy (previously known as Bluetooth® Smart) fitness product that measures and diagnoses both the frequency and quality of key skills critical to building confidence, versatility, and success on the basketball court.
• Nonin Model 3230 Bluetooth® Smart Finger Pulse Oximeter (Nonin Medical Inc): The Nonin Model 3230 is the world’s first clinical Bluetooth Low Energy finger pulse oximeter that measures blood oxygen, pulse rate, and other pulse signal characteristics, and provides the information to help the patient, personal caregiver, and the medical professional.
• Swirl In-Store Mobile Marketing Platform (Swirl Networks): Swirl helps retailers leverage the power of mobile via Bluetooth Low Energy to transform the in-store shopping experience and increase retail store sales.
• Anki Drive (Anki): Anki Drive is a racing game you play on your living room floor. Unlike remote control or slot cars, Anki Drive cars are souped up with robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) to achieve levels of speed and precision on the track not otherwise possible. The cars are constantly sending and receiving commands from the iOS device, all using Bluetooth Low Energy.
• DISTO D810 touch (Leica-Geosystems AG): The Leica DISTO™ D810 touch is the first laser distance meter with a touch screen and the ability to take measurements with pictures. The high functionality is completed by the smart free app “Leica DISTO™ sketch,” which uses Bluetooth Low Energy to communicate.

Breakthrough Applications

• Polar Team app (Polar Electro Oy): With its Bluetooth® Low Energy technology, excellent range of transmission that can cover even a large arena and user-friendly app design, Polar Team is a unique solution for indoor sports teams. Polar Team is the only solution with which you can track the performance, intensity, and heart rate of an entire team in real-time without a separate base station – all you need are the sensors and an iPad.
• Automatic (Automatic Labs): Automatic is an app that connects your car’s onboard computer and iPhone through a small hardware accessory, which plugs into your car’s data port (found in all cars sold in the USA since 1996). Your car and phone connect using the Bluetooth Smart Ready device whenever you drive, even if your phone never leaves your pocket.
• Mobilis framework (Mobili): Mobilis helps developers connect more than 50 different Bluetooth®, Bluetooth® Low Energy and internal devices like sensors, buttons, cameras, smartwatches, actuators and is designed as single or multi sensor/user platform.

Breakthrough Prototypes

• Skulpt Aim (Skulpt): Aim™ is an innovative device for measuring body composition and analyzing individual muscles. Any measurements taken will automatically sync, via Bluetooth® Low Energy, to the personal online dashboard.
• H2O-Pal (Out of Galaxy, LLC): H2O-Pal monitors water intake and reminds the user to drink water when needed.
• Smart Plug (BeeWi): The BeeWi Smart Plug is a plug that you can control by smartphone. You can easily switch on/off your electric devices and program them from the app.
• The Nymi (Bionym): Bionym’s premier product, the Nymi, is a wristband that authenticates the identity of the wearer using their ECG (electrocardiogram). Once authenticated, the Nymi is able to communicate the wearer’s identity to nearby devices and systems using Bluetooth Low Energy.

Breakthrough Ideas (Students)

• Catherin Keithline, PianoPedal: A small, portable foot pedal that runs the sheet music on your tablet to the next page.
• Shiva Nathan, Arduino based Bluetooth Transhumeral Prosthesis: A low cost, brain-controlled interface (BCI) transhumeral prosthetic that fits onto amputees’ hands.
• Betty Quinn, Spectrum: A wearable device that tracks pulse and perspiration to give better insight into anxiety disorders, for patients and doctors.
• Temeka Gongs, Kool-Fridge: A sensor device that snaps onto storage container lids to monitor the chemicals released from foods to ensure food is still edible.
• Savannah Cofer, Bicycle SuperVision: An appcessory solution allowing bicyclists to have 360° awareness of his or her surroundings.