CES 2013

In what can only be described as the single most tedious press conference in the history of CES (just beating out the i’m Watch press conference that, interestingly enough, also took place this year), 40-year-old Chinese company (and self-proclaimed “world’s fifth-largest TV manufacturer), Hisense, announced plans to grow from a regionally known to a globally dominant CE manufacturer making everything from smartphones to smart-home appliances.

Despite the lackluster presentation, Hisense had some exciting things to announce, including two models (84- and 110 inches) in the company’s flagship XT900 series of 2160p Ultra HD U-LED flat-panel Smart TVs (with Google TV). Also unveiled was the XT880 series of 4K Ultra High Definition 3D and Wi-Fi-enabled Smart TVs in 50-, 58-, and 65-inch screen sizes. As with the XT900 TVs, the XT880-series sets incorporate a detachable USB-camera mounted on the top bezel of the TV while the TV’s remote control features a built-in microphone. Hisense also presented a concept prototype of the GF60XT980 glasses-free 3D TV that uses a facial tracking system that “discretely tweaks each sweet spot to give viewers the best experience possible.” No pricing, expected availability, or distribution details were announced.

Noise-cancelling headphones are great for travelling and using in noisy public environments, but they’re not terribly useful when you want to watch a movie in your home theater. There, things like Sony PS3s, NAS drives, satellite receivers, and any other device with a built-in cooling fan that may happen to be sitting in your equipment rack – including, sometimes, cooling fans for the rack, itself – can be irritating sources of background noise that take away from the enjoyment of whatever it is you’re watching. Silentium’s AcoustiRACK ACTIVE (ARA) combines passive noise reduction with the company’s unique and highly effective active noise cancellation technology to achieve pretty incredible noise reduction levels of up to 30 dB. The ARA is specifically designed for data centers with racks of servers and other noisy, heat-producing components and has the ability to dissipate up to 8 KW of heat while also protecting the gear from dust. While I was at the Silentium booth, the folks there demonstrated how well their active noise cancellation technology is by displaying two wooden cabinets with identical exhaust fans built into the top. The first cabinet contained the fan and nothing else – and was appropriately noisy. The second cabinet included Silentium’s circuitry and hardware within the cabinet – and it was very noticeable how much more quiet the fan was compared to the untreated display cabinet. Silentium’s ARA racks (in 15U and 33U sizes) cost multiple thousands of dollars each, but the Silentium representative said the technology could potentially be adapted to home AV racks, as well.

Sookbox showed off a prototype of their modestly priced high-performance home media “personal cloud” server/computer in the Eureka Park section of the Venetian. Sookbox is designed to take all of your media content – whether it’s your personal media, a subscription service, or media available for free from the internet – and host it on a single, unified framework so you can access it anywhere using a smartphone or tablet and allow you to play that content on any target device. Sookbox says it’s different from the typical media server product because of three things: the Sookbox software includes a true internet browser that eliminates the need for proprietary apps; the Sookbox framework devices are all IP addressable and globally accessible; and the Sookbox control app is open-source API, something which will hopefully encourage a great deal of creative development by other companies and even users. The main components of the Sookbox include the Sookbox Server with four HDMI outputs, 16 analog audio outputs, 1.5 TB storage capacity, simultaneous multizone delivery of content, and more. The Sookbox Stream Runner is a small, black-box-style device that provides two-way IP connectivity along with an HDMI connection for a display, 3.5 mm analog audio output, and built-in Wi-Fi. Sookbox says an unlimited number of Stream Runners can connect with any one Sookbox Server. The Sookbox Software is what glues the system together, includes a built-in browser, is iOS, Android, and Windows compatible, and allows for gaming without a location-dependent console. Pricing and final form factor hasn’t been determined, but 50 beta units will go into production later this month.

Manufacturers showed Google TVs and Google TV players with cool new updates and apps slated to roll out by the end of January.