CES 2016

What do Hunter S. Thomson, Philip K. Dick, and L. Ron Hubbard all have in common? For starters, they all use an initial in their names, and anyone who does that is obviously trying hard to appear to be intellectual. More important, I think they would all have enjoyed attending this year's CES.

Changhong is virtually unknown outside of China, but it's a very big deal there. So why did the company attend CES 2016 (and CES 2015)?

It’s a few days after CES and I’m finally winding down from the relentless press events, press releases, and my feet have forgiven me for the miles of hiking the floors of the Convention Center. My waistline, however, may take a while to recover from the receptions and cocktail parties that manufacturers love to host during CES.

Like many demos at CES 2016, this 2.35:1 (21x9) “scope” curved LCD widescreen Ultra HD design was likely brought in to test its commercial viability with the army of retailers who attend CES. According to the information I received, however, TCL (a Chinese company) does plan to distribute it in Hong Kong, at least initially.

Audio highlights and trends from CES 2016 worth writing home about.

Sony showed one of the coolest audio innovations of the Consumer Electronics Show with the debut of the company’s new PS-HX500 turntable. While the HX500 is a fully functional, belt-driven turntable on its own with an analog output that can feed any audio system, it also features a USB output that can be connected to a computer to create ultra-high resolution, exact digital captures of the album including all of the vinyl's signature sound.

In a technology demonstration Meridian, Jaguar and Intel combined to show how the future of a fully connected life could integrate both your home and automotive away lifestyle. Using integrated technologies that included a pair of Meridian DSP3200 digital speakers and a Sooloos music server, and a Meridian audio system in the Jaguar F-Pace SUV, notifications could be sent from the Jaguar to the TV in the home, and adjustments to the home could be mirrored to the SUV to insure a smooth transition between home and away living.

There were four primary aspects to the tech demo including personal inventory tracking, preferred temperature, seamless media transfer, and second driver notification.