Family Tech Blog

Tag: robots

The Family Tech CES2020 Preview

Every year at CES, tens of thousands of people gather to see the latest that technology has to offer. Every tech media outlet covers CES. They’ll be talking about everything from virtual reality to massage chairs. This is your Family Tech CES2020 preview. There are a lot of interesting topics being covered at CES this year. Here are some that I think are the most interesting and some that are specifically important for families like yours.

TV Talk

Welcome to the age of the 8K television. That’s right, we’ve skipped from 4k resolution to the mind bendingly clear 8k quality. Some say that the human eye can’t even discern that kind of clarity but it sure would be fun to find our for ourselves. The 8k tvs from LG, Samsung, and Sony tout such amazing tech that you need a screen larger that 65 inches to even get the full benefit.

Voice-Enabled Digital Assistants on Everything

Voice assistants are in everything. It’s in your car, your TV remote, even your toilet and shower. That is going to continue at CES 2020. Look to find voice activated technology in more and more gadgets this year. Even our kids are being offered toys and gadgets with voice command tech built in. Voice Assistants aren’t new but seeing them integrated into everything else only proves that this concept is here to stay.

Crazy New Gadgets

There is always some crazy stuff at CES. Some is pretty unimportant but interesting. Some things are said to be the new face of technology but just seem strange to me. Foldable phones fit into that category, so do many of the robot offerings at the conference. Either way I’ll be looking for the most amusing and interesting gadgets to show you at this year’s CES.

5G Technology

5G is a bit of a buzz phrase these days but there is some actual technology behind the term. This fast, “over the air,” data connection is finally starting to spread for real. Many major cities are adding 5G to their infrastructure. It’s expensive and coverage is spotty but wherever it works, it’s lightning fast. The reason 5G is so critical is the role it will play in the roll out of self driving car technology. The connection speed that 5G offers is critical to the success of the self driving revolution.

Self Driving Car Technology

Self Driving Cars are always the bell of the ball at CES. This year will be no different with more and more companies finding ways to implement the improving technology. Not only are the cars themselves a big deal but the tech around mapping, connection speed, and entertainment inside your self driving car is becoming a major reality as well. It isn’t easy to hitch a ride in one of these vehicles at CES but I’m going to try my hardest this year.

What Parents Should Know

The future of technology is always going to include products to entice our children. Coding toys, games, gadgets, and safety tech are all being highlighted at CES2020 and I’ll be there to show you what to look out for and what to look forward to. As I look toward this year’s conference, here is a family tech preview of CES2020.

Ed-Tech

As highlighted last year, education technology is a going to be all over the show floor at CES. I’ll show your new coding games and toys as well as virtual and augmented reality classrooms. Robots will play a major role in training students for future technology jobs as well. Keep your browser open to the Family Tech Blog to see more as the conference starts up next week.

Pet-Tech

The furry members of our family have a place at CES as well. Dog toilets, cat toys that move across the ground, connected leashes, and even fenceless boundaries highlight the pet tech industry at CES. You’d be surprised how much tech can help people care for their pets and help pets care for their people. You probably wouldn’t be surprised, however, at some of the goofy pet tech that shows up at CES as well.

Smart-home/ Home Security

Everyone’s homes are becoming smarter and smarter, even if the way we use the technology isn’t so wise. Technology that can keep our home network and connected devices safe is crucial and thus, a major factor at CES. I’ll be spending quite a bit of time chatting with developers about their products intended to keep your data secure. Some even offer new parental control solutions as well.

Connected Toys

So many of our toys are connected to the internet now. Games, robots, even racetracks are finding ways to connect your tablet or smartphone. You are given an online account in order to fully play with these toys. This is introducing our kids to use of the internet earlier and earlier. What products are coming up that feature connected toys? I’ll gave updated information for you from CES next week.

Avast All-in-One Security and Safety – Omni

I’m very excited to test out one specific piece of family safety technology. Avast’s Omni device is an all-in-one way to protect your network from hackers, malware, spyware, viruses, and even set up parental controls and GPS alerts. I’m excited to have a hands on look at Omni while I visit their booth at CES. I’ll also be able to hear from their VP of Product Deliver as she shares at the Family Tech Summit on Thursday of the conference.

A Long Six Days

Hope you enjoyed this family tech CES2020 preview. This event is a lot of work and makes for long days. It is, however, some of the most useful and rewarding work I do all year. The new tech, updates on the latest trends, and marketing strategy research gives me such great information to pass along to you, parents. Thank you to those who have partnered with BecauseFamily for this trip to Las Vegas. If you would like to partner with our organization just visit our Partnership page. You can follow every detail of my adventure to CES2020 on our Facebook Page, our Instagram, and on YouTube. Thank you again, see you soon, from Vegas!

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January 1, 2020
The Weirdest Tech Trends at CES

Attending CES for my second year gave me a completely different outlook on the experience. Not only was I less interested in walking around the major company’s booths to see them talk about the same stuff they were marketing last year, I also noticed some trends that I’m hoping will go away. As I will say in my conclusion, I am a huge fan of new tech and usually want to own the latest products. Some stuff, however, was too silly even for me. It was also too silly not to share with you.

Smart Pet Tech

We have had tech for our pets for quite a while now. Microchips identify our dogs and their owners and can help us locate them when they’re lost. Many products have come out that allow us to keep our pets fed without actually having to remember to put food in a bowl more than once or twice a week. It seems, however, that some of the latest pet tech exists just to hop on the trend train. Especially the trend of calling your product smart.

Dogness JS04 is a smart dog leash. Yep, a retractable dog leash that apparently has enough tech in it to be called “smart.” Truthfully, all this leash does is allow you to connect a speaker, a light, or a container for your poop bag. Other pet tech gave you useful tools like a self cleaning litter box, doggie doors that only open for your dog, and even an indoor doggie toilet. Much of the pet tech, however, was just created to sell something that they could call smart.

Companion Robots

Apparently you need a robot companion. Not only do you need one, so do your kids. The CES show floor was loaded with small robots for your kids and many of them were simply plush toys with a built in screen and/or voice assistant. Some companion robots will tell you stories, some help translate languages, many of them dance, and even more can be used to control the smart devices in your home. Most of these companions require you to look at or even touch the screen on their face to use them and only a couple had any parental screen time control built in.

My question is why do my kids need a robot as a companion? I have four children, the one thing they do not need is another companion. While I guess an expensive stuffed animal with a voice assistant in it is still cheaper than having more kids, can this toy with cheap artificial intelligence actually be a friend to my child? Maybe it can help my kid learn some things, maybe it can be fun, but in reality it’s never going to be more than a toy, is it? The people developing these robots speak of them like they’re the new pet. Like your family is going to buy, name, and care for a stuffed animal robot like it does your dog Fifi…I don’t think so.

Voice Assistant Bathroom

Haven’t you ever just walked into your bathroom and wished you could tell your toilet seat to open and it does what you say? Remember the last time to went to the bathroom and just wished the inside of your shower or toilet would glow with green LEDs? No? I haven’t wished any of these things either but apparently CES isn’t about giving people what they wish they had but for showcasing things that people will assume they need since it’s a thing now. I understand that for someone who physically can’t bend down and lift a toilet seat, this product is a game changer. That’s awesome! My point is that they aren’t branding and marketing this tech as health products, this is considered high end technology for your home. I’m sure many will consider it just that and buy a glowing toilet so they can impress their friends at their next cocktail party.

Foldable Smartphones

Some products come out because the technology required to make the product is just so darn cool. The foldable phone is one such product. OLED screens are super duper thin and can work while rolled, folded, and bent. They’re being put into televisions and wall hangings and even entertainment centers in which the tv screen rolls up inside the table and then rises at the flip of a switch. As I played with a couple of foldable screens at CES I saw some neat uses for them. I wasn’t impressed with the foldable phone though. The features were pretty neat I guess but I’m just not interested in one tech device becoming all of my tech devices rolled (literally) into one package. If I have a tablet and a phone and a laptop I use them for different things and want them to be different things. I don’t need my tablet to fold down into a phone or vice versa. I truly think this trend is exactly that, trendy, and I don’t think we’ll be talking about foldable phones in five years.

I Still Love New Tech

Some of the trends you see at a trade show like CES are ridiculous but the cream truly rises to the top. The market tends to balance out and eliminate products that are too silly to survive. I couldn’t help but laugh, though, as I walked the show floor and looked at the majority of the booths selling smart versions of things that don’t really need to be “smart.” It was entertaining to see products that were mind bogglingly new at last year’s CES be basically copied and rebranded by other, smaller companies. That’s the way things work, I get it, but I see why some tech writers only cover CES every other year.

What tech trends do you think are silly? What are interesting to you? Would you like your toilet to obey your voice commands? Comment below and tell me the reason you think that “smart” product I think is silly would absolutely change your life.

January 24, 2019
The Consumer Electronics Show Tells the Future for Your Family’s Home

CES is an annual event put on by the Consumer Electronics Association. All of the major companies are in Las Vegas showing off their latest technology. Smartphones, smart bicycles, smart watches, smart everything. Today kicked off the event with the press day. Every major company had a chance to promo their most impressive new tech for the members of the media who were in attendance. I had my eye on those press conferences and I thought I’d share a few of the innovations that I felt could be relevant for your family. While they may not be products that protect your kids online, they’re definitely going to impact your life and tell us a few things about the direction our society is going.

In Your Home

– Washer and Dryer

How lame is it that I am so excited about this washer and dryer? Seriously though, these things are super cool. Samsung’s Flexwash + Dry features a “twin-wash/dry” system that will let you do four loads at once. The top load washer built in to Flexwash will allow you to wash a seperate smaller load than what’s in the front loader and the dryer has a similar feature to allow you to dry at different temperatures for each compartment. Pretty sweet. Especially for a family like ours that does laundry for six.

– Countertop Induction Oven

This oven by Panasonic is said to cook most recipes in minutes that would normally take an hour or more. This product reminded me of the old Disney “Home of Tomorrow” movies.

– Audio Equipment

While it’s a bit silly to me, our audio listening tech has digressed a bit back to the vinyl age. Panasonic is highlighting their newest turntable and speaker set that provides some of the clearest audio quality around.

– TV “Wallpaper”

While it’s not actually wallpaper, it’s pretty close. LG’s OLED televisions are the width of cardboard. They are so light they can stick to your wall with magnets. My brother, who used to install entertainment systems for Best Buy, told me about the possibilities of OLED years ago and it looks like it’s all coming to pass.

In Your Car

– AI Assistants

Vehicle after vehicle from Chrysler, Toyota, and Hyndai were showing off their ability to use facial and speech recognition to customize the driver experience. They also had new features that would sync with every technology under the sun.

– Automation

The vehicles highlighted at CES all featured some level of automation. Yes, that’s right. Self driving. Chrysler even had a minivan to show off. Most of them are using “Level 3 Automation” which requires the driver to intervene in certain circumstances. The cars use mirrors, cameras, radar, and gps to drive itself and communicate with other cars and the road infrastructure (where available.) We may not be looking at hovercars or Jetson’s space vehicles yet but having to “intervene” to help your car drive iteslf sounds pretty darn futuristic to me.

Just for Fun

– Drones

Selfie sticks are out and selfie drones are the new thing. That’s right, this drone will identify with its user and follow his/her face, taking a selfie whenever they do a certain hand motion. There are drones all over CES with different camera qualities and flying abilities. Some with VR and some with AR, it seems that drones are becoming more of an entertainment item now than a photo/video professional tool.

– Robots

The robots I saw people talking about on press day fell into all different categories. There were some that were for hospitality, some had AI for your smarthome system, there was even one that is designed to help kids with disabilities overcome some of their development issues. Robots are always, always, cool.

– Virtual/Augmented Reality

Finally, this VR thing seems to be staying around. It seems every smartphone manufacturer is providing a way to turn their device into a Virtual Reality headset and the products being promoted at CES were no different. There were new gloves, headsets, bikes, and even a pair of VR shoes that let you feel the virtual world with your feet. Augmented reality was featured at CES as well with a device that will help you find your keys and exercise bikes and other workout equipment.

Thoughts From Day 1

You didn’t see any products on this post that are designed to help your family be safer online but you did see a collection of new tech that proves our homes are becoming more and more connected to the digital world. When your washing machine and exercise bike are using as much computer tech as your smartphone, you know we’re at the point of no return. Some folks wish they had been born years earlier when things were “simpler.” Well, it looks like we are going to have to just get on board or get left behind. Things are progressing towards digital everything faster and faster.

As we raise our children it is important to provide them with the kinds of tools that will help them get ahead in life. Computers designed to help kids learn and exercise equipment that can use their love of gaming to entice them to be more active are tools that can be a blessing and not a burden to our children. Our job is to regulate and even curate their use of these new technological achievements. We must understand what tech they have and what it’s capable of. If we get left behind then we aren’t just putting ourselves at stake, we are putting their safety on the line as well.

I think much of the new technological items being featured for consumer purchase are pretty amazing. This first day of CES has convinced me that some of what I thought was a fad isn’t going away. I recommend you check back in tomorrow and keep your eye on our instagram and twitter as I continue to follow the action at CES and highlight anything I think may be relevant for your family.

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January 4, 2017