Some Of The Best UK Tech Start-ups To Watch Out For From CES2017

[Katerine Aldrige]

In this wide-ranging interview, she shares her biggest lessons in her journey from policy-maker to consultant to start-up director, where she wants to see technology applied more aggressively, advice for companies looking to expand into Southeast Asia, and insights for both policy-makers and technologists from both sides of the fence. Besides being a good friend, Xinwei is someone I admire deeply for her work ethic, depth of thought and calm under pressure. Definitely someone to watch ?

The truth is that good ideas are everywhere, especially in fast-growing startups where everyone is obsessing over big questions such as how to win market share, how to serve customers better, or how to leapfrog the competition. What makes an idea truly great is elegant, flawless execution that delivers outsized results.

Some of the best UK tech start-ups to watch out for from CES2017

Download File https://lomogd.com/2yLR2z

I would love to see innovations in areas that facilitate independent living (mobility solutions, health monitoring and remote caregiving of some sort, seamless chronic care), reduce the burden on caregivers, and that use the internet to create active communities or learning opportunities for the elderly.

TPCast's wireless adapter for the Vive (with a version also coming for the Oculus Rift) is very real, and it really works. It's arriving in the second quarter of this year, and it streams audio and video to the PC-connected Vive headset, removing the last tether between my VR gear and the rest of the physical world.

It's the best example of wireless VR I've ever seen, and it turns the Vive into a true Holodeck experience. But, at $300 for a snap-on thing that sits on your head and also requires a separate battery pack on a tether, it's gear on top of gear. The battery lasts either two or five hours, depending on how big the battery pack you buy.

TPCast's solution is one of several coming this year: another, an Oculus/Vive wireless adapter from KwikVR, is also coming (I didn't get a chance to try KwikVR at CES, though). These gadgets are building onto existing hardware. But, amazingly, it really works well. I didn't feel any lag, and being totally cable-free changed the way VR felt. I was still smothered in a helmet and other gear, but it felt more relaxed, more natural.

All I could keep thinking was, when will this be built into the actual headset? Last year's solution to wireless PC VR was strapping on a backpack PC. This year, it's an expensive wireless dongle. A better answer might not be coming anytime soon. More advanced wireless tech like WiGig, that could handle this level of wireless video and data throughput, isn't here quite yet, and it's unclear what building such powerful wireless into a headset would mean for adding bulk or batteries.

In mobile VR, wireless has already been available: slot your phone in, and you're ready. But mobile VR currently lacks walk-across-the-room positional tracking, or "six degrees of freedom." That means you can't lean forward, or go for a stroll. Instead, with Gear VR or Daydream, you sit and turn your head. But it's coming, thanks to possibilities from Google's depth-sensing Tango cameras combining with Daydream View VR in phones like the Asus Zenfone AR. Qualcomm's vision for mobile VR powered by its new Snapdragon processors allows for walking around too, provided you have a wide-angle lens on your phone.

In Qualcomm's Power Rangers demo, walking around was halfway decent. If a cheap phone VR headset let me walk around like this for a few basic apps, I'd be satisfied in a pinch. It's not great, but it works.

Intel has a number of VR and AR initiatives, from creating VR content like immersive 3D video to Project Alloy, a headset that promises to capture real-world data with embedded cameras, then blends that into virtual reality.

Project Alloy isn't like HoloLens. Instead of the HoloLens' see-through visor that projects images so they seem like they're floating in real space, Alloy looks like a regular VR headset, with no see-through element. It's bulky, too. But Alloy is a full Windows PC, built on Intel's Kaby Lake chips. It's compatible with Windows Holographic, Microsoft's cross-platform initiative to support multiple VR, AR and mixed-reality devices in the next Windows 10 update this year. It's a reference design for how mixed (or, per Intel, "merged") reality headsets could be built on Windows hardware.

I played a simple shooter demo during my time at CES in Las Vegas, where I held a small wireless motion remote and aimed at flying drones as I ran around a little base station on some sci-fi planet. Project Alloy could track my walking with its built-in cameras and sensors, offering six degrees of freedom via its cameras along with tilt and gyro sensors.

Alloy could also scan my room with its cameras, theoretically adding my furniture and room dimensions into VR. But it doesn't seem like it'll happen in real-time. The room scan had already happened before my demo started, and I was in a prepared demo room with a table and sofas that were set by Intel. Even then, the objects showed up as rough polygon blobs, not realistic things. I wasn't convinced it would really merge reality and VR in ways that could happen in real time dynamically. And as a wireless demo, Project Alloy didn't seem like it was delivering VR at anywhere near the smooth graphics of what's already available on Vive or Oculus Rift. That's not a surprise, considering Alloy has nowhere near the graphics power of a VR-ready desktop PC.

But it did give me a new appreciation for what HoloLens already does. Microsoft's wireless stand-alone mixed-reality headset has been in developer's hands for months, and it does a pretty good job overlaying graphics and games into the real world -- and tracking motion in any space.

VR is on its way to wireless this year in some exploratory ways, but I don't see any evidence that it'll be really ready in great products for a while. But, clearly, lots of companies are trying to get there from a lot of different directions at once.

There are plenty of indications that will change, and TPCast's adapter could be a magic solution for a lot of people. But you'll need expensive dongles, patience, or be ready to experiment with funky new phones or hardware. Polished wireless VR might be a 2018 thing. But it's going to happen, and it'll be great when it gets here.

(CNN) - Holiday shopping follows much the same pattern each year: November quickly turns into December, and you still have no idea what gifts to buy. If you're shopping for a traveler, though, we've got you covered.

Every year, one of my favorite events at CES is the Last Gadget Standing competition, where online and on-site participants vote for their favorite products. This year's event showcased a wide variety of concepts, from new cameras and Wi-Fi systems for the home to a cycling helmet and even a home beer-making device.

If tech had a Superbowl, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) would be the likely arena. The annual tech conference showcases the top technology startups and companies, and is often the source for new product announcements and forecasts on emerging tech trends.

CES is always good for a new crop of home-automation hubs, and CES 2017 is no exception. We'll see scores of new IoT boxes from wily vets like SmartThings (Samsung) and start-ups in Eureka Park. This year, look for devices with built-in cameras, artificial intelligence and predictive algorithms, voice control, security monitoring, and sensors.

You may think CES is mainly for high-tech people, primarily men, and while that may be true, if you know where to look you can find some great new tech gadgets designed for moms. I found a 21st-century baby stroller called the Origami from 4moms. "What's really cool about this stroller is it has power onboard," said Teresa Hammonds.

Het smart home bedrijf Zmodo introduceerde tijdens de CES 2017 in Las Vegas een berg met nieuwe smart-home-producten. Hier een kleine greep uit de lijn van de nieuwe Zmodo producten. En van de producten die Zmodo heeft uitgebracht is Beam.

Throughout the years, CES has become one of the most important tech and business events in the world, where innovations such as the VCR and the CD player were announced for the first time. This year, robotics, virtual reality, drones and smart home appliances are among some of the most-anticipated.

Zmodo's Torch Pro is a monitoring solution for the front porch, consisting of a color-changing lightbulb with an embedded camera and a doorbell accessory. Users can change their light's color, answer the door, receive motion alert clips, and record to the cloud all through the easy-to-use Zmodo app.

Security cameras provide an easy way to keep tabs on your home while you're away, but most only let you see a slice of the action. With the Zmodo Pivot ($149.50) you get a sweeping 360-degree view of the room in which it is installed, as well as temperature and humidity sensors, a pair of door/windows sensors, and motion detection with push notifications and triggered recording.

We've come a long way from the days of pale beige IP webcams with wonky interfaces and limited recording times. Today's webcams, like the Zmodo Pivot, are motion-sensing, low-light seeing, and notification-rich cylinders that hide out in secret places and store video for days at a time.

The home monitoring and surveillance market has been slightly saturated as of late. Companies are offering pretty much the same things, the same old devices, just with minute differences in features and aesthetics. It can get pretty boring at times. So, when a brand likes Zmodo comes along, the industry stops and listens.

Although we haven't done any Zmodo reviews on any of the other Zmodo surveillance cameras, their latest introduction in DIY wireless security cameras, the Zmodo Pivot Security Camera is so exceptional, it warrants consideration as an addition to almost any home security security system.

7fc3f7cf58