For years now, VRgineers has been making VR headsets for the professional and enterprise market, including for government institutions like NASA. This week at CES, however, the company has unveiled its latest and greatest model yet. It’s still called the XTAL, but this time it comes with a whopping 8K resolution, which provides it with a best-in-class crystal clear VR image.
It boasts other features too, such as foveated rendering capabilities, an AR mixed reality module, and improved lenses, which gives it a very immersive 180-degree field-of-view. I tried it on in a demo at a CES evening event, and I was blown away by how crisp and clear the images were. A VRgineer spokesperson told me that I was trying out a very basic version of a VR simulation designed for NASA astronauts. The controls in front of me were so sharp that I could actually see the tiny letters on the keyboard.
I didn’t have a chance to try the controls out, but it also has eye tracking plus the ability to interact virtual worlds with your gaze, voice commands, plus gesture controls. The gesture controls in particular are thanks to the two Leap Motion sensors embedded underneath the headset.
Starting at around $8,000, the XTAL headset isn’t really meant for you and me. As mentioned, it’s really meant for the enterprise, with applications such as employee safety training. Older versions of the XTAL are already in use at the Department of Defense, the US Navy and, as mentioned, NASA. $8,000 is certainly a lot of money for consumers, but when it comes to training future soldiers and astronauts, that might not be such a bad deal.
At CES this week, Epson introduced the EF-100 mini-laser streaming projector with built-in Android TV. It’s a mouthful, but if you’re into projecting your movies at home, the idea of having an Android TV-powered projector is a much more enticing idea versus regular ol’ Android powering a projector (similar to what Puppy Cube does).
According to Epson, the device appears to have full Google Play access, meaning all of your go-to Android TV apps are available for streaming content. That includes Disney+, Netflix, Amazon Prime, YouTube TV, and all of the others.
As for the actual projection, the EF-100 is capable of projecting an image size of up to 150-inches (max resolution of 1920 x 1080), complete with plenty of color and brightness.
Here are a few of the highlights that Epson points out for the EF-100 projector.
Highlights
Stunning Picture Quality – Imagine an incredibly bright and colorful projected image up to 150 inches on virtually any wall or dedicated screen – even when the lights are on. This is what makes the Epson EF-100 unique and why the EF-100 is quite possibly the most advanced mini-laser projector ever made.
Included Android TV – Built-in Android TV with a simple-to-use remote – including voice search with built-in Google Assistant. Watch all your favorite streaming channels including Netflix, HBO, YouTube, Hulu, ESPN and more. Even stream live TV with apps like YouTube TV. With over 5,000 apps available, there’s always something to watch on your Epson EF-100.
Integrated Audio System – Internal high-quality bass-reflex speaker for impressive audio performance. Additionally, the EF-100 includes a standard 3.5mm stereo output connection with preset tone controls.
Epson MicroLaser Array Projection Technology – Unique multi-array laser diode technology to produce an exceptional level of brightness while significantly enhancing the black density. The result is an exceptionally bright and clear image – far beyond most projectors in this class.
True 3-Chip Projector Design – Advanced 3LCD technology displays 100 percent of the RGB color signal for every frame. This allows for outstanding color accuracy while maintaining excellent brightness, without any “rainbowing” or “color brightness” issues seen with other projection technologies.
Outstanding Brightness – Capable of displaying high-definition content at an exceptional 2,000 lumens of brightness for both color and white content.This not only provides for an exceptional viewing experience but sets a new standard in this class of projection –allowing you to watch content even when the lights are on.
Auto Picture Skew Correction – Depending upon how the Epson EF-100 is oriented, the projector will analyze the projected image and correct the vertical geometry of the picture for a beautiful viewing experience.
Obviously, $1,000 is a lot to spend on an Android TV box, but considering the amount of tech Epson has stuffed into this hardware, it actually sounds pretty tempting.
Thinking about grabbing one for your home theater setup? They’ll be available later this month.
If it wasn’t bad enough that car companies started going to CES to show off technology, now technology companies are going to CES to show off cars. This is the Sony Vision-S concept.
Mario Tama/Getty Images
We don’t believe Sony has any plans to turn this into a production car; it’s a showcase for Sony’s sensors and infotainment.
David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Based on these photos the Vision-S is a fairly attractive sedan. I spy design elements from the Porsche Taycan and Lucid Air.
Sony
The interior isn’t ground-breaking—Byton had a dashboard-width screen on its concept in 2018, and that car goes into production later this year.
The back seats get their own screens.
Sony
Do you think it needs Magic Gate memory sticks?
David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images
It seems like just yesterday I was complaining about CES turning into a car show. Someone must have heard me, because it appears the response from the tech sector was to say “hold my beer and watch this…” On Monday evening in Las Vegas, Sony used the last few minutes of its CES keynote to show off a concept electric vehicle called the Vision-S.
Yes, Sony, maker of Walkmen and Playstations and TVs and so on. And yes, an EV concept car, in this case a sedan that, if you squint, looks a bit like a cross between a Porsche Taycan and a Lucid Air. We don’t believe Sony has any plans to start challenging Tesla in the marketplace or to offer a driving experience beyond hooking a steering wheel up to a PS4. Instead, the Vision-S is a showcase for all the enabling technologies that Sony does have a hand in.
There are sensors—33 of them in total, including high-resolution CMOS optical, solid state lidar, radar, and time-of-flight sensors, all of which are fused together to create an advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) suite that Sony is calling a “Safety Cocoon” (pdf).
The interior similarly showcases the entertainment technology side of Sony’s business. There’s nothing particularly ground-breaking, but it’s all very on trend, including a massive dashboard-spanning display like the Byton M-Byte we looked at on Monday. And if the concept movie is to be believed, the Vision-S happily syncs with your Sony-built handheld and presumably the rest of your Sony-branded digital lifestyle ephemera.
The concept also involved the input of more traditional automotive suppliers like Continental and Bosch, and we believe it uses a pair of 200kW (268hp) electric motors that can propel it to a top speed of 149mph (240km/h), hitting 62mph (100km/h) from a standstill in 4.8 seconds.
Building a PC is scary. There are cables that need to be plugged in, processors that needed to be seated just so, and a whole hodgepodge of components that need to be selected, tested, and carefully installed to get the thing running. One screw up can be costly. The Razer Tomahawk aims to take a huge chunk of the hassle out of building a PC and make the process practically foolproof.
The Tomahawk is possible thanks to Intel, which has a new version of its popular NUC available this year. NUCs are very compact computers produced by Intel. They typically require a little more experience to set up—they have zero software pre-installed—but they’re usually great for tinkering, building a Windows Media Center, or just leveling up from a Raspberry Pi.
Only, in the last couple of years, NUCs have started shifting into more full-fledged computers instead of a mere tinkerer’s delight. The latest NUC is arriving in a few different designs, including one where the motherboard, CPU, RAM, and storage are all put on a single PCI-E card. Which makes them perfect for people looking to build their own PC.
First, you pick the NUC you’d prefer, detailing RAM (up to 64GB of DDR4), storage capacity, and which 9th-gen processor from Intel (up to an i9) you want. Then you choose your GPU (up to a Nvidia RTX 2080 Super), plug both into the available PCI-E slots in the case, and plug in the power cables coming out of the accompanying power supply. Slot it all into place and you’re done. As shown in the GIF below, it takes 30 seconds or less depending on the case.
Gif: Therese McPherson (Gizmodo), Andrew Liszewski (Gizmodo)
It’s clearly a lot easier than building a whole-ass PC. Though there are limitations. When I build a PC, I get to fastidiously choose every component, from the fans to the brand of SSD. Razer’s solution isn’t nearly as customizable.
Yet I think a lot of people won’t care—especially people eager to get into PC gaming but reluctant to learn about every element of the machine they’re playing on. Instead of worrying about storage, RAM, or processor, those of you who just want to get on with it could just buy the whole kit and then spend your energy worrying about the GPU—perhaps the most crucial component in a gaming PC.
Razer also claims that many of the components, including the SSD, RAM, and fans) in the NUC will be user upgradable. So if you’re initially nervous about upgrading, you can take your time, upgrading piecemeal as you learn the system.
The Tomahawk seems like a potentially affordable half step between the fully built PCs you can buy from places like Alienware or Maingear, and the super customizable ones you can build yourself. But how affordable remains to be seen—Razer isn’t discussing price yet.
Intel is also pretty quiet on pricing. While Razer has turned the NUC into a super-cool full PC attached to a PCI-E card, Intel’s also releasing a more traditional NUC.
Sunday evening, Intel showed off its own Ghost Canyon NUC. While most NUCs tend to be the size of a Roku box, the Ghost Canyon is large enough that it can include a PCI-E slot for adding one’s own GPU, effectively turning it into a gaming PC even smaller than those that rely on a micro ITX motherboard.
The Ghost Canyon NUC.Photo: Alex Cranz (Gizmodo)
The Ghost Canyon isn’t the first gamer-focused NUC from Intel. I was positively enamored by the i7-8809G two years ago. That NUC shared the big skull on the case but paired the Intel 8th-gen processor with an AMD GPU. Obviously, the big difference is you can use your own GPU with the latest gamer-focused NUC from Intel.
That being said, judging by the size of the case, a Nvidia RTX 2080Ti and other longer GPUs won’t fit. You’ll need something smaller (and less powerful) to pair with the 9th-gen i9 processor inside.
As with Razer, Intel isn’t discussing pricing yet. Both products are expected to ship later this year, and we will review them as soon as we can.
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Alienware has shown off a new prototype during CES 2020, and it looks an awful lot like the Nintendo Switch. The Concept UFO–which, as the name suggests, is still a concept that the company is working with rather than a finalized product–is a portable system with a screen that can detach from the controllers on either side of it, much like the Joy-Cons slide off the Switch.
CNET has gone hands-on with the Concept UFO, and said that, compared to many other prototypes shown at CES 2020, it “looks and feels finished, with a high degree of polish.” The prototype consists of a small Windows 10 tablet with two attached controllers on either side, and like the Switch it can output to a bigger screen as well.
There’s no news of a release date, or even definite confirmation that Alienware will release this as a consumer product, according to CNET, but they report that World War Z was “surprisingly playable” on the Concept UFO.
