Gaming News From CES
The Consumer Electronics Show or ‘CES’ as it is better known has recently ended its 53rd annual event in Las Vegas. The 2020 show attracted more than 175,000 attendees and generated millions of words of press coverage for exhibitors.
Over the past 20 years, the importance of the CES show has grown for gaming console manufacturers, and the 2020 event promised to deliver exciting news for gamers. However, many felt underwhelmed by the announcements from the leading platforms.
Sony showed up in Las Vegas with industry insiders expecting a significant announcement from the company. However, there was widespread disappointment when Sony unveiled nothing more spectacular than the new PS5 logo! Although, the company announced that it had sold more than 5 million PlayStation VR headsets. It is giving the PS console a significant USP over rival Xbox. The Microsoft console is yet to embrace the VR gaming space and is already losing ground to PlayStation, and the Facebook backed Oculus headset.
Virtual Reality was one of the tech niches which did generate a buzz on the floor of CES. Pico revealed its prototype lightweight VR headset. The new smaller glasses offer a decent resolution and field of view, focus adjustment, and motion controller in a compact form-factor that’s light enough to stay on your head. What makes the Pico VR Glasses smaller compared to headsets like Quest? Well, the most significant factor is the ‘pancake’ lenses, which Pico has developed. These new lenses allow the overall design of the VR headset to be more compact. They actually resemble glasses rather than a big black box strapped to the users head like traditional VR sets.
Nintendo has dominated the handheld gaming space since it first launched the GAMEBOY 8-bit handheld game console back in 1989. Nevertheless, that dominance might be about to end. Alienware, a company, best known for building desktop PCs, showed off their Concept UFO prototype. It looks a whole lot like a Nintendo Switch, except that its a full Windows 10 gaming PC that can play nearly any major PC game – interesting!
Away from gaming and consoles, a few other pieces of tech caught our attention. The first being the Samsung Ballie, this little robot rolls around the floor following the user, this hybrid combination between a smart home device and robotic companion is super useful. It can function as a fitness assistant, send updates on your home and take photos.
Segway also displayed its new concept for personal transportation. The Segway S-Pod is a two-wheeled self-balancing chair that can hit speeds of up to 24 miles per hour. It looks odd, but I can see this being super useful in airports, hospitals, and giving more freedom to the disabled.
