1- Smartphone
While CES is not traditionally the benchmark trade show for the smartphonesa few months before the Mobile World Congressone model has clearly caught the public's eye: the Royole FlexPaithe first smartphone with folding screen in the world. We briefly held it in our hands and were impressed by its 7.8-inch OLED screen which, when deployed, acts as a tablet of fairly generous size, while folded up like a wallet, you get a dual screen with a large folded section, which is quite usable and flattering. However, the software used to recompose the pages is sometimes slow and the device seems fragile, even though the manufacturer claims that it can be folded 200,000 times without any problem. It is due to be launched in Europe later this year, at a price of around €1,100. Samsung has also announced a smartphone with a foldable screen, but it's still a dream... In another genre, the Nubia Xwith two screens separate cameras - one front-facing and one rear-facing, for perfect selfies - has not yet been announced in France.
Another presentation at CES 2019, the latest generation from LG, the V40 ThinQIt has 3 camera lenses on the back, with 3 different focal lengths: wide-angle, standard and telephoto. Again, no official announcement for France yet.
La 5G is also on everyone's lips, and around thirty models have been announced with the dedicated Qualcomm X50 chip.
Finally, the protection Since the protection of a smartphone is important for regular business trips, a number of new products were presented by the many case suppliers, who vied with each other in their ingenuity to stand out from the crowd. For example, Speck offers hulls with antibacterial coating and feature a practical retractable handle, so you can hold your smartphone firmly or place it in a stable position to watch a video.
Shippers are also changing, with the widespread use of the wireless charging to the universal Qi standard, or faster charging than the Apple chargers supplied with iPhones, with models from Mophie or Tech21.
2- Laptop computer
The award formost spectacular laptop of this CES 2019 certainly goes to the Asus ZenBook S13, with its screen covering 97 % of the possible surface thanks to a novel notch on the outside of the screen. As a result, its 13.9-inch full HD screen has minimal borders of just 2.5 mm. Enough to ensure a very modern look and maximum compactness. An aluminium chassis, 1.1 kg, full connectivity and an 8th-generation i7 processor: these are the arguments in favour of this top-of-the-range PC sold for €1,399 from spring onwards. There's also a new, ultra-light Acer Swift 7 (just 1kg), which is now more powerful, very discreet in use (no fan) and boasts 10 hours' battery life.
Le Dell XPS 13 has also been updated, with the camera positioned at the top of the screen rather than at the bottom, which is more effective. For its part, Huawei presents the world premiere of its Matebook 13which deliberately mimics the MacBook Air. Derived from the MateBook X Pro, it makes do with USB-C connectivity, just like... Apple. It even takes on Apple's shortcomings to copy them even better. It also has a backlit keyboard, a glass trackpad and a 13-inch touchscreen. No release date has yet been announced.
Finally, with the reduction in the number of connection ports available on computers, particularly from Apple, the solutions for USB-C hubs are becoming more and more compact and complete, like the Nucleum from Kingston (USB-C, USB 3.1, HDMI, SDHC, micro SD). Storage, Western Digital has launched a new range of Extreme Pro portable SSDs, made from aluminium and rubber, with capacities ranging from 500MB to 2TB.
3- Audio
Once again, the customised sound is one of the key trends at this year's CES. Las Vegas. Starting with the brand Creative (Singapore), which is launching its Super X-Fi for headphones: a small dedicated amplifier that plugs in between the smartphone and the headphone cable. The idea is to make the sound appear much further away from the ears (using holographic technology) than it would in conventional headphones, as if it were coming from a live performance. What's more, a specific application enables the sound to be better adapted to the wearer's morphology by using simple photos to model the unique shapes of the ears and face (yes, this also counts in the acoustics of headphones!). The result is astonishing, and can be adapted to all types of wired headphones. From his side, Sony is working on a solution called 360 Reality AudioIn the future, this will mean complete immersion in a music source.
Another strong point, particularly appreciated on planes or trains, or at any time when you want to isolate yourself and create a bubble around yourself: the active noise reduction headphones are legion. Among the most ambitious brands to challenge the segment's benchmarks are Bose and Sony - whose WH-1000XM3 has just been announced as Alexa-compatible - as well as initiatives by Jabra (Elite 85h with artificial intelligence, 32 h of batteries and access to all personal assistants), JBL (Live 650 BTNC), Audio Technica (ATH-ANC900BT), Beyerdynamic (Lagoon ANC), Building or even Skullcandyall present in this valuable market for frequent travellers.
Finally, for those who want to take advantage of a relaxing break in a hotel to enjoy its swimming pool, the brand Aftershokza specialist in bone-conduction headphones that don't block the ear canal, is presenting at CES 2019 a new bone-conduction headphone that doesn't block the ear canal. waterproof model with integrated music player (4 GB memory): the Xtrainerz.
Of course, the small speakers There are plenty of models that are easy to carry and useful for hands-free conferencing or simply relaxing with some quality music once you've arrived at your destination. We're thinking of the tiny, colourful models from the French company Lexon (Mino).
4- Miscellaneous
At CES 2019, France's Withings presented some very striking new products, including a watch, the Move ECGwhich can perform an electrocardiogram, as well as a voltage meter with integrated ECG, the BPM Corewhich received a CES 2019 Innovation Award. The third new product is an inexpensive (€69.95) analogue connected watch (Move) with a record autonomy of 18 months. To beat this length of use, the only way is to turn to the Powerwatch proposed by Matrix which, thanks to a thermoelectric generator and solar cells, never needs recharging. It uses the difference in temperature between the skin and the air to generate the little power it needs to power its clock and its various sensors, including heart rate.
In the aisles devoted to accessories for monitoring or improving healtha headband designed to help meditation caught our attention. The Muse 2has been developed in conjunction with prestigious North American universities to help you concentrate and stay calm, by analysing brain waves, heartbeat, breathing and body posture.
In a completely different area, the French start-up Icare Technologies presents a ring designed by Philippe Stark, Aeklys, conceived for contactless payments easy. It is secured by an AES 256 encryption system and needs no battery. A simple touch triggers payment. Always useful when travelling, the simultaneous translation systems abound, from announcements of Google Translation and applications for subtitling video conversations, as well as earphones for in-ear translation, such as those offered by Waverly Labs.
