CES 2020: Six picks for best of show

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This article was published 11/01/2020 (2136 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The annual CES gadget fest ended Friday, following an eventful week with hundreds of thousands of new gadget introductions, controversy over bringing presidential politics into the show with an appearance by first daughter and White House adviser Ivanka Trump and a headline-grabbing act of war against Google.

Some 175,000 people attended, and while Trump’s appearance was mild, without any protest, California speaker maker Sonos did rain on Google’s unveiling of new products with “partners,” when it accused the search giant of stealing its technology. Sonos is asking for an immediate cease-and-desist order preventing Google from selling speakers, phones or laptops.

Ouch.

Meanwhile, there are no Google-partnered products on our reporters and contributors highlights. Here are six stand-outs.

Hyundai’s Flying Cars

The lure of a flying car is rarely more enticing than at CES, when 175,000-plus attendees regularly gridlock Las Vegas streets. Sunday, Hyundai put its own air-taxi cards on the table by unveiling the S-A1 — a four-passenger electric aircraft with eight rotors that let it take off and land vertically — that it’s developing with Uber. Hyundai said the SA-1, with a 62-mile range, 150 mph cruising speed and eventual autonomous operation, would deliver “an era of liberation from gridlock and the democratization of flight.” But the touted 2023 launch seems exceedingly optimistic. Aviation-safety consultant Robert Mann offered a more conservative prediction via email: “Maybe by the 2028 Olympics, but most likely beyond that time.”

— Rob Pegoraro

Inkjet printer for makeup

Procter & Gamble’s Opte device is like an inkjet makeup printer for your skin. It uses a tiny HD camera with blue LED lights to help it hunt down tiny dark spots that your human eye might miss. Once it finds a blemish, scar, whatever you want to cover, the Opte uses 120 thermal inkjet nozzles to dispense a precise amount of tinted serum with mineral pigments — to instantly camouflage imperfections.

The idea is that instead of smearing makeup all over your face, you’re using next-gen technology to put a precise, targeted amount of product only where your skin needs it.

Of course, there’s a high price to pay for this kind of beauty gadget. The Opte will cost nearly $600 dollars when it comes out this summer, and the little prefilled cartridges of makeup, moisturizer and serum cost around $100 each.

But if you’re a woman who has glopped makeup all your face as you have over the years, this is great. It’s like waving a magic wand, and it makes you look perfect.

— Jennifer Jolly

Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Fold

Billed as the world’s first foldable PC, I loved its versatility. It’s a 13-inch OLED device, you can prop it up and use it full screen to watch a movie, or slightly bent to read an ebook. You can browse the web on one side of the display and control music on the other. When you’re ready to put it away, just bend or close it, and slip it in a bag. It will be out in the spring, with a hefty price tag of $2,499, but it’s really cool.

— Marc Saltzman

Delta Air Lines new tech

Delta Air Lines’ parallel reality displays and exoskeleton were show stoppers. The displays, which will be tested in Detroit beginning this summer, simultaneously show passengers information that is only relevant to them, like fight and gate information, all in the language you select. You don’t need special glasses to read it. I also liked Delta’s robot-like exoskeletons, which are being tested to help baggage handlers and maintenance workers lift heavy objects like luggage and tires.

— Dawn Gilbertson

Impossible Pork

Mmmmm, tastes like technology. Actually, Impossible Foods’ latest innovation — its plant-based “pork” — did taste pretty darn good. As a member of a household that eats the “other white meat” pretty often mostly in the form of sausage patties and chops, I found the ground “pork” product to have the same satisfying feel and taste my eyes prepared me for when the food hit my mouth. This wasn’t the first faux pork product, of course, but it’s one of a handful I’ve had that replicate, rather than approximate, the taste of the real thing. They were also announcing a new “sausage” breakfast sandwich at Burger King. While this isn’t the typical device or doohickey one expects to sample at CES, hey, technology is the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes — and food is pretty practical. There was also a mouth-watering promise that they would release no bacon until they can sway the most hardcore meat-eater that the taste is beyond kosher. What wasn’t yet as satisfying was the answer to when these products will become more affordable and more available.

— Michelle Maltais

Quibi

There are lots of reasons to be skeptical about the prospects for the new streaming service Quibi, given subscription overload and competition. But this new mobile-focused streaming service is different. All original bite-sized (under 10 minutes) content from a large roster of Hollywood A-listers. And impressive tech that seamlessly adapts to the orientation of the way you watch a show on your phone in portrait or landscape. It launches in April; plans start at $4.99 a month.

— Edward C. Baig

— USA Today