Gallery: Best of CES 2016: Our Favorite Gadgets From This Year's Show
Josh Valcarcel/WIRED012016-ces-day2-04
When I first saw Bang & Olufsen's [BeoLab 90](http://www.bang-olufsen.com/en/collection/speakers/beolab-90) speakers in a press announcement a couple of months ago, I immediately knew I wanted a pair. They're so absolutely gorgeous, the sound somehow felt secondary. Then at CES, I got to audition them. And holy smokes, these things are beastly canons of sound. The smartphone-controlled software inside the speakers (which are active, and stacked with internal digital amps) lets the unit operate in different directional modes. Narrow the sound beam for solo listening, widen it for larger groups, and set it to radial mode for 360-degree sound. The 18 drivers in each speaker behave differently in each scenario to cancel out reflections and optimize the audio quality. And we're talking capital-Q Quality. The soundstage is breathtaking, the low end is positively massive. Possibly the best speakers I've ever heard. Possibly the very speakers Crom has in his throne room in Valhalla. They look expensive, right? They're $80,000 a pair. And so worth every penny.
Josh Valcarcel/WIRED022016-ces-day-one-06
There's a LOT of chatter here at CES about the [old-but-new Technics SL-1200 turntable](http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2016-01/05/panasonic-technics-sl-1200-turntable). And sure, it's retro-sexy, but a manually operated, DJ-centric record player like that one is ill-suited to the needs of most home audio enthusiasts. Something way more appealing to LP collectors is Sony's brand new [PS-HX500](http://www.sony.com/electronics/audio-components/ps-hx500). The $600 belt-driven record player has a pre-amp built in, so you can just plug it into any sound system, no external phono amp required. It also has a USB output for transferring digital audio to a Mac or PC, and the record player comes with a ProTools-like desktop audio editor for slicing and tagging your recordings. A turntable that sounds awesome, lets you digitally archive your vinyl, and looks like the damn business? Yes, please.
Josh Valcarcel/WIRED032016-ces-day-one-03-new
One part hoverboard, one part robot butler. Three parts super adorable. The Segway Advanced Personal Robot will hide away while you ride on its two wheels, then can pop out and carry your groceries or answer your doorbell. You can attach arms or other appendages, and turn the robot into basically anything you want. Segway, Intel, and Xiaomi are working together to build not just one rideable robot, but many. The Advanced Personal Robot is a long-term project for the three companies, which plan to work with developers all over the world to make the robot respond to voice commands, see in the dark, and generally become both better and more adorable. When a rideable could also be your best friend and personal assistant, why would it ever be just a rideable anymore? It may not hover, but this is the coolest hoverboard we've seen in a while.
Josh Valcarcel/WIRED042016-ces-day-one-02
At CES 2016, what's old—very, very old—is new again. And nothing is older and newer than the Super 8 camera. Kodak has brought it back, along with consumer-electronic designer extraordinaire Yves Behar. It's light and retro, both digital and analog in fun and weird ways The new, $400-plus [Super 8](http://www.kodak.com/ek/us/en/Consumer/Products/Super8/default.htm) is part of an initiative Kodak says is meant to put these kinds of film cameras back in the hands of kids everywhere. You could wonder why they wouldn't just use the hundreds of excellent non-film cameras already on the market, but that wouldn't be any fun, would it?
Josh Valcarcel/WIRED052016-ces-day2-05.jpg
I love this crazy French company, Netatmo. Last year they creeped everyone out (quite a feat at CES!) with a camera that recognized faces and sent you notifications when your kids came home. This new outdoor cam, the [Presence](https://www.netatmo.com/en-US/product/presence), uses the same tech to distinguish between people, pets, and cars. (The field of view is too wide to do faces, and also that is a little too creepy for an outdoor cam.) You use the app to draw out zones, and set rules for the camera and floodlight for each zone. Record anyone who comes up to your door, or blast a spotlight at any dogs that approach your plants. You can set zones and rules, and the camera can see in and emit IR as well, so it can see in the dark. It comes out in April and will be 'less than $300,' which I assume means $299.99.
Josh Valcarcel/WIRED062016-ces-day-one-11
If you're looking for a wireless speaker to serve as the sole source of audio in your home's primary hang-space, there are easily hundreds to choose from. Most options are ugly, huge, overpowered, incredibly expensive, or some combination thereof. The best one we saw here at CES is the $1,000 [Mu-so Qb](https://www.naimaudio.com/mu-so-qb). This (yep!) cube-shaped wireless speaker, the smaller brother to the bigger and more powerful Mu-So, is 22cm (8.6 inches) in each dimension, and has 300 watts worth of amps inside. The single woofer gets 100 watts, and the angled tweeters and mid-range stereo drivers get 50 watts each. It's loud. And, pretty! There are several color options for the shapely grille. It takes whatever wireless source you've got (AirPlay, Bluetooth, Spotify Connect, UPnP) but has traditional wired inputs, too. Link five of them together and fill your house with Fetty Wap.
Josh Valcarcel/WIRED072016-ces-day2-06
OLED sets can be impossibly thin and light—key attributes of the company's new top-of-the-line [LG Signature OLED G6](http://www.lg.com/us/tvs/lg-OLED77G6P-oled-4k-tv). The company is billing the G6, which comes in 77-inch and 65-inch screen sizes, as a 'Picture on Glass' and a 'Wallpaper Screen.' Look at it, and you'll understand why. This set is absurdly thin, measuring in at less than a tenth of an inch thick. It's not exactly a sheet of wallpaper, but it's as close as any TV has ever come—especially one with insane image quality. It also comes equipped with a soundbar that was co-developed with Harman Kardon. While that kind of A/V firepower usually comes with a five-figure price tag, LG says the G6 is expected to cost less than $10,000. And it's definitely coming out in the first half of 2016.
Josh Valcarcel/WIRED08ces-pepcom-2016-08-4x3
When you pick up the new 13-inch [Samsung Notebook 9](http://news.samsung.com/global/samsung-introduces-new-notebook-9-series-for-2016) Windows 10 laptop, you may think it's one of those weird props from Ikea. It's really, really light. It couldn't possibly be a real laptop. Weighing in at just 1.85 pounds—just a smidge more than an iPad Pro or a Surface Pro 4—the Notebook 9 can be configured with a Core i7 CPU and a 256GB SSD. The 13-incher even offers a pair of USB 3.0 ports and an SD card slot, and Samsung claims the laptop gets up to 10 hours of battery life. There's a 15-inch model that's a pound heavier, but it adds a USB-C port that tops off the battery in 20 minutes. Prices haven't been announced yet, but the ultraportable PCs are slated to ship early this year.
Josh Valcarcel/WIRED09ces-pepcom-2016-07-4x3
Remember Google Glass? Nah, best not to. In case you're still having trouble letting go, Carl Zeiss has smart glasses that may let you finally let go. Its new system functions like Glass, but looks like, well, just plain old glasses. That is, ultimately, the dream. The Zeiss lenses on display at CES weren't totally seamless; you can see lines there. But they're not any more aggressive or disruptive than a pair of bifocals. And in exchange for that minimal invasion you get augmented reality capabilities without the discomfort of looking like a techno-goon. The lenses work with a variety of frame styles, meaning applications can be either highly specialized (Think: sports) or general (Think: maps? On-demand Wikipedia entries? You decide!). All that's needed now are partners ready to take the plunge into smart eyewear, and a public willing to move on from a distaste for and distrust of the faceputer industry.
102016-ces-day-one-19
It looks like one of those styrofoam gliders with a propellor on it, but Parrot's latest UAV is a high-tech piece of drone craftsmanship. To fly the new [Parrot Disco](http://blog.parrot.com/2016/01/04/ces-2016-new-drone-parrot-disco-prototype/), you just toss it in the air, and its autopilot and A.I. handle business from there. Its single-propellor design is much more energy-efficient than a quadcopter, to the tune of 45 minutes of flight on a single charge. And it hauls serious ass, with a top speed of 50mph. Alas, pricing and launch date are still up in the air.
