CES 2019

The 2019 Consumer Electronics Show is now over, and as in the past there has been several announcements. Below are snippets of articles that I found most interesting.

Of the products listed below, I see myself most likely buying the Kitchen Aid Google Assistant as my wife has expressed an interest in such a device for the kitchen and this seems to be more practical.

ASUS is going to be showing a bunch of new Chromebooks and Chrome OS tables. BGR

Chrome Unboxed has a video showing off some of the new Asus Chromebooks, including the Flip C434. Chrome Unboxed

The Asus Flip C434, starting at $569, replaces the company's Chromebook C302 -- a breakout hit that's currently the top-ranked bestseller in Amazon's two-in-one category. If the $569 price is for the specs that CNET is reporting, this will be a bargain. I am skeptical. CNET

Piecing together info from two different sources, the Asus Chromebook Flip C434 should be available in March, with a starting price of $569, right in the target cost range I was hoping for. About Chromebooks

Kevin Toffel ran a Octane test on one of the HP AMD Chromebooks and sees performance consistent with Chromebooks with Celeron chips. site

Chrome Unboxed has a video overview of the Acer 315 AMD Chromebook. Chrome Unboxed

In addition to launching one of the first Chromebooks with an AMD processor, HP at CES 2019 is releasing a premium, work-focussed Chrome OS device. The HP Chromebook x360 14 G1 is a rather svelte-looking aluminum device with a 14-inch touchscreen. 9to5Google

Exclusive: Brydge Debuts First-Ever Wireless Bluetooth Touchpad and Keyboard Made For Chromebooks Chrome Unboxed

TP-Link has announced new smart home products that they sell under their Kasa brand. I have one of the Kasa smart plugs that I like. The plug only needs Wi-Fi and works with Alexa. CNET

The KitchenAid Smart Display will be available in the second half of 2019 and priced in the $200-$300 range. For comparison, the other 10-inch Smart Display from Lenovo costs $250. 9to5Google

Instant Brands has announced that its Instant Pot Smart WiFi pressure cooker now supports Google Assistant, making it possible to start cooking or check on the status without pulling out your phone or peeking at the tiny display. Engadget

Several Wi-Fi vendors are announcing new mesh routers and support for Wi-Fi 6 (See New Wi-Fi Naming). TP-Link, for example, has announced several. CNET

Starting in March, you'll be able to ask the Google Assistant to "turn on Gentle Wake Up." Doing so will sync your Hue lights with any alarms you ask the Assistant to set -- starting 30 minutes before an alarm goes off, your Hue lights will begin to fade up, simulating a gradual sunrise. CNET

Belkin will be selling wired headsets for USB-C and Lightning ports. CNET

The most notable of Lenovo’s new accessories for professionals is the VoIP 360 Camera Speaker, a 360-degree camera with 360-degree audio. The model is intended for use in a conference, enabling everyone in the room to get in the video and be heard in the audio. Available in March for $249. Slashgear

Anker's newest line of ultrafast chargers, the PowerPort Atom series, is set to start shipping its first device later this month, the company announced today during CES. The Atom PD 1, as it’s called, was originally announced back in October, but the product was ultimately delayed a few months. The company now says it should be available for the same price of $29.99 later in January, though a concrete ship date has not yet been set. The Verge

USB-C is still a long way away from achieving its potential, but at CES this year, we started to see what a richer USB-C future might look like. The Verge

CES 2019 featured a few exciting announcements for wireless chargers, powerful fast chargers that take advantage of GaN (gallium nitride) to shrink down in size, and even car mounts. The Verge

With the new Link Drive from JBL, any vehicle with a cigarette lighter can offer Google Assistant's help to its passengers.Engadget

Like the JBL Link Drive, the Anker Roav Bolt attaches to and is powered by your car’s cigarette lighter. It acts as an intermediary between your car’s speaker system (over Bluetooth) and your phone. Supporting both Android and iOS, it communicates with the Google or Assistant app and then routes results through the louder sound system. 9To5Google

Google Assistant will be able to check in to flights, make hotel reservations, and show more information even while the phone is locked. 9to5Google

The family-friendly Huawei MediaPad M5 Lite boasts a premium tablet design, impressive display, and top-quality audio and performance. [Runs Android] The MediaPad M5 lite is affordable at only $299. It works with the M-Pen Lite stylus so you can write down notes and draw on the screen. Android Community

Swiss startup Biospectal and its app, of the same name, wants to combat the global epidemic of hypertension. According to the company's CEO Eliott Jones, more than 1.6 billion people suffer from hypertension. The condition affects half the US adult population. CNET

A year and a half after shipping its first product, the folks at ReMarkable aren’t ready to start talking about a follow-up yet… because they’re still busy pushing out improvements and new features through software updates for their first product: a 10.3 inch tablet with an E Ink display and pressure-sensitive pen input. liliputing

With the latest release of NVIDIA's RTX ray-tracing laptop chips, any manufacturer can make a fast and lightweight laptop. To stand out now, you need to try something new, so this year at CES 2019, the focus was on displays and eccentric designs. Engadget