Day One of International CES was overwhelming, exhausting, and occasionally inspiring. The Internet of things marches on invading all manner of devices. Don't we need to be connected wherever we go? What don't we need to know? What doesn't need to capture data?
GM, for example, announced that in 2014, ten Chevrolet models will come with Onstar enabled 4 LTE connections including the Corvette and the Silverado.
Babolat, a French tennis company that is the number one in tennis racquets sales in the United States, announced a new tennis racquet developed in partnership with Movea that is identifical in weight and size to a traditional raquet but can capture data during play, then transfer it via bluetooth paired with a smartphone or by use of a usb hidden in the racket's base, that will allow users to play better, smarter and stronger.
Fitness trackers, such as Fitbit, are now legion. There are more devices that can track more motion than ever before, from Lumo, a wearable device that among other things measures your posture (perhaps future versions will include my mother's voice telling me to stand up straight!); Reebok introduced a wearable cap that measures the severity of impact in sports (football, hockey, boxing, mixed martial arts, and even soccer would benefit). Wahoo has a simplified heart rate sports monitor; and ithelete has a finger cap that measures your vitals and sets a daily fitness program for you.
Of course our homes need to get smarter and interconnected as well and there are more and more companies vying to do that. One of the easiest that I saw was a new device called Revolv that is a $299 device that can speak to all your devices, regardless of what radio or internet protocol they are on, and connect to a single app on your phone.
Finally, as there is no simple task that is better done by some new gadget, Grillbot is a grill cleaning robot that like the roomba bounces around your grill cleaning. What the connected grillmaster needs:
Grillbot @ CES from tommywood on Vimeo.
And this was just day one!