CES may be virtual in 2021, but that hasn’t stopped manufacturers from announcing and demonstrating some exciting new products across mobile tech, gaming, robotics, personal health, and the kitchen, just to name a few areas. Here are some fun products unveiled this week.
Rollable Phones
Last year, we remember foldable phones getting some attention, but this year several manufacturers have upped the ante with rollable phone and mobile device technology. When we say rollable, think of a rollable window shade where the screen is on an internal roll that is extended by gently unrolling it (either manually or electronically) to unveil more and more of the screen. This could mean products like the LG Rollable Phone, where a standard-sized phone can be expanded to more like a small tablet size, or TCL’s products like an expandable OLED display that rolls out to unveil a 17” screen. There was a lot of excitement about both of these products and the idea of rollable screen technology itself to potentially be the next big evolution in the mobile device industry.
A Keurig for Ice Cream
Who doesn’t love the idea of freshly made, single-serve ice-cream? Seriously, anyone? The ColdSnap countertop ice cream maker delivers a Keurig-like experience, but for ice-cream, smoothies, and even frozen margaritas. Sign us up!
A Gaming Table
If you’re either 40+ or enjoy a classic arcade game, you may have experienced playing Pac-Man or some other arcade game on a tabletop machine where you sat down, put your drink on top of the glass, and played the game while looking down at the table. Well, Arcade1Up is bringing this concept to the board game arena with the Infinity Game Table. Think of it as one of those old sit-down Defender games, but now you’re playing Monopoly or some other classic board games.
Custom Fridge Finish and Color
It wasn’t so long ago that refrigerators were available in white, black, and stainless steel. That’s it. We’ve seen a few other options emerge, like graphite-colored stainless, in recent years, but unless you wanted to go all out with a built-in refrigerator, the options are limited. Now we’re seeing more typical free-standing refrigerators available in more colors and finishes, like Samsung’s Bespoke refrigerators, unveiled at CES. Each fridge has 4 customizable doors that come in numerous colors, including ping and sky blue. Kitchen designers are going to love the options and we won’t be surprised when you start seeing them show up on your favorite HGTV shows.
Smart Eyewear
I know, you’re immediately remembering the Google Glass experiment from 8 years ago (wow!) and thinking, so what’s the big deal here? Well, maybe Google Glass was a little ahead of its time and a bit clunky. But, technology has advanced dramatically in 8 years and at least one company (Vuzix) is ready to take a new swing at this market with their new MicoLED smart glasses (product name TBD) that have a tiny projector built into the frame, along with expected 5G connectivity and built-in audio.
