Report on 5 Cool Gadgets Spring 2020

We live in a world of where technology is advancing at a rapid rate. It is becoming an essential part of our lives. Tech Companies are releasing new products every day. They know that the consumer wants the latest and the greatest tech available. Every year in January big tech giants showcase cool new products that they’ve been working on in a consumer electronic trade show called CES (Consumer Electronics Show). Most of the stuff shown in this show is either in its development stage or just a concept to give consumer a taste of future.

Samsung Sero TV:    Every year CES brings lots of TV announcements from big companies such as Samsung, Sony and LG. This year Samsung has a unique spin on TV literally. Samsung showcased a QLED TV that can rotate horizontally and vertically. It means you can watch your Instagram feed or any vertical video in its full glory. In Korean language Sero means “vertical”

that’s why Samsung named this TV Sero. If you have a latest Samsung galaxy phone you can mirror your TikTok or Instagram feed directly to this TV. The TV was originally first announced in Korea but will be coming in the west later this year. By releasing this TV Samsung is betting big on vertical video consumption. The Sero TV relies on an integrated non-removeable stand for its rotation. The stand is sturdy enough to be withstand rotation of the TV.

    The panel itself is also high quality. It boasts 4K QLED screen with impressive picture quality and specs. The screen is edge lit and lacks full-array local dimming. It comes in three sizes 43, 49 and 55 inches. It also has AirPlay 2 support for your apple devices and NFC for your android devices. The Sero TV will be an addition to Samsung’s “Lifestyle” Lineup of TV’s which includes Serif. These TV’s are designed to blend in with your surroundings. Samsung says that it is a TV that is designed for mobile generation. The default rotation setting for the TV is portrait mode, but you can adjust it to landscape when you need. The rotation works with a motorized mount which you can control with the remote. The speaker system is embedded in the stand of the TV which is said to be louder and standard flat panel TV.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold: Foldable screens are not quite common, yet we are seeing many foldable screens this year. Most of these foldable devices are taking inspiration from Samsung Galaxy Fold smartphone. At CES 2020 Lenovo unveiled its foldable PC which it is referring to as Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold. Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold is a foldable slate that you can use as a laptop and can be folded into many angles. It is a 13-inch OLED panel that bends and folds. Lenovo says that it is a dynamic and responsive display that adapts to content on the screen. It is designed with productivity in mind. It is built with light materials and carbon fiber. It is covered in leather which act as a cover for the slate. When folded the slate looks like a laptop. When unfolded you are greeted with an onscreen keyboard on the lower half of the display. Now whether it is a great typing experience is debatable. Also, it comes with an optional Bluetooth keyboard which is sold separately. This keyboard magnetically attaches itself onto the bottom half of the display replacing the virtual keyboard. The keyboard provides good tactile feedback and definitely better than using the virtual keyboard. They keyboard has its own built in battery. They battery charges when the keyboard is in docking position.

 You can use ThinkPad X1 Fold in many positions. You can unfold it to its full 13.3-inch size and rotate it horizontally. You can then use leather back cover to fold it out to make a stand. Then place the wireless keyboard in front and us it as a mini all-in-one PC. This opens up lot of opportunities for developers to take advantage of multiple folding positions of this slate. Although this device is cool and looks futuristic its still lot early for foldables to get mainstream. This is a device that hardcore tech fans should keep an eye on who want the latest and greatest in tech. This device was built with mobile generation in mind. People switch between their phones, tablets and laptop frequently and want a device that gives them flexibility. Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold bridges the gap between these devices by providing a compact form factor which is foldable. The device will come with Windows 10 and also come in 5G version later this year. The device will be useful for those people who use tablets and laptops.

Hydraloop:    As water reserves are getting scarce day by day companies are looking into ways to recycle the water in an efficient way. Hydraloop is one of those companies. Hydraloop is a refrigerator sized product that integrates with your home’s existing water system. Once properly installed it will then recycle the wastewater and process it to be used for gardening, pools, washing machines and toilets. It uses multiple technologies such as sedimentation, flotation, dissolved air flotation and foam fractionation to process water and then the water goes into an aerobic bioreactor and finally UV light disinfects the water. This technique is used by large scale water treatment facilities. This multi layered process is what makes this product unique. This technique is also cost less and requires less maintenance than traditional water filtering methods. Also, you can use hydraloop app to control and customize the settings. Hydraloop has also won Best Innovation Award in the sustainability category at CES 2020.

            According to Hydraloop you can save around 45 percent of your water usage. It uses no filters and membranes and is a self-cleaning unit. You can expect energy savings as well because Hydraloop will keep water at room temperature which means in cold areas you will not be using energy to heat up the water. If the system detects a failure in component it automatically switches of and stops water from coming in. The smartphone app gives you real time info of the condition of the unit. The Hydraloop will not be cheap and will cost around $4000 per unit. It is a lot to take in because not all people will be spending this much upfront. Hydraloop cost benefit can be seen in the long run because it does not require maintenance and cleaning.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip: Samsung’s brand-new addition to its folding smartphones is the new Samsung Galaxy Z Flip. It is a regular sized smartphone that folds into half. It is step in the right direction for folding phones. The most important part of the phone is its hinge which allows you to adjust the folding angle. The hinge is the main thing in foldable phones because it makes the folding mechanism possible. Samsung hinge mechanism is a feat of engineering and it learned its lesson from the Samsung Galaxy Fold and refined the hinge in Galaxy Z Flip. The hinge feels sturdy and it is hard to flip out the phone one handed. It competes directly with Motorola Razr (2020). Motorola’s foldable hinge system leaves a space open for dust or debris to come in on the other hand Samsung hinge does not leave room for dust to come in and even if it comes in it has a mechanism to prevent failure. In short Samsung has nailed the hinge mechanism and is much more reliable than Motorola Razr hinge. The screen of the Z Flip is made with incredibly thin layer of glass which Samsung calls “Ultra-Thin Glass” which is 30 microns thick. It is equal in thinness to a human hair. Due to this thinness it makes it very fragile and concerning for the consumer. It is still an incredible feat of engineering that Samsung pulled out. Making glass this thin and then folding it is very difficult and Samsung managed to do that. To make the screen durable Samsung covered the glass with a plastic layer. That layer protects the class from getting shattered. But still it is a very sensitive screen and needs to be treated carefully. Also, there is a crease in the middle of the screen that is not noticeable until you look for it. It feels a little out of place but that’s the drawback of folding phones. The phone does look stunning when opened and is very portable when closed. It can fit in very short pockets easily and you can also put it in your purse.

            The folding mechanism allows you to put phone on a surface while it is half open. Samsung calls it Flex mode which can be used for taking selfies and or note taking while watching videos on YouTube. It also has a second small screen on the back for viewing notifications, time and works as a viewfinder for taking selfies. The specs of the phones are also top notch. It comes with a Snapdragon 855 Plus processor and 8GB of RAM. It also comes with 256GB of storage space. It is plenty of storage for all your media files. The battery life of the phone is also good giving you a four to five hours of screen time. It also comes with wireless charging. The Z Flip comes with three cameras. Two on the back and one on the front. There are two 12-megapixel sensors on the back (one wide and one ultrawide). The are similar in performance to last year’s Galaxy S10. The photos taken are quite sharp and have good dynamic range. Ultrawide also captures more of the view but quality from the main sensor is a little bit low. The low light performance is also not very good and is negligible. It is not as good as Pixel 4 or iPhone 11 Pro cameras. Z Flip comes with Samsung’s one UI Skin on top of android. The One UI is Samsung’s most refined skin to date. The One UI is easy to navigate and have interesting features which are useful and provide additional functionality. Its split screen mode lets you use two apps at the same time. The Z Flip feels natural in your hand and is easy to use. It comes in three color options which are purple, black and gold. The Z Flip will not come cheap and will cost $1380. It is to be expected because the technologies used in the phone are cutting edge. Folding phones are still in their early stage and Z Flip falls into that category. They need more refinement and durability to be able to make it more compelling for large number of customers. But if you want the latest and greatest in smartphone technology and folding phones Z Flip is the way to go.

iPad Pro (2020): Apple’s iPad lineup is getting better with each iteration and this year is no exception. Apple’s latest addition to iPad lineup is iPad Pro (2020). It comes in 2 sizes: 11-inch and 12.9-inch. The 2020 version of iPad Pro is an upgrade over last years iPad Pro and brings better cameras, a LiDAR sensor and a better processor. Apple has also announced a Magic Keyboard case along with these new iPads. This case won’t be arriving until May. They keyboard case will let you use your iPad in a clamshell design and for the first time Apple has added a trackpad in its keyboard case. Apple is touting this iPad as “Your next computer is not a computer” meaning it can replace your current computer. Apple’s chip performance is already industry leading and with iPad Pro (2020) Apple takes it to another level. It features Apple’s A12Z Bionic chip which is faster than A12X of previous year. The display is the same as last year and still provides best viewing experience and is good for productivity users. Overall this year’s iPad Pro is a great device and if you’re invested in Apple Eco system, you’ll feel right at home with this device.