Christmas is now a mere seven weeks away, and with it
comes the now seasonal splurge on sensational new technology. This
weekend, geeks, gamers and just about everyone else are descending on
Earl's Court in West London to get a look at the latest top-of-the-range
technology.
Here are Yahoo's picks of the ten unmissable
displays on show this weekend, from new consoles to smart TVs - with
some special attractions unique to the Gadget Show.
Playstation 4
The
Playstation stand is unmissable, occupying a third of the entire gaming
zone. As well as a host of new PS3 and Vita titles available to play, Sony
has laid on twenty-odd PS4s for gamers to get an early look at some of
the launch titles. Killzone Shadow Fall, Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag
and Flower all looked tip-top.
Xbox One
Microsoft
wouldn't be fool enough to miss a chance to get its new console in
front of gamers, but it has taken a much more low-key presence than Sony
this weekend. Still, there are 6 brand new Xbox One units up and
running - nothing with Kinect though. Fifa 14 looked pin-sharp (finally
football games are getting to the stage where you can tell players apart
at a glance) and the console debut for Zoo Tycoon also looked
surprisingly intuitive.
Cobra Simulation
Formula
1 simulators are so omnipresent at shows like these that the
high-pitched exhaust notes lingers wherever you go like an angry
bluebottle.
Ignore the razzmatazz of Vodafone's '5D simulator',
which felt like a turbulent RyanAir flight with a toddler kicking your
chair, and check out Simulation Display's Cobra simulator, which uses a
£25,000 projector and a parabolic mirror, together with a racing chair
and gaming PC, to put you behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car.
Autographer
Such
are the demands of keeping up a modern social media presence that it
can be hard to actually involve yourself in whatever you're doing in
between uploading pictures of you doing it to Twitter, Facebook,
Pinterest and the rest. Autographer is a wearable camera that can be
programmed to take a number of pictures throughout the day, using
built-in sensors to identify changes in your surroundings. It links via
Bluetooth to your phone, so you can decide later which ones to keep or
publish. The Autographer can clip into a pocket or be worn around the neck with a strap
Sony
As
you'd expect, Sony has a big stand with plenty to show off. But the
main attraction is a scuba diver in a tank - there to demonstrate their
range of waterproof phones, the new Xperia Z.
Beamz
Beamz
by Flo (as in US rapper Flo Rida) is a laser-based musical interface -
what that means in practice is that you only have to wave your hands
through the two gaps in the frame-like player to create a sound, like
DJ-ing in thin air. Each laser beam represents a looped musical sample,
which you activate by breaking the beam. The device comes with an iPad
app and a library of music which you can use to create your own songs.
Oculus Rift
The Oculus
Rift isn't on sale yet, and won't be until next year at least. This
isn't an official showing, but an enterprising piece of promotion from
mobile insurance firm Protect Your Bubble. They admit that the one thing
has nothing to do with the other, but it's a great chance for you to
see the future of immersive gaming visuals - the Rift puts you in a 3D
world better than any goggle-and-screen setup can muster.
Microsoft
The big M has
plenty of wares to display - tablets and PCs from Acer, Tosiba, Lenovo
and more (including the new Surface 2 tablet) and the new Nokia Lumia
handsets. But the best thing they're offering at the Gadget Show is a
3D-printed model of your own head, scanned with an Xbox Kinect unit,
rendered using a powerful Alienware laptop, and printed with a
Replicator Makerbot.
SmartBel
Yet
another step in the inexorable march of the connected home. The
SmartBel took the humble doorbell and decided it would be an awful lot
better if it were hooked up to a Sim-enabled unit capable of calling
your mobile when someone rings your doorbell.
The idea being that you'll never miss deliveries
while you're at work - but we must admit, there are some physical
barriers that just can't be surmounted. Yet.
Samsung OLED TV
You'll
be overwhelmed by fancy TVs and displays everywhere you look at the
Gadget Show. But only one can display two images at once, both in full
1080p HD. You have to wear 'active shutter' glasses, but Samsung's
curved OLED screen is so sharp and so fast that you'll be totally
unaware that your other half is watching Downton while you play Call of
Duty.
