Google Assistant now has a new interpreter mode that will roll out over the next few weeks on Google Home devices and Smart Displays that can translate conversations into twenty-seven languages in real-time. Simply say “Hey Google, be my French interpreter” to start Interpreter Mode and get real-time spoken and (on Smart Displays) written translation to aid the conversation. For those who happen to be at CES 2019, just head on over to the concierge desk in Caesars Palace to try it out yourself. Read more for another video and additional information.
NVIDIA introduced DRIVE AutoPilot at CES 2019 in Las Vegas, the world’s first commercially available Level 2+ automated driving solution that uniquely provides both world-class autonomous driving perception and an intelligent cockpit. The platform is based on the DRIVE AGX Xavier system-on-a-chip (SoC) and DRIVE Software, integrating for the first time the company’s DRIVE AV autonomous driving and DRIVE IX intelligent experience capabilities. DRIVE AutoPilot is part of NVIDIA’s DRIVE platform, which is being used by “hundreds of companies worldwide to build autonomous vehicle solutions that increase road safety while reducing driver fatigue and stress on long drives or in stop-and-go traffic,” said the company. Read more for another video and additional information.
Tesla may reveal their own all-electric pickup some time this year, but the Atlis XT aims to give it some competition. Based on Atlis Automotive’s XP platform, this full-sized pickup has a 5,000 to 20,000 pounds towing capacity based on the battery capacity selected, with up to 35,000 pounds available in the form of a fifth wheel gooseneck trailer — all square in full-size ICE range. It’s claimed to have a 300 to 500 mile range depending on the model, with a 0-60 time of five seconds, while topping out at of 120 MPH. Read more for additional pictures and information.
Japan-based company Groove X says its Lovot robot, which comes with cartoon eyes and fuzzy arms, is designed to “nurture people’s capacity to love” by demanding the affection of its owner. This is made possible with a host of sensors that respond to human touch. When the robot wants to be cuddled, it waves its arms in the air, and will follow behind its owner on wheels. Or, it even falls asleep in the owner’s arms if offered a cuddle. A a head-mounted video camera is used to recognize the face of its owner and avoid collisions. One caveat: it’ll set you back a cool $5,500 for a pair. Read more for a video and pictures of Lovot straight from CES 2019.
The Munsters fans rejoice! Stern Pinball, Inc. announced today the availability of a new line of pinball machines celebrating the iconic American TV sitcom. Featuring Herman, Raven, Lily, Spot and Grandpa, players will be transported to 1313 Mockingbird Lane, joining the entire family on this haunted pinball adventure. It will be available in Pro, Premium, and Limited Edition (above) models, all with stunning and distinctive hand-drawn art. The Limited Edition – only 500 units available worldwide – includes additional unique features such as an exclusive mirrored backglass, anti-reflection pinball glass, shaker motor, exclusive custom art blades, a custom autographed bottom arch, a sequentially numbered plaque, and exclusive custom casket-themed cabinet artwork. Read more for pictures of the Pro and Premium models as well as additional information.
Smart clocks are nothing new, but the Lenovo Smart Clock with Google Assistant just might be the coolest one we’ve seen yet, and it’s even smaller than the company’s Smart Display. Sporting a small 4-inch (800 x 480) touchscreen display, a 1.5GHz MediaTek 8167S SoC (4 x Cortex A35 cores + PowerVR GE8300 GPU), 1GB of RAM, and 8GB of integrated storage. In the back, there’s a 1.5-inch 3W speaker (6W peak), two passive radiators, a mute microphone switch, power port, and volume buttons on top. There’s an extra USB-A port that can charge your phone while you sleep. Read more for another hands-on video, pictures and additional information.
Alienware has just revealed its monstrous desktop replacement at CES 2019, the all-new Area-51m laptop. Priced from $2549, this massive 8.54-pound laptop boasts Intel’s 9th-generation desktop CPUs and “full-fat” versions of NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX GPUs. The base model comes equipped with a six-core Core i7-8700 chip and RTX 2060 with 6GB GDDR6 video memory, but can easily be upgraded to the eight-core i9-9900K and RTX 2080 with 8GB GDDR6. Other features include a 17.3-inch 1080p IPS display (NVIDIA G-Sync and Tobii eye-tracking compatible), up to 64GB of DDR4 RAM , and a triple storage configuration that includes two 1TB PCIe M.2 SSDs as well as a 1TB hybrid drive. Read more for two more videos, hands-on pictures and additional information.
Intel announced on Monday at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas that it’s working together with Facebook to develop a new artificial intelligence chip set for release in the second half of this year. It aims to help with what researchers call inference, or the process of taking an artificial intelligence algorithm and putting it to use, like automatically tagging friends in photos. This comes after Amazon said it had created an inference chip this past November. Amazon’s chip is not a direct competitor to Intel and Nvidia’s business because it won’t be selling the chips, but instead sell services to its cloud customers that run atop the chips starting next year. Read more to watch Intel’s CES 2019 press conference video.
Photo credit: Hubble Site
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has captured the most detailed image of the Triangulum galaxy (M33) yet, and it’s composed of 54 Hubble fields of view stitched together, revealing nearly 25 million individually resolved stars. “The borders of individual Hubble images trace the jagged edge of the mosaic, which spans 19,400 light-years across. Striking areas of star birth glow bright blue throughout the galaxy, particularly in beautiful nebulas of hot, ionized hydrogen gas like star-forming region NGC 604 in the upper left,” said NASA. Read more to see the full image, another video and for additional information.
Emergency services know that the first 72 hours are the most crucial following a natural disaster, but often times it can be difficult for search-and-rescue and humanitarian aid missions to get immediate help for those in need. That’s exactly why Hyundai developed a vehicle with moveable legs, called Elevate, which is the first Ultimate Mobility Vehicle (UMV) that blends technology found in electric cars and robots. This means it’s capable of traversing terrain beyond the limitations of even the most capable off-road vehicles.