Both major brands and emerging startups presented their innovative solutions at CES 2019

10 cutting-edge solutions presented at CES 2019. Source: ces.tech

Today is the last day of CES 2019, the world’s largest four-day tech event, taking place in Las Vegas. This year, the Consumer Electronics Show gathered more than 4500 exhibiting companies, which used this massive event to introduce thousands of innovative products.

We’ve listed some of the most prominent (and yet somehow related to fintech industry) technological novelties below so that you could keep pace with the latest promising developments.

Ledger Nano X

Ledger, the well-known French crypto startup, introduced its new Bluetooth-enabled hardware wallet Nano X. The company is going to start shipping it in March, at a €120 price. The previous version of Ledger’s wallet required you to connect it to a computer using a micro USB cable. With Nano X, you’ll be able to send and receive cryptocurrencies from your smartphone, via Bluetooth. Moreover, the company is going to launch the iOS/Android app Ledger Live, with features quite similar to those of the desktop app, including installing apps, transaction management, and balances checking. It is worth noting that the new device supports 1100 different tokens (comparing to the 18 of the Nano S).

Ledger Nano X. Source: ledger.fr

Motiv fitness ring

The ring itself is not new — it was introduced at CES 2016. What’s new about this wearable device, is that it now supports NFC-based payments, which makes this tiny gadget really multifunctional. The company has not revealed yet how the platform works, but it is known that it uses a biometric authentication. By the way, the ring can recognize a wearer by their gait. Motiv also plans to add electrocardiogram readings to its device.

Motiv fitness ring. Source: facebook.com

Continental Urban Mobility Experience

Robotization and robots themselves are bubbling up across the CES locations during the entire event. However, the delivery solution presented by Continental has surpassed the expectations of many visitors. The company demonstrated a new approach to autonomous goods delivery, mixing up two hot trends: driverless vehicles and robots. Continental believes that their driverless van called CubE could be used to stage and deploy autonomous delivery robot dogs. These ?dogs? will be able to deliver packages to the consumer even when they’re not able to receive them physically. What a time to be alive!

Continental Urban Mobility Experience. Source: continental-corporation.com

Ubtech humanoid robots

The Chinese company Ubtech has joined the robotics frenzy, showing off its new humanoid robots, Cruzr and Walker. Cruzr was designed to interact with people. This Pepper-like robot already provides customer service for a few companies, and Ubtech is going to start shipping Cruzr to North America soon. Another robot, Walker, is not available for consumers yet. This bipedal humanoid supports voice, touch and vision interactions, moves smoothly, and can manipulate objects, meaning that it is capable of being both a?household companion and an enterprise worker.

Samsung Bots

Consumer electronics giant Samsung has also shown off their skills in the robotics field, which is entirely new for the company. One of the robots the company has demonstrated is called Samsung Bot Care, designed to assist elderly users. For instance, this healthcare robot can provide health briefings, medication reminders, give yoga lessons, and even check the user’s vitals with a finger scan. Another important feature is the ability to call 911 if its user falls. There’s also the Samsung Bot Air, which monitors air quality in a user’s home and cleans it if needed. Apart from in-home robots, Samsung has demonstrated Bot Retail, which is equipped with a touchscreen for placing orders and shelves for delivering food or other goods, meaning that this robot can assist business owners. The Samsung Bot Retail is also able to register customers’ facial expressions and voices to recognize when its help is needed.

Walmart & Udelv autonomous delivery

Here comes another small move in the endless Amazon-Walmart chess game. Walmart has partnered with Udelv in order to test online grocery orders delivery using Newton, startup’s second-generation autonomous delivery van. Companies plan to start the trial in February and only in Arizona. This is not (yet) a big step for Walmart, but if the pilot turns out to be successful, it would drive Udelv’s further expansion.

Royole Flexpai foldable phone

Chinese company Royole became the world’s first to introduce the foldable smartphone (and, apparently, a tablet when it unfolds). The gadget, equipped with a 7.88 mm ultra-thin display, is called Flexpai. It runs on Android and already sells in the US at a price of $1300 for a developer version. However, there are still some issues the manufacturer needs to work out before it will be worth buying.

Royole Flexpai foldable phone. Source: royole.com

Juno AI downlight

It’s time to take all we can get from ceiling downlights. The new Juno AI LED downlight, showcased at CES 2019, is doing the job of a normal light while also providing Amazon Alexa features through integrated JBL speakers. This makes a smart home experience seamless. There is no need for a separate device (like Amazon Echo) to benefit from the Alexa features. Plus, the sound is exceptional.

Juno AI downlight. Source: juno.acuitybrands.com

Google Assistant updates

This year at CES, Google focused on its voice-powered AI. The company announced a bunch of Assistant-related solutions, including:

• Google Assistant availability on Google Maps;
• Soon, users will be able to check into flights and book hotels with the help of Google Assistant;
• Assistant will be able to control Sonos speakers;
• All Samsung TVs launched this year will be Assistant-compatible. Users will also be able to link their Google Home devices with Samsung TV;
• Lenovo is working on an Assistant-powered smart clock;
• Assistant can now translate real-time conversations in 27 different languages.

Google Assistant updates. Source: blog.google

IBM quantum computer

IBM announced ?the first fully integrated universal quantum computing system designed for scientific and commercial use?. This solution provides everything needed for a company to start quantum computing experiments. The 20-qubit system includes both quantum and classical computing parts. Though experts explain that this computer is not as powerful as you’d expect from a quantum computer, the company notes that systems are upgradable. Anyhow, this is a major step towards the commercialization of this breakthrough technology.

IBM quantum computer. Source: newsroom.ibm.com

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