The Future of Technology | CES Innovation Awards 2015 Highlights

The Consumer Electronic Show (CES) Innovation Awards showcased their 2015 honorees and winners for consumer technology products, yesterday. These awards exemplify the future of technology for the upcoming year, and let me tell you, the products mentioned did not disappoint.

The Consumer Electronic Show (CES) (for anyone who may be unfamiliar) is the foremost industry trade show for consumer electronics and is held each January in Las Vegas.

Image from the CES Innovation Awards, 2014

The coolest new consumer electronics products are featured at CES Las Vegas and the best of the best are awarded a coveted CES Innovation Award Honoree status.

I want to highlight some winners from yesterday's announcement! Drumroll, please . . .

So here at Lynktec we are very excited to share that the elite CES judging committee has just selected Reeljuice as CES 2015 Innovation Award Honoree based on its engineering qualities, aesthetic and design qualities, and user value! 

Image of our CES Innovation Award honoree product, Reeljuice

Reeljuice is an all-in-one power solution for smart phone and tech junkies alike. Reeljuice is the first portable power solution to include a fully retractable cord reel with multiple connectors, a 5W rapid charger and a retractable wall charger. All this while staying thin and convenient for purses or pockets. Reeljuice will be in the market soon and is currently available to pre-order at a significant discount through Kickstarter. For more information click here. 

Another piece of future technology from the CES Innovation Awards is the Adidas' Smart Ball. This tech innovation is part of the Fitness, Sports and Biotech category, and it is seriously a cool and innovative item that sports lovers will appreciate. 

Image of the Adidas' Smart Ball

Your typical polyester blend ball has nothing on this futuristic soccer ball. The Smart Ball has sensors built in to calculate speed, spin, flight path and impact point of a players kick. This data is then transmitted via Bluetooth so players can easily get the information from their moves out on the field. 

Another CES Innovation Award honoree is Petnet(io)'s SmartFeeder in the Home Applications category. This is a futuristic solution to a common problem of pet owners. The SmartFeeder will make sure puppy Fido is well taken care of, even when you don't have the time to make sure yourself. 

Image of Petnet(io)'s SmartFeeder

SmartFeeder is a pretty cool innovation, especially for those who love their pups and kitties but are busy or um . . . let's say forgetful. The feeder includes remote feeding capabilities, customized portions and food recommendations based on what pet you have. 

The next product I want to mention is the mobile app Kwilt. Kwilt was mentioned in the Software and Mobile Apps category of the CES Innovation Awards. For all of you picture-loving, unorganized, social-media-fanatics, this is the application for you. 

Image for the Kwilt application

Kwilt is perfect for the person who loves photos and social media, but cannot seem to stay organized enough to find the images they are searching for. Kwilt allows for easy photo management giving the user access to all of their photo files from all social media platforms in one location. Pretty cool, huh?! Kwilt is now available for download! 

The final product I am going to highlight is the Snap by Sengled. This won best innovation in the Smart Home category, and let me tell you, this is a high-tech lamp, if you can even call it something so simple. 

Image of Sengled's Snap

This indoor/outdoor lamp includes an HD camera, microphone and speakers. It includes motion and voice activation and face recognition to aid in home security. This sneaky device is definitely high-tech and makes for an awesome "Smart Home". 

It's safe to say the CES Innovation Awards make for a great event in the technology community. The products mentioned are the future of what technology has in store, and it is something for all tech-lovers to take note of. 

Click here if you want to learn more about the CES Innovation Awards or to check out all the winning futuristic products of 2015!

Let me know what your favorite winner of the 2015 awards is in the comments below! 

Instagram Update | Spelling Mishaps No More

No one is a stranger to an accidental spelling error or that awful auto-correct oops. Now, thanks to the new Instagram update for Android and iOS users, spelling mishaps are no more.

The update, which is iOS version 6.2 and Android version 6.10, was released early this week. It now allows users of the social media application to be able to finally, and I mean finally, edit their photo captions without having to delete the photo and re-post it.

According to the Instagram Blog, one of the top requests from users was to add the ability to edit spelling mishaps in the captions, and Instagram has ultimately answered their users' pleas.

Now, users will simply find the "Edit" option in the menu bar below the image they wish to change.

Photo of simplistic new editing feature

The second major change this update has brought to all the insta-lovers out there are modifications to the oh-so-fun Explore section. 

The most obvious change is the icon has transformed from a compass to a magnifying glass image. Plus, there are now two sections to explore, "Photos" and "People". 

Photo showing the new Explore page

This new adjustment to the Explore page will allow users to find people they wish to follow more easily by displaying accounts they may be interested in. The photos tab has not changed in that it is the usual scrolling grid of photos and videos.  

For all of the Instagram junkies out there, this update should be a hallelujah for you, as it was for myself. 

Let me know what you think of the update in a comment below! :)  

Futuristic Aircraft | Green Technology With a View

Imagine cruising at 45,000 feet in an aircraft that appeared to have Harry Potter's invisibility cloak atop it. Are windowless aircraft's with surround screen views the future of flying technology?

That is just what a U.K. based technology association, The Centre for Process Innovation (CPI), is claiming they can achieve in a mere decade (um . . . what?).

The idea is to transform the future of commercial aircraft's by replacing all windows with over-sized screens, allowing passengers to have a live-feed view of the surroundings of the plane.

Simulated images of new windowless airplane

The new technology is based on screens from mobile phones and televisions. CPI's windowless aircraft concept include large, ultra-thin, high-definition screens that are lightweight and are spanning from floor-to-ceiling.

Passengers of the green technology aircraft would have the capability to change their view from the live-feed of the outdoors, to checking their personal emails, watch television, browse the internet or change their angle of the live-feed.

The goal behind the new aircraft vision for the next generation of commercial planes is to conserve fuel by reducing weight, while simultaneously transforming the customer experience. This technology will, in turn, lower CO2 emissions and passenger ticket costs.

CPI claims this new technology will drastically change the commercial airline industry in regards to cost. The most notable change is the thinner, lighter and stronger walls of the windowless aircraft's. CPI has calculated that for every 1 percent reduction in weight on the planes, there is 0.75 percent fuel savings. This will add up to saving big bucks and hopes are these savings will trickle down to the commercial airline customers.

It's understandable that people would be apprehensive of this new, and might I add a little freaky, technology. Harry Potter has nothing on the future of commercial flying.

One upside is everyone on this flight gets a window seat :).

To see more about the futuristic aircraft's you can watch a video here!

What are your thoughts on this new technology? Do you think the fear of not having real windows is worth the cost and CO2 emissions reductions?