Lifehacker Highlights: the CES News You Really Care About
The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) has been around for years, showcasing the industry’s newest phantom techniques. Sometimes, however, some cool things are announced. Here’s what you, the life hacker, might be interested in on this year’s show.
Sling TV brings ESPN to the Internet
Dish (of all companies!) Announced that it will soon offer a service that includes ESPN, ESPN 2 and several other channels for $ 20 a month. Finally, being able to watch sports on the internet is big news for anyone looking to cut their cable. As if that weren’t enough, Dish already plans to bring the service to a wide range of platforms including Roku, Amazon TV, Xbox, Windows, and OS X.
It’s Dish’s Sling TV: An Internet TV Service That Lets You Stream ESPN For $ 20 | Facets
Comcast promises gigabit internet in 2015
This time, CES is a stream of good news. While some people are skeptical about this , Comcast announced that it will provide gigabit internet to some customers this year. We’ve heard vague promises that gigabit speeds will come up someday, but with the time frame set, we can actually see it. Comcast’s current top tier internet is around 150 Mbps, which is business class in most areas, so even if gigabit comes along, it may not be common for end users, but an improvement in the upper tiers could probably mean huge improvements for the lower tiers as well. levels.
Comcast Says It Will Offer Gigabit Internet This Year | Gizmodo
4K Blu-ray players begin to appear
In third place on the list of technologies that are not yet available but should appear soon, Panasonic has announced a 4K Blu-Ray player . While most people probably won’t buy the first block when it’s available later this year (or early 2016), it gives us an idea of how 4K media will perform. You will need new hardware to play 4K discs, but you can probably still play older discs. Unfortunately, this was not explicitly done, but given the same Blu-Ray branding, at least 1080p Blu-Ray support is expected (and hopefully DVDs as well). More importantly, the video quality will be much higher than that of streaming. While Netflix can stream videos at 15 Mbps, local playback on discs requires 50 Mbps or more. If you’re still wondering if it’s safe to buy a 4K display , you can still wait a bit.
Panasonic’s 4K Blu-ray player could make discs meaningful again | Gizmodo
Android Auto is getting some (expensive) head units
When we first heard about Android Auto , it sounded good to us, but the first question we had was how much a head unit that supports it would cost. Now we know: this is a lot . While some manufacturers have not announced pricing (or products), Pioneer has said their cheapest model will cost around $ 700. Kenwood and Parrot will soon have devices that will probably also cost a few hundred dollars. And that’s not including installation costs. That’s a lot of money, but the chances are that smart users will eventually find a cheaper workaround.
Pioneer Announces New Android Auto Head Units Pricing $ 700 to $ 1400 | Police Android
Intel Unveils Broadwell, 5th Generation Core i3-7 Processors
Intel announced its latest processors this year. The new Broadwell chips will improve video performance and battery life, but for most people it probably won’t matter much . Except for one thing: now Haswell processors will become cheaper. If you’re building a computer and want to save some money , it’s probably worth waiting until midyear for the most expensive Broadwell processors to come out, which will drive down the prices of everything else.
Intel Broadwell: Cool Brains to Be the Foundation of Your Next PC | Gizmodo
WeMo introduces tons of new smart devices
We already liked WeMo . The company announced several new sensors this year that you can add to your home automation lineup . They now offer door and window sensors , an alarm sensor , a heat- sensing motion sensor , and even a proximity-based key fob sensor . Belkin also announced a water meter and several new lighting fixtures . If you’re already addicted to WeMo or are putting it off, it’s worth taking another look at it.
WeMo has expanded its line of smart homes with four new sensors | Gizmodo
Of course, these are just a few of the biggest stories (that can actually happen). You can also visit our sister site Gizmodo or sites such as The Verge and Wirecutter for more in-depth news from the show.