Head Turners at CES 2015

CEBU, Philippines – Since 1967,  the annual  International  Consumer  Electronics Show  has had its  share of product  presentations,  announcements  and unveilings, all in all turning the  spotlight on the  newest innovations of the consumer electronics  arena.

The event being popularly known as "CES," game changing products have made their debuts in previous iterations of the international trade show - the most notable of which includes the video cassette recorder in 1970, the camcorder in 1981, the compact disc in 1991, and the Plasma TV in 2001.

Held in the Las Vegas Convention Center on January 6 to 9 this year, following are some of the interesting head turners at CES 2015.

A "smart bicycle pedal"

 - Cyclists of all ages will find a lot to love in what can be described as a "smart bicycle pedal" prototype that was presented in CES 2015.

Developed by French firm Connected Cycle, the pedal is "smart" in the sense that it touts GPS location and connectivity features, along with a series of sensors that can be used to track a cyclist's biking activities.

With this pedal, cyclists can easily monitor the details of their biking excursions - as well as get real-time information about the location of a bicycle, if ever it gets lost or stolen; pointing to the practical applications of GPS tracking hardware in everyday situations and scenarios.

A "selfie flash"

- As a relatively new type of smart device accessory, a "selfie flash" by Lenovo (the Lenovo Vibe Xtension Selfie Flash) has gained attention in this year's CES.

Likely to make poorly-lit and unflattering selfies a thing of the past, users of the accessory can plug it into smartphone's headphone jack, and then well-lit selfies can be taken.

Although "selfie flashes" are really nothing new (with select smartphone models already touting embedded front camera flashes), this accessory may just be one of the many photography-related accessories for mobile gadgets that'll go mainstream in the days ahead.

After all, with advances in the area of efficient mobile device power consumption standards - along with the existence of external photography-related accessories already in the market - the advent of the next gen photography equipment may have already arrived.

The Type-C USB Specification

 - Though the latest USB standard was unveiled late last year, attendees of this year's CES managed to "road test" a sample of the new Type-C USB in a number of mobile phones and computers that came with provisions for the standard.

As the latest USB specification, the standard is characterized by a "reversible" form factor - a form factor that has led many into likening it to Apple's "Lightning" connection port.

Boasting of faster data transfer speed rates and provisions for handling display-related connections, the end-user benefits of the new USB standard are quite compelling - as it is aimed at negating the need for different cables and plugs for different gadgets and uses.

As one of the products showcased in CES 2015, a number of tech pundits are even arguing that the Type-C USB specification is one of the few items electronic consumers from all walks of life will actually be using in the days ahead - nodding to just how much of a game changer the new USB standard is gearing up for.

More information on the different presentations, product demonstrations and announcements in CES 2015 is available at www.cesweb.org.