The Press in Las Vegas | Winks (twisted) from CES

Because there are also some oddities at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, here are some slightly distorted tokens of the week’s news that will make you say: “Banco! »

Quiz

How many billions of dollars did the mere presence on stage at the Consumer Electronics Show of its CEO, Jensen Huang, at the opening conference on January 6, bring in for the company Nvidia?

Answer

140. Billions. American dollars. Or around 200 billion CAN. It was the jump in value on the New York Stock Exchange that occurred the same evening when Jensen Huang presented new chips, new graphics processors, a new laptop developed in-house and… humanoid robots. It shows that investors continue to be seduced by the darling of AI, cryptos and video games. Nvidia has a total market value of some 3,400 billion US, or 4,900 billion CAN.

Make your plants scream

Simply apply the suffix “-tech” to the name of any industry to create a whole new market with high technological value. An example? The emergence of “planttech” at CES this year. Young technological shoots (you can’t make this up) who offer gadgets that will help your domestic plants keep in shape, and which will make your hand a little greener. One of the hottest inventions this year is the LeafyPod talking potty. Sensors housed in this pot measure the humidity level of the soil and other criteria, and will raise the tone to alert you very audibly if something is missing to ensure the happiness of your plant. Because we really needed that: screaming plants.

Visit the LeafyPod website (in English)

R2D3

The OpenDroids company has invented the ultimate robot: R2D3. We can already predict that every kitchen worthy of the name will have its own copy of this robot in the near future, just like a microwave oven or a coffee machine. His talent? R2D3 is a robot capable of performing just about any household task imaginable, but at CES its only real talent was opening soda cans. At a retail price of US$40,000, it may be the most superfluous gadget of the century!

Visit the OpenDroids manufacturer’s website (in English)

A spoon of salt

It’s not just cars that are becoming electrified. Spoons too! In any case, the one invented by the Kirin company does exactly that: it uses a slight electric current to convince the taste buds of gourmets that the foods they are eating are saltier than they actually are. You have to taste it to believe it, but it works. A little. For a split second. The device is already selling in Japan, in very limited quantities, it seems, for $180. It’s a little more than a pinch of salt…

Visit the Kirin Electric Salt Spoon webpage

The vacuum cleaner that ate your stockings

Robotic vacuum cleaners are everywhere at CES again this year, but are still very little present in North American homes. The Roborock brand thinks it has found why: people don’t clean up enough. The solution? The Saros Z70, a robot vacuum cleaner equipped with an arm and a gripper that emerge from the device to lift and move objects lying on the ground in front of it out of its way. At least he can’t climb stairs, the only real barrier to the threat to humanity posed by artificial intelligence. Who would have thought that leaving your dirty laundry hanging around would save us from the apocalypse? That, and a retail price of US$1,600 ($2,300 CAD) for this robot clearly from the future.

Consult the Roborock Saros Z70 technical sheet (in English)