The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) takes place in Las Vegas this week
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Resurrecting old technology might not elicit visions of the future, but at the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week a rebirth could steal the limelight.
Because alongside smart homes, 'super-ultra-HD' TVs, floating speakers and more, Sony will be unveiling a new version of its once popular Walkman.
It will be among the many technologies on show, with the event being a chance for the latest and greatest gadgets to be shown off by thousands of manufacturers.
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A Walkman renaissance? New Sony posters have been spotted at #CES2015: http://t.co/Y2p6sI8Jyv http://ift.tt/1xnGzDc
— The Verge (@verge) January 4, 2015Of the various new gadgets on show there are rumours that Sony is planning to unveil an updated Walkman at CES. It could signal that the company is planning to revamp the once popular portable music device, which was discontinued in 2010 (old model shown)
Hot trends this year include Internet connectivity in everyday products such as cars and appliances and the growth of online video as an alternative to traditional television channels.
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New TVs with sharper images and better colours are also expected.
The four-day show begins Tuesday, though pre-show events took place yesterday and will continue into today.
Among the many new technologies on show, most companies will be pushing the so-called 'Internet of Things' to try and make their device appeal to consumers.
The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) takes place in Las Vegas this week, featuring a number of new gadgets such as the Air² (Air Squared) floating Bluetooth speaker from Axxess CE. The speaker levitates over its own base and was one of the winners of the CES Innovation Awards
This connected belt, called Belty (pictured), monitors the wearers waistline measurements and advises when it is time to lose weight. It also automatically loosens when the wearer sits, and tightens when the wearer stands. The product is still under development but it should be on the market by the end of the year
The £25 ($30) Pacif-i, a Bluetooth smart dummy (pictured), from Blue Maestro will ship early this year. It takes the baby's temperature directly from a smartphone app. This app can also be used to record how much medication is given to a child, and this medication data is placed over a graph of the baby's temperature
This includes devices employed in a 'smart home' of the future where cars, appliances and other devices all have sensors and Internet connectivity to think and act for themselves, and make your life easier.
Current iterations primarily include our ability to control gadgets such as lights and security alarms or view data remotely through a smartphone app.
The Internet of Things could mean big business for gadget makers.
The Consumer Electronics Association projects sales of smart energy and security systems alone will total £375 million ($574 million) this year, a 23 per cent increase from 2014.
Although that pales by comparison to the £12 billion ($18 billion) spent on TVs and displays, growth has been swift.
In terms of people smartening up their homes in earnest, though, it will probably be another two years before devices are cheap and widespread enough for the typical consumer, says Eduardo Pinheiro, CEO of Muzzley, which makes a hub that allows devices to talk to each other.
It's not just smart homes that will take centre stage at CES, though - improvements to more 'regular' gadgets will also be revealed.
There are even rumours that Sony is planning to unveil a new version of its Walkman - although what exactly it might be is unknown.
But with the recent discontinuation of the iPod, it could perhaps signal a return to the era of the portable MP3 player that was once so popular.
Elsewhere, to highlight the growing importance of self-driving cars, Audi sent an automated A7 'supercar' on a 550-mile (885km) journey from San Francisco to Las Vegas to prove the driverless car could soon be a reality on the world's motorways.
Audi also made a bold statement regarding self-driving cars by having one of their vehicles (shown) perform an autonomous journey from the west coast of California to Las Vegas. 'We're demonstrating our leading role in the area of self-driving cars,' said technical development director Professor Dr Ulrich Hackenberg
Self-parking cars are already in production and widely available, however the next generation of vehicles promise to carry their passengers on long journeys without incident or accident.
The German auto-giant calls its self-driving technology 'Piloted Driving', and insists the sensors and equipment demonstrated in the vehicle are 'production ready'.
As a result, the company claims it is on course to put driverless cars into commercial production as soon as next year.
Hot stuff: An internet-enabled Dacor Discovery gas range and electric oven is pictured during the show. The 36" model shown is available now and retails for £5,878 ($8,999)
Jerome Bouvard demonstrates the Parrot Pot at CES Unveiled. The pot is linked to mobile devices and will automatically water your plant
Left, information from the Vert wearable jump device is displayed on a watch, which tacks how high and how often the user jumps. Right, Takuma Iwasa from the Japanese company Cerevo shows off a snowboard with sensors that indicate a number of factors including load, balance and flex
A MyFox wireless home security system is displayed here. The system includes a sensor that can tell the difference between natural noises and a break-in, and comes with a sliding physical cover for privacy
TV manufacturers are set to unveil a slew of new devices that this year focus on enhanced picture quality, as opposed to previous years where 'bendy' screens got top billing.
Others will showcase increased functionality; Samsung, for instance, will show off a TV that can play Playstation 3 games without having a physical console, by streaming games over Sony's PS Now service.
Various new smartphones and smartwatches will also be shown off, and in the rapidly growing wearable technologies market consumers can expect more wristbands, bracelets and so on.
A 40-inch 4K Ultra HD monitor by Chinese company Seiki is displayed here. CES, the world's largest annual consumer technology trade show runs from 6 to 9 January 2015 and is expected to feature 3,500 exhibitors presenting their latest products and services to about 150,000 attendees
Tagg CEO Scott Neuberger displays the Tagg GPS device on Venus the dog. The company will put out the new Tagg GPS Plus that can monitor air temperature and activity monitoring, including GPS tracking and geofence alerts
A Kevo smart lock is demonstrated, which opens with a smartphone app and a touch. It is smart enough to know what side of the door you are on and won't accidentally unlock the door when you are inside
The XYZprinting da Vinci Jr. 3D printer is shown here with a tank inside. 3D printers have been popular at CES before and look set once again to be one of the star attractions of the show
Many companies exhibiting at CES will also be laying the foundation for what a smart-home system will eventually do, hoping to entice consumers to start thinking about upgrading to smart gadgets - but it's not always an easy sell.
Consider wearable devices that track fitness and other activities. In many cases, the novelty wears off quickly, and devices end up in drawers.
But what if a wearable device that tracks sleep could tell the coffeemaker to start brewing as soon as you awoke?
When the coffee's done, what if the sprinklers on the front lawn automatically turned off so you didn't get wet walking out the front door to work?
The Rollkers, a transportation accessory that increases a person's average walking rate up to seven miles (11km) per hour, is seen here
One company hoping to tap in to the world of wearable gadgets is Lucis Technologies, which will soon ship a smart-lighting device called NuBryte that can learn your behavior, such as what time you tend to come home.
Sensors can turn on the night light if you wake up to use the bathroom but switch on brighter lights during the day.
A coffeemaker from Smarter will soon use data from fitness trackers such as Fitbit. If you had a bad night of sleep, the coffeemaker will know to make the java stronger that morning.
Other products focus on better notifications: a battery for a smoke detector to alert you on your phone when the alarm goes off, or a bracelet that vibrates when the baby cries in its crib.
The bracelet is even smart enough to alternate which parent it alerts to get up.
The Parrot RNB 6 vehicle infotainment system, shown, is expected to be available this year but the pricing is still undetermined. It is developed by the makers of the popular Parrot AR drone
The Parrot RNB 6 vehicle infotainment system will let drivers use Apple's CarPlay and Android Auto with any vehicle (artist's impression shown)
The Giroptic 360cam, left, a full HD 360 degree camera, has three 185-degree fish-eye lenses with sensors able to simultaneously capture and stitch images in real time. The Slow Control smart baby bottle, right, helps parents track how much and how fast their baby is drinking
Randy Braun displays a DJI Inspire 1. The £1,890 ($2,895) quadcopter can fly up to 18 minutes and shoot up to 4K video and 12-megapixel still photos with the Inspire 1 camera. It has carbon fiber arms that lower and lift automatically on take-off and landing and lift out of sight in flight to allow an unrestricted 360-degree view
'It's got to be something people are seeing it can do and want it to do,' says Chris Penrose, AT&T's senior vice president for the Internet of Things.
'It's got to make their lives better and be incredibly easy to use.'
'True consumer value will come when devices work in concert with one another and in many cases across manufacturers,' adds Brett Dibkey, a Whirlpool Corporation vice president.
'The home adapts to the way consumers live rather than the other way around.'
Elsewhere, Paris-based Emiota showed off its Belty. The connected belt, monitors the wearers waistline measurements and advises when it is time to lose weight.
It will also automatically loosen when the wearer sits, and tighten when the wearer stands.
The product is still under development but Emiota said it hopes to have Belty on the market by the end of the year, with prices yet to be announced.
Internet-enabled kettles (pictured) and coffee makers by Smarter have also been on display during this year's event. Both devices are controlled by a smartphone, and the coffee maker also alerts the owner if it is running low on coffee or needs to be filled up with water
The Wi-Fi Coffee Machine by Smarter can be triggered, via a smartphone, to not only make you a hot drink tailored to your individual taste, it can have it ready for you before you even wake up. Once it has ground the beans and boiled the water to a precise temperature, it will send an alarm to your phone to rouse you
And Blue Maestro announced during the show that its Pacif-i, a Bluetooth smart dummy, will ship early this year. It takes the baby's temperature directly from a smartphone app.
This app can also be used to record how much medication is given to a child, and this medication data is placed over a graph of the baby's temperature
At CES, Whirlpool will showcase dryers that can run at a slower, energy-saving cycle if you aren't home and thus aren't in a rush.
The dryer integrates with Google's Nest smart thermostat, which has sensors to figure out that no one's home and then lowers the heat automatically.
An XYZprinting 3D Food Printer is shown putting a chocolate cookie design on a piece of bread for a demonstration. Users can upload any design or import them from the Internet to use in making cookies and cake decorations with the device
InBody displays the first wearable fitness tracker and body composition analyser. In addition to sleep tracking and heart rate measurements, the unit measures body fat percentage, total muscle mass, body fat mass and basal metabolic rate (BMR)
The Allie Play (left), Home (centre) and Go by IC Real Tech are displayed during the show. The dual-lens cameras can display 720-degree video which can be watched in real time on smart phones
Meanwhile, a smart-home hub called DigitalStrom plans to take cues from Nest.
If Nest is trying to cool down the house, for instance, DigitalStrom will lower automated window shades to block out sunlight.
These are the building blocks for an eventual automated home. Once those building blocks are in place, services can better predict what you want.
For example, Netflix is already good about recommending movies to watch based on your preferences, but it might suggest something different if it could read data from a wearable device or camera and tell that you're with friends, or stressed out, says Shawn Dubravac, senior director of research with the Consumer Electronics Association.
A Re-fuel rechargeable battery for GoPro Hero cameras is displayed, which gives 12 hours of power
The XYZprinting Green Box, shown, grows organic lettuces and herbs in about three weeks
The Vigilant Rainbow smart toothbrush, shown, connects to a smartphone to keep records on brushing and allow for interactive games
Yohan Attal of myBrain Technologies wears the Melomind headset. A fifteen minute session wearing the connected headset helps to control stress and provides feedback for training in stress reduction. The device can be pre-ordered online for £195 ($299)
As we get closer to being able to live like the Jetsons, manufacturers will have to convince consumers that the technology is secure from hackers - and that convenience and peace of mind are worth any risks.
Ann Poletti, who now uses the Nest thermostat at her home in San Francisco, said her first apartment burned down, so she is sensitive to making sure all her appliances are off.
The Internet of Things would let her check remotely.
'Toothbrushes and ironing boards, one day it will all be connected. I think that's great,' said Poletti.
'Some people don't want all the data out there. I'm worried about access to my bank account, less so about whether my heat is going on or off.'
And quite how close we are to such a future will be on show at the this year's CES.
Put the internet to work for you.
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