Leaving Las Vegas and her 60 degree temps in January was a hard deal for us Chicago dwelling human persons, considering I was greeted at O’Hare with temperatures in the teens. Our week at CES 2015 was an interesting one to say the least and with so much to see and so little time, we picked just a few CES 2015 standouts. You’ll probably find lists like this from other websites across the web, but we like to think ours is different from theirs.
Razer OSVR
Without a doubt, probably one of the top presentations and ideas at CES 2015 was Razer’s OSVR (Open Source Virtual Reality) gaming headset. As most everyone knows, Oculus (owned by Facebook) is working hard towards its own VR headset which is a closed and propriety ecosystem. Razer is taking the opposite step towards developing VR gaming for the masses and making the whole project open source, dev-kits are available now. The lines at the Oculus booth were massive and we skipped looking at their offering this year but were stoked to see Razer’s OSVR.
OSVR™ stands for Open Source Virtual Reality. It is an ecosystem designed from the ground up to set an open standard for Virtual Reality input devices, games and output with the sole goal of providing the best possible game experience in the Virtual Reality space. Supported by Industry Leaders and focused on gaming, the OSVR framework rallies gamers worldwide together to push the boundaries of VR-Gaming.
Snail Games W 3D Gaming Phone
We’ve already written a few pieces on the upcoming Snail Games W 3D gaming phone but we finally got to go hands on with it at CES 2015. Speaking to Snail Games at CES the company is very confident about their ability to succeed with this device here in the US where others have failed. The demo consisted of a Snail Games produced 3D game and they hope to have more titles out when the phone launches. Snail Games is looking to possibly fill both casual and semi-serious gamer markets with existing Android games being playable and exclusive 3D games developed for the phone itself. Yes, the device will have full LTE functionality. Snail Games also expects to keep the device updated with the latest Android software, check out the video below of some demo gameplay and specs.
MSi GS30 Shadow-001 With Dock
MSi showed us their entire lineup at CES this year but one standout in particular was their GS30 Shadow-001 with dock/speaker. Serious gaming on a 13″ laptop can be a challenge as the required hardware can’t be put into a 13″ chassis, MSi has a solution for the problem. They’ve given you a lightweight ultraportable 13″ notebook you can tote around to do normal work, school etc. Then they added a seriously awesome dock for the home which basically expands the laptop into a full gaming machine including speaker.
The ultimate gaming ecosystem, the GS30 Shadow and Gaming Dock is an insanely powerful gaming machine at home and an ultra-portable unit on-the-go. The GS30 Shadow measures only 0.77 inches thick, weighs less than 2.65 lbs. and is the world’s 1st eGPU solution that supports desktop graphics with a PCIe 3.0×16 full bandwidth slot.
Martian Smartwatches
The smartwatch space is, to say the least, saturated with products from all over the globe. Most consumers will likely only see the big players like Apple, Motorola, Samsung and others but CES 2015 had a small army of smartwatch makers on hand. Martian is one smartwatch maker who is thinking differently about smartwatches. Instead of a full on touch interface and software, Martian has elected to mix analog classic looks with what it believes most people are looking for in a smartwatch, notifications.
The company offers two series of smartwatches, the Martian Voice Command and the Martian Notifier product lines. Both lines sport timeless analog watch designs that were developed first and foremost with style in mind while providing advanced functionality. When connected to your smartphone, these full-featured, Bluetooth smartwatches ensure you are connected and informed from the convenience of your wrist.
SAYGUS V2 PHONE
With a full HD 5″ screen a carbon fiber body and a fractal antenna, the V2 was one of the best smartphones we had the pleasure to experience at CES 2015. Saygus also has given the user root access and dual boot capability with the V2 and look out HTC, this thing has front facing speakers by Harman Kardon. The V2 is super lightweight and the bezels are crazy thin! The V2 also runs vanilla Android and is expected to release on whatever Android version is the latest at the time.
PHAZ HEADPHONES
With a stylish look to challenge the best styled headphones on the market, Phaz is looking to one up the competition by adding power to their cups. The sound coming out of these things is powerful enough but when I say adding power I mean real power. The Phaz headphones will come with an external battery that will be able to charge your smartphone as you walk down your urban streets listening to your favorite tunes. Priced at $249 they’re not on the cheap end but they’re sturdy, stylish and provide that extra charge that other cups don’t. The styling might not appeal to all but we like the idea of that external built in battery, although that does leave a cable dangling from your head to your phone.
Keep an eye out over the next few weeks as we continue to unpack more of what CES 2015 had to show. If you were at the show or saw something that excites you, let us know in the comments below or on Google+, Facebook and Twitter.
Last Updated on November 27, 2018.
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