The AppAdvice week in review: Plenty to love at this year's CES, as eyes remain on Apple Watch
The first full week of 2015 is in the history books, which means that the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is over for another year. Here are just a few of the stories that we covered during the week that was.
An Apple Watch for St. Patrick’s Day?
The Apple Watch could go on sale before the end of March. Until then, we noted that there were still plenty of unknowns about Cupertino’s first wearable device. The biggest among them is the price Apple will charge for each of the available 18 styles. We also dove deeper into each of the three collections to help answer the question: Which Apple Watch model should you choose?
CES highlights
The violet Swarovski Shine by Misfit
This year’s show featured plenty of goodies for technology enthusiasts, including next-generation wearable devices, innovative items for the home, and more CarPlay integrations.
Competitors unveiled alternatives to the Apple Watch. Some of these, like the Withings Activité Pop, targeted the budget-conscious. Others were all about providing some bling, like the new wearable device from Misfit and Swarovski.
Do you want to remotely control everything in your home?
Samsung and Google’s Nest introduced new “smart home” devices and services. Misfit unveiled the Bolt smart light bulb. And iDevices revealed a new Bluetooth and Wi-Fi enabled power device called Switch, which integrates with Siri and Apple’s HomeKit API.
Cars are also getting smarter in 2015.
Kenwood and Pioneer unveiled new in-dash receivers that work with Apple’s CarPlay, while Volkswagen joined a growing lineup of car manufacturers that integrate with the technology. Viper announced that its SmartStart products will allow your Apple Watch to start and lock your car.
Other unveilings in Las Vegas, Nevada included: the new Fre Power case from LifeProof, Incipit’s Prompt Folio iPad Air 2 case, and the ZAGG Speaker Case.
Sling
Cutting the cord is getting closer to becoming reality thanks to Dish Network’s new Sling TV service, which should arrive later this year.
For $20 per month, users will soon be able to subscribe to Dish Network’s Sling TV service. For this, you’ll receive access to live feeds from ESPN, ESPN2, TNT, TBS, Food Network, HGTV, Travel Channel, Adult Swim, Cartoon Network, Disney Channel, ABC Family, and CNN.
Additional channel packs will be available for $5 per month each.
Supported devices include: Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Fire TV Stick, Google’s Nexus Player, select LG Smart TVs, Roku players, Roku TV models, select Samsung Smart TVs, Xbox One from Microsoft, iOS, Android, Mac, and PC.
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