It looks set to be a year of smarter everyday objects, cheaper touchscreen devices and larger televisions, according to over 3,000 tech companies at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.
A smart version of an electronic toothbrush was unveiled by Kolibree, which the company claims is a world first.
The smart toothbrush comes with a free app that synchronises with your toothbrush via Bluetooth, telling you if you’ve brushed long enough and well enough.
Withings, a smart product maker, also unveiled the Withings Aura, a smart sleep system that promises to help you fall asleep and wake up more naturally. The system has a sleep sensor, which slips underneath the mattress to check how users move, breath and their heart rate
Other companies at the event have also been showing off devices from a UV bracelet that measures your sun exposure, fancier touchscreen devices that further the divide between phones and tablets and services aimed at capturing the growth of cashless digital payments.
Samsung and LG Electronics are both set to launch curved screen touchscreens and 105-inch televisions.
LG also showed off its HomeChat system, which allows owners to control devices by sending them SMS-based text messages, and the Lifeband Touch that monitors a user’s heartbeat, calorie consumption and movement.
And Samsung launched a new "smart home" initiative, showing off its curved television screen in ultra-high-definition and new applications for devices that allows users to control lights or heating by speaking into them.
Meanwhile, Chinese companies such as Asuteck and Lenovo are debuting cheaper tablets and smartphones running the Android operating system.
The introduction comes not too long after the Consumer Electronics Association predicted global spending on technology will slip 1% in 2014 to $1.06 trillion as the lower average selling price of smartphones and tablets offsets unit growth in emerging markets.
