Sony's finally getting on board with the wave of fitness technology – but taking it to an all new level.
The Core is a small chip, able to be worn in a variety of ways, that is tiny enough to slip into the Smartband that Sony is launching to carry it around initially.
Instead of just tracking your daily steps, this new technology will be able to tell you how long you were walking, running, sleeping and travelling.
But on top of that, the new LifeLog application will give information on when you took pictures, where you took them, what music you were listening to and all the other entertainment you consume, meaning you can "watch your lifestyle played back to you on screen," according to Sony Mobile CEO Kuni Suzuki.
This is your future
If you think that's awesome / creepy, get ready for more: the app will use this information to "help inspire your future with ideas and recommendations". This could be as simple as 'listen to this artist that's like that one you listen to all the time', but could get as freaky as 'hey, it's Tuesday at 4PM. I've noticed multiple felines in the area – you like taking pictures of them right?'
Sony is working with developers to create 'new innovation' for an open partnership to spread out the data, as well as launching new hardware that will complement the SmartBand.
Sony clearly has some development to do on this little device, but wants to get it out in the open to show it's active in the area, with Suzuki claiming the brand will give more information in the near future – it probably already knows where you will be.
Step aside HTC One Mini and Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini, the Sony Xperia Z1 Compact is here... and it's got a spec sheet which will blow your tiny circuit boards.
Following in the footsteps of other cut-down flagships, Sony has mustered up the Xperia Z1 Compact, but as well as borrowing the name from the Japanese firm's high-end handset it also sports several other key elements.
For starters there's the same 2.2GHz quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, 4G support and microSD slot that'll you find in the Sony Xperia Z1.
The screen is, unsurprisingly, smaller at 4.3 inches and the full HD resolution of the Z1 has been downgraded to 1280 x 720 on the Xperia Z1 Compact.
Camera credentials
There's more good news round the back of the handset, as nestled into the rear cover of the Xperia Z1 Compact is Sony's impressive 20.7MP camera with G Lens - consider its Samsung and HTC rivals don't get over 8MP (plus they're both dual-core), and you can see the spec-gulf widening..
As seems to be tradition with Sony's smartphone these days the Xperia Z1 Compact is also dust-resistant and waterproof, plus there's a dedicated shutter button on the side and the almost obligatory ability to use the touchscreen whilst wearing gloves.
The sticking point for the Sony Xperia Z1 Compact could be its price, as it's unlikely to be as cheap as the One Mini or S4 Mini - but we'll have to wait and see on that one.
Sony has confirmed that the Xperia Z1 Compact release date is set for February and the handset will be available globally.
Asus is out with a trio of new mobiles, all part of the company's ZenFone line. Yes, we're in for more products that phonetically spell "phone" with an "F."
The ZenFone 4, ZenFone 5 and ZenFone 6 are a family of smartphones coming in - you guessed it - 4-, 5- and 6-inch display sizes.
All machines run Android 4.3, though an upgrade to Android 4.4 should arrive later on. Each will be available in a variety of shades, and all store 1GB of RAM.
The similarities continue on with microSD (all have it) and Intel processors.
ZenFone home
The smallest of the lot, the ZenFone 4 will retail for $99. It has a 800 x 480 resolution in its display, seemingly sufficient for its 5MP rear and 0.3MP front cameras.
A 1.2GHz Intel Atom Z2520 processor sits inside, along with a 1,170mAh battery. It will be available in black, white, red, blue and yellow.
The ZenFone 5 is a $149 offering featuring an Atom Z2580 processor clocked at 2GHz. There's an 8MP snapper on the back, which includes a backside-illumination sensor with a wide-aperture f/2.0 lens. A 2MP camera occupies the front real estate.
It will be sold in black, white, red and gold.
Finally, the ZenFone 6 will retail for $199, and the 6-inch display is backed by a 13MP camera and 2MP front-facer. It's been stocked with a 2GHz Atom Z5280 as well. Look for it in black, white, red and gold.
None were given release dates, but we'll have our hands on reviews soon enough.
ASUS sure does love its detachable hybrids, doesn't it? This time, for CES 2014, the vendor has pulled the curtain back on the Padfone mini. Is it a hybrid tablet or a hybrid smartphone? It's both.
More specifically, the Padfone mini is a 0.44-inch thin, Android 4.3 Jelly Bean (with KitKat on the way) handset with a 4-inch, 800 x 480 IPS+ LED touch screen. If you're in the mood for an Android tablet, then you can place the phone into the back of a tablet station rocking a 1280 x 800 IPS+ LED touch panel.
A 1.6GHz Intel Atom Z2650 chip powers the 4.09-ounce Padfone mini – and by extension its tablet dock – with some help from 1GB of RAM. As for storage, the phone is limited to a mere 8GB onboard, but that's expandable by up to 64GB via microSD card.
Powering all this, plus the phone's 8MP (with f/2.0 aperture and backside illumination) and 2MP shooters, is an 1170mAh battery. The tablet dock gets its very own juice to the tune of 2100mAh – both are non-removable polymer batteries.
Bummer alert: While the Padfone mini supports dual SIMs (ideally one for data and the other for phone), there's no LTE to be found – just 4G HSPA+. But ASUS hopes to make up for that with its brand new ZenUI for Android.
That's so Zen, man
Exclusive to ASUS Android devices, ZenUI is a custom Android skin that is said to offer simplified icons and menus. Also on offer are special color themes to match the shell of your PadFone (which comes in black, white, red, blue and yellow).
More important are features like What's Next and enhancements ASUS has made to existing Android apps and tools. What's Next presents users with event data and more to help keep busy users on track. As for improvements, ASUS focused on email, web browsing and image sharing.
First up is email: Now, users can read messages by thread to keep better track of conversations. For the web browser, ASUS added a Smart Reader Mode that adjusts background tone make it easier on the eyes. Finally, ASUS Collage is said to allow users to create photo stories to share with friends. (Instagram, anyone?)
The PadFone mini will cost $249 (about £151, AU$277), but ASUS has yet to mention availability. We'll try to clear that up once we get our hands on this weird little bugger on the CES 2014 show floor.
Here's your one stop shop for all CES 2014 news and features
The Lumia 520 is proving a key player in the smartphone wars
The budget market seems to be helping Nokia's new overlords in the smartphone wars
Microsoft has told TechRadar that it's seeing real penetration for its Windows Phone platform, claiming some impressive stats for its OS.
Christopher Flores, director of communications for Microsoft, told us that the brand was attacking 'both ends' of the smartphone market and would continue to do so should, as expected, the deal to purchase Nokia go through.
He showed statistics claiming that Windows Phone devices now have second place in 14 markets around the world, and are outselling Apple's iPhone in 24 markets too, making it the fastest selling smartphone platform globally.
Flores declined to give specific regions for these stats, although did intimate that they were in emerging nations, where the cost of the iPhone is prohibitively high for a lot of consumers.
Bella Lumia
It's also got a strong movement in Italy, where Windows Phone-powered devices are outselling iPhones, with heavy carrier subsidies making the Microsoft platform an attractive proposition, a situation mirrored in Spain where WP handsets are close to usurping Apple's second place in that market too.
However, Android's stranglehold in these areas remains untouched, despite the growth of Windows Phone, with handsets undercutting the cheap Lumia 520 providing stiff competition.
Flores also refused to admit that Microsoft would channel more time and funds into the budget handset range, despite this being the firm's main growth driver for Windows Phone, stating that the Redmond brand wanted to continue to offer consumer choice.
Microsoft has promised to elaborate on these statistics in the near future, so we'll be updating this story with more information as we get it.
Huawei has gone official with its Ascend Mate 2 4G at CES 2014, giving last year's model a lesson in LTE speed.
The new phone comes with 4G LTE built in and the refreshed model has been given a number of more visible upgrades too, including a slimmer design that comes in at 9.5mm thick and – 0.4mm thinner than its predecessor.
That 720p IPS display is still the familiar 6.1 inches though, keeping this still very much in "phablet" territory.
Yes mate!
The new 1.6GHz quad-core processor should also make things a bit more zippy. We were pretty let down with the performance of the first Ascend Mate.
On the back is a 13-megapixel camera for 1080p video while a 5-megapixel camera can be found on the front. It'll be Android Jelly Bean 4.3 on this one, no KitKat love for now.
Finally, there's now double the storage with 16GB to play with and a microSD slot for when you use all of that up. All in all, not too shabby.
No word on pricing or availability just yet, but you'll be the first to know when we hear more.
It's fair to say that the iOS 7 controllers for various Apple devices have failed to set the world alight so far, but Steelseries is hoping that its Stratus Wireless Gaming controller will change all that.
The first wireless controller for iOS 7, the Stratus will be familiar to anyone who has picked up a console controller - and offers the requisite set of buttons, sticks, pads and triggers.
As you would expect from an Apple-friendly device, it's AirPlay enabled and will play (probably) nicely with iPad, iPhone and iPods capable of running the latest OS.
Gaming landscape
The company insists that this changes the gaming landscape, but you'll obviously first have to find a stand or handy part of your anatomy that enables you to keep both mitts on a controller and keep the screen of your device visible.
if you can cross that particular bridge then you can see if the controller really does solve the old 'gaming's better with buttons' quandry that has plagued mobile phone and tablet gaming from the off.
There's a dedicated pairing button, a quoted battery life of ten hours and you can connect up to four devices.
Price-wise, it's set at $99 - which equates to around £60 or AU$110 with a release date of right this instant.
This is a peripheral best suited to a tablet in a dock - so how about checking out the iPad Air review?
Alcatel may not be the biggest name in mobile, but with the One Touch Idol X+ it may have one of the undercover hits of CES 2014.
Building on the One Touch Idol X, which garnered a respectable 4-star rating in our in-depth review, the Idol X+ looks to kick things up a notch.
Take a look at the Idol X+ spec sheet and it certainly appears to be an impressive offering on paper with a 5-inch full HD display - on par with the Galaxy S4 and Xperia Z1 - 2GHz octo-core (yes, eight cores) processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB internal storage and 13.1MP camera wrapped up in a body which is thinner than the HTC One and Nokia Lumia 925 at 7.9mm.
Not all good news
There isn't a microSD slot so you won't be able to build on the 16GB (or 32GB) of internal storage, 4G connectivity is sadly absent and the One Touch Idol X+ comes running Android 4.2 which isn't the latest version of Jelly Bean (that's 4.3), let alone the latest version of Google's platform - Android 4.4 KitKat.
Historically Alcatel's handsets have been a bit of a let down in the interface and performance areas, with sluggish navigation and childish icons detracting from the overall experience.
We hope the One Touch Idol X+ is able to overcome these software flaws and provide a truly fluid experience which makes the most of the powerful innards.
In terms of an Alcatel One Touch Idol X+ release date and price we're still in the dark, but we'll update this article as soon as we hear anything.
Qualcomm will undoubtedly show off its latest and greatest advancements in its Snapdragon technology this week, but it has jumped the CES gun by releasing videos highlighting the camera capabilities of the Snapdragon 805.
There are three technologies to speak of helping to make the most of the quad-core 2.5GHz CPU; Chroma Flash, Touch to track and OptiZoom.
Chroma Flash allows the camera to take two images almost simultaneously before combining them. The aim is to reduce the glare from flash photography, producing a more natural looking image.
The technology seems familiar, as it is similar to the way that HDR photography works, capturing an image at different exposures.
Its time for 3D again... again!
Touch to track works as you might expect. First the user selects an object for the camera to focus on, and the Snapdragon 805 allows the camera to keep it in focus no matter where the object moves to.
It also doubles up in video recording mode, allowing you to set a line on screen for the object to cross. Once the object has crossed that line, video recording is engaged.
Finally, OptiZoom works using the 'Touch to track' technology. Selecting an object allows you to control the level of zoom, with the Snapdragon 805 zooming in and out as the object moves further away or closer to the lens.
We already knew that the 805 supports up to four cameras, including the ability to have stereoscopic 3D, so keep your eyes peeled here to find out what else Qualcomm has to offer at CES 2014.
Before I even begin: No, US, UK and AU readers, you cannot have this. Not yet, at least. (A bit more on that later.) This is the Lenovo Vibe Z, the Chinese ThinkPad maker's latest flagship Android phone, it's first LTE smartphone ever and probably one of the biggest teases of CES 2014.
Why? For one, just look at the thing. Housing a 5.5-inch, 1920 x 1080 IPS touch screen, this hyper thin (0.31 inches) handset weighs just 5.12 ounces. For a phone that borders on phablet, it feels as if a 4-inch phone in weight. This is partly why Lenovo went with a polycarbonate plastic shell (in either a silver or "titanium" black textured finish) rather than metal, a Lenovo representative told me on the show floor.
And two: Check out what's inside. The Vibe Z runs on Android 4.3 Jelly Bean powered by a 2.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 chip and 2GB of RAM. However, this handset comes with just 16GB of storage, which could pose a problem, given the 5MP camera up front and the 13MP shooter (complete with f1.8 aperture lens and dual LED flash) around back.
The ultimate selfie snapper?
What? I couldn't resist
Lenovo has made full use of the Vibe Z's two megapixel-rich cameras, with a suite of features that were put to good use in my own time with the device. For one, the 84-degree wide angle lens in front captures more in the frame than most lenses, making the all-important selfie even easier.
Features like photo filters, an array of scene modes and the tons of settings on offer are fun to play around with and should make for interesting shares. Speaking of which, the Vibe Z cameras' Beautify tool allowed me to give myself and a Lenovo representative "facelifts" and other subtle tweaks. Your friends on Facebook won't know the difference.
You know sqaure cameras mean business
Given the look, feel and layout of Lenovo's new smartphone camera software, it's clear that camera tech will be more important than ever in the ongoing mobile wars. With its rich (if sometimes gimmicky) feature set and richer cameras, the Vibe Z seems on the right track.
Look, ma', just one hand!
Cool cameras aside, upon picking up the Vibe Z, I immediately noticed two things. One, this is an incredibly light and thin phone for its 5.5-inch screen size. And two, this phone is just too big for my tiny, pasty hands. Luckily for the Vibe Z, Lenovo thought ahead.
It's the little things, like my hands
I struggled to reach the lock button atop the phone with one hand. Lenovo made it so the volume rocker unlocks the phone, too. I had trouble reaching my thumb across the other side of the screen. Lenovo added a Smart Dialer that shifts the number pad buttons in the direction you tilt the phone for easier one-handed dialing. (Also, Smart Call allows you the answer the phone by just holding it to your ear.)
The point is that Lenovo knows just how big it's flagship phone is, and it's working to make it easier to operate the Vibe Z more like the phone that it is and less like the tablet that it isn't. Other handset makers are trying, but I've seen nothing this clever.
Designed to fit into the skinniest of jeans
Early verdict
Like I said, the Lenovo Vibe Z is one of biggest teases of CES 2014, namely because there are no signs of the thing hitting US, UK or AU soil anytime soon. Lenovo will launch the phone this February in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and the Philippines for $549 (about £334, AU$611).
It's a real shame, too, because this phone could potentially bring the heat whatever the Samsung Galaxy S5 turns out to be this year. A Lenovo representative tells us that the company is working on entering these markets, but obstacles like carrier partnerships and regulatory approvals are holding things back. Well, hurry up already, carriers and regulatory bodies – you're keeping us from a potentially awesome phone.
Nvidia has taken to the stage at CES 2014 to unveil its Tegra K1 mobile processor, a "super chip" with graphics capabilities that Nvidia compares to next-gen consoles.
The successor to the 72-core Tegra 4, the Tegra K1 has a 192-core Nvidia Keplar GPU and takes the place of the rumored Tegra 5.
Offered in two variants, the first will use a 32-bit quad-core ARM Cortex A15 processor, while the second variant will use Nvidia's custom 64-bit dual-core "Denver" ARM CPU.
The 32-bit variant will be available in the first half of the year and the 62-bit version will be released in the second half of 2014.
Setting standards
While Nvidia has said that the K1's graphics are comparable to the Xbox One and PS4, it said in its release that the K1 is 1.5 times more efficient than Qualcomm's S800 and Apple's A7 processors as well.
It also has support for PC and console-class gaming engine Unreal Engine 4, and support for OpenGL 4.4 and DirectX 11.
Nvidia will be making a push into new markets with the Tegra K1 too, outlining how its new mobile processor will be used for advanced driver assistance (ADAS).
Want more from this years CES? Head on over to our round up of what else you should be expecting out of CES 2014.
