January 5, 2017

As the 50th annual CES gets underway today in Las Vegas, the world’s gadget-aficionados and tech devotees are keeping an eye on the newest technologies making debuts.

Once again, many Israeli companies are taking part in the world’s largest consumer electronics show, snagging top interest and media coverage for their novel technologies.

Intel demonstrated its Project Alloy VR headset to much hype at this year’s event – handing out barf bags to hundreds of reporters and analysts in case the gaming experience proved too much for them. The technology for the headset was created in Intel Haifa using RealSense (Israeli-developed 3D vision technology).

Consumer Physics, the Israeli makers of the SCiO device, teamed with China’s Changhong and US chipmaker Analog Devices to unveil the world’s first molecular sensing smartphone at CES.

BMW made a headline-grabbing announcement at CES about its plan to roll out a fleet of approximately 40 autonomous vehicles by the second half of 2017. The BMW 7 Series cars will employ cutting-edge technologies from Intel and from Mobileye, Israel’s premier developer of vision-based advanced driver assistance systems.

“Making autonomous driving a reality for our customers is the shared ambition behind our cooperation with Intel and Mobileye. This partnership has all of the skills and talent necessary to overcome the enormous technological challenges ahead and commercialize self-driving vehicles,” said BMW’s Klaus Fröhlich at a media event preceding the show.

Autotalks, the Kfar Netter-based company developing automotive-grade V2X (vehicle-to-everything) communication solutions, announced at CES that it has joined forces with Taiwan’s RoyalTek, a leader in global positioning systems (GPS) and satellite navigation technology, to improve road safety by developing an innovative vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P) solution.

In addition to the multinational companies using CES to publicize their plans for 2017, the January 5-8, 2017 exhibition attracts tech editors and reporters from all major media outlets seeking the hottest tech trends to come.

A handful of Israeli startups are included in their roundups so far. BBC highlights TytoCare telehealth system. USA Today put Kado’s super-thin battery chargers on its “CES 2017: 5 gadgets that made me say wow” list. CBS tells tech-lovers not to miss out on 2breathe’s sleep inducer.

Overall, CES is expected to draw 3,800 exhibitors and 170,000 attendees spread out over 2.6 million net square feet of exhibits.

Israel Pavilion

Dozens of Israeli companies are taking part in the tech extravaganza.

Israel has more than 500 consumer electronics and digital media companies with innovative solutions for mobile devices, smart home and smart TV, video and gaming, automotive, wearables, Internet of things (IoT) and other arenas.

As in past years, the Israel Export Institute and Israel Ministry of Economy Foreign Trade Office have set up an Israel Pavilion at CES.

The 15 blue-and-white companies on display in the pavilion are: Cinema2Go (optical solutions for head-mounted displays); meeba (customizable smart doorbells); Radiomize (gesture-controlled steering); 2breathe sleep inducer; CMoo Systems (home control and monitoring); DigiSense (wearable real-time monitoring sensor for diapers); Idomoo (automatically generated, cinematic-quality personalized videos); Imagry (visual recognition engine); Alango Technologies (DSP processing software); TytoCare ; Beyond Verbal (emotion-detecting voice analytics); Say Wear (smart necklace); Nano Dimension (3D printing); MySizeID (measurement technology applications); and Kado (ultra-slim chargers).

“The companies at the Israeli Pavilion exhibit innovative solutions that meet the needs of the entertainment and consumer electronics sectors including wearable technologies, advanced solutions for audio and video technologies, 3D printing, IoT technologies, mHealth and smart cars,” said Michael Admon, director of the high-tech department at the Israel Export Institute.

“The global entertainment arena is at an advanced stage of development of new fields in IoT, autonomous vehicle, augmented reality and virtual reality. The Israeli Pavilion display offers a variety of innovative solutions and we expect visits by senior representatives from the consumer and entertainment electronics arena.”

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