It’s the beginning of the new year, which means that CES 2016 is underway.
The world’s innovators have gathered in Las Vegas once again for the premiere technology expo.
At this year’s CES, 3,600 presenters are exhibiting gadgets, software, services and innovations that they believe will take off in a big way in 2016.
Like every CES, there will be a mix of amazing, intriguing and downright ridiculous technology.
Here, you can check out the highlights — and low-lights — as CNNMoney catalogs CES 2016.
Polaroid just got even more old-school
Polaroid has been able to make a decent comeback by tapping into Gen Xers’ nostalgia and updating its famous instant film cameras for the digital world.
But the company also licenses its brand to a host of manufacturers, which make everything from Polaroid earbuds to Polaroid turntables.
Polaroid’s take on the turntable will transfer your records into digital music and connect to your phone via Bluetooth.
Limited Too is back, now selling phone accessories to tweens
Remember ’90s clothing store Limited Too? It’s back, but it’s not just selling sparkly clothes for tween girls anymore.
Now it’s also selling sparkly phone chargers, cases and LED makeup mirrors.
Samsung’s new “Quantum Dot” TV is insanely good
With a whole bunch of physics that are hard to contemplate, Samsung has designed a TV that really impresses with its amazingly true-to-life colors.
The “Quantum Dot” technology replicates real-life colors, so blacks are more black, reds are more red, and greens are more green. In older versions of Samsung TVs, reds appeared orange, and greens appeared blueish by comparison.
The new Quantum Dot TVs will debut later this year.
Corning’s insane car concept
Screens in cars are becoming standard, now that backup cameras are mandatory. But glass-maker Corning envisions a future where screens aren’t just part of your dashboard — instead, your entire dashboard will be a screen.
Corning’s futuristic plan also includes putting Gorilla Glass on your windshield. That’s the same screen that’s on your phone. It’s lighter and more durable than your current windshield, helping to increase fuel efficiency and clarity.
It also showed off an impressively bright “heads up display” that was projected onto the windshield, showing turn-by-turn navigation and your current speed. Cars are becoming more like smartphones on wheels, but Corning is taking that idea to the extreme.
Find out what’s really in your food — instantly
When Rémy Bonnasse’s daughter was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 9, he had to start closely monitoring her food intake. Food labels helped a bit, but there are no labels when you go out to eat.
So Bonnasse developed DietSensor, essentially a massive database of food components that won a coveted innovation award at this year’s CES. The corresponding app helps you measure your daily intake of food, making recommendations about what to eat — and not to eat — throughout the day, based on your particular health profile.
DietSensor really becomes impressive when it’s paired with Consumer Physics’ $249 pocket-sized “Scio” infrared scanner and a Bluetooth connected scale. Put your plate on the scale, and hold the scanner to each food item on your plate. The scanner instantly measures how much fat, protein and carbohydrates are in your food, and the connected app figures out how much of each component you consume as you eat, in real time, as it leaves the scale (and enters your mouth).
DietSensor has preset plans for individuals who are overweight, diabetic, have high cholesterol or heat disease. You can also enter your own daily consumption goals, based on your dietician’s recommendations.
Super-fast Internet is coming over your phone line
Today, you have a choice between cable broadband Internet, which is expensive, or DSL Internet over your phone line, which is slow.
But soon, a new technology will be coming to your home that will offer Google Fiber-like speeds right over your phone line. It’s called G.Fast, and Israeli chipmaker Sckipio is showing off the powerful technology at CES this year.
In a demonstration for CNNMoney, Sckipio showed off download speeds of nearly 750 megabits per second traveling over a standard phone line. That’s 50 times faster than the broadband that you probably have coming into your home right now.
The promise of G.Fast is to offer an alternative to your broadband company. The technology will give your telephone provider the ability to offer even faster speeds than cable — and they won’t have to dig up holes in your yard to do it.
Sckipio says the G.Fast technology will debut in the United States later this year.
AT&T Mobility CEO: ‘Not just about offering the cheapest service’
In a dig at T-Mobile, AT&T Mobility CEO Glenn Lurie told CNNMoney that being the best wireless carrier is about more than having the lowest price.
“From the time you get up to time you go to bed, you’ll get an integrated experience with AT&T,” Lurie said. “Your videos will work seamlessly with your phone, car or at work. All these inanimate objects around you will start to take care of you.”
AT&T is investing heavily in building up its Internet of Things offerings by partnering with the governments of Chicago, Atlanta and Dallas to make their infrastructure wireless. One day, Lurie says AT&T will let people in those cities know where traffic congestion is happening, where the nearest parking spaces are, when there is an emergency, and even whether their water is safe to drink.
With AT&T powering DirecTV, wireless connections in cars and millions of smartphones, the company is developing massive scale that it says separates it from the competition.
“It’s not just about offering the cheapest service,” Lurie said. “The others we’re competing with are single-play players.”