Best Moonshot
Razer Project Valerie
Razer loves to make a big splash at CES every year with a whizz-bang product. Sometimes what it shows becomes a real product, whereas other times it becomes so much vaporware. Razer’s centerpiece this year was Project Valerie, a beastly triple-display gaming laptop.
Going into our meeting with Razer this year, our vaporware radar was on high alert, but we were shocked to find that the company actually had a working prototype to show us. Even so, we’re only 50/50 that Project Valerie will come to fruition; the thing has a host of problems that Razer still has to solve.
However, the Razer people we spoke with were optimistic--adamant, even - that the company will be selling Project Valerie at some point. To us, the whole thing seems to be a moonshot. But If Razer can actually figure out solutions to the obvious heat, battery life, and ergonomic design issues, Project Valerie will become legendary - not just as a standalone product, but as an engineering template others may use to create more compelling gaming systems.
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Best VR Controller
Vive Tracker
The possibilities for VR peripherals are limitless with Vive’s new tracker. By attaching the Tracker, aka “The Puck,” to any object (in addition to some developer magic), a developer can make their own peripheral to match their game.
At Vive’s press conference, we saw a bat, a camera, and a gun, all of which had a virtual counterpart. In the past, hand tracking devices utilized the Vive controllers in order to visualize a person’s hands in VR. The new tracker will do the same thing, but with less weight.
Throughout the next year, and probably into next year’s CES, we’ll most likely see a rise in the production of Vive peripherals, and it’s largely because of HTC’s little tracking device. The company provided the Tracker, and now it’s up to manufacturers to create numerous peripherals, be it a gun, ball, sword, or (use your imagination) to meet the demands of VR developers.
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Best Use Of a Case Side Panel
iBuyPower’s Snowblind Gaming PC
We weren’t sure if iBuypower’s Project Snowblind was a real thing until we saw it in person, and our disbelief was replaced with awe. This is by far the most creative aesthetic add-ons we’ve seen in recent memory (especially in a market flooded with RGB lighting), and the LCD side panel display on the PC is indeed coming to retail outlets this February. We can see this technology being the next “big thing” in case aesthetics (sorry, tempered glass panels!), but for now iBuypower is the only game in town with the technology--at least, on a mainstream retail level.
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Most Logical Conclusion Of RGB Fever
Razer Cupholder
We have reached the point where there is now an RGB cupholder.
This is the logical conclusion of RGB fever, which is everywhere at CES. RGB lighting is over motherboards suddenly, so now your case, liquid cooler, fans, SLI bridge, headset, keyboard, mouse, mousepad--and cupholder--may all have RGB lighting.
Razer’s Synapse crew made these USB cupholders as a lark, but they do actually connect to Synapse. The lighting will sync with any other connected Synapse-enabled devices, and you can use the software to, for example, set yourself a flashing-light reminder to...to drink, we guess.
Unfortunately, the cupholder neither cools or warms your drink; all the USB port’s power is occupied with the lighting.
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