Firstly, let me start off by stating that I am not a tech guru, however, I know of a few hotshots in the scene, Theunis Janse van Rensburg of bandwidth blog being one, and every Tuesday he brings some of the most unique topics to the surface.

Recently we spoke about the annual CES, or, Consumer Electronic Show. A one-stop show for all the weirdest and wonderful ‘techy things’ that we as consumers can look forward to. All the biggest companies descended onto Las Vegas early in Jan 2022 to showcase what they have to offer. To put the size and popularity of the CES into perspective, this year, despite Covid, there were over 45000 in-person attendees from 119 countries across 11 venues, 2300 exhibitors and 800 start-ups, demonstrating technologies that will drive the way we live, work and do business in the future.

Now if I had to sit here and tell you about all the nifty things that were on show, we would still be sipping coffee over this one show for the next five years!

So I thought, let me veer off from the norm, being futuristic TV’s, smart phones, tablets and laptops, our everyday tools usually showcased at the Consumer Electronic Show, and focus on two stand out tech advancements that really stood out for me. One, I can say I need in my life and the other, well… debatable.

Firstly, a rather “smart tub” was showcased by a company called Kohler, you might have heard of them before, but this is a tub I would imagine Captain Kirk would deem as ‘Normal’. For us mere humans, it’s rather futuristic! Basically,via voice command, you can tell it what you want it to do. For instance, you can tell it whether you want the bath/tub 30%, 40% or 50% full, and also what temperature you would like the water to be.

Now can you imagine getting home after a long day, and as you walk in the front door, you shout across the house for your bath to…well, run a bath, exactly to your preferences! Furthermore you can control the faucets with hand gestures and you can even ask for it to create a steam effect so you can have a spa experience in your own home. Now listen, this is debatable whether I need one, I am sure that it will cost you the equivalent to your kid’s private school tuition for a year, but if I could, I won’t say no! Especially if I have a view like a room at the 12 Apostles!

Then, and I like this one, BMW showed off their brand new IX Electric SUV. Besides the fact that it is an all-electric, super sexy SUV, with a range of around 630 Km, and they claim that you can get a 100km charge in 21 minutes at a fast-charging station, the one they brought to Consumer Electronic Show, could… change color at the press of a button!

I know! Ok, but when I say ‘color’, it can only switch between black and white, but that’s still AWESOME! BMW went about coating the car in what is known as e-ink paint, the same that we have in those e-readers and kindles. And via some sophisticated proton/electron movement process, too complicated for me to explain/understand, with the push of a button, you can change the entire car from black to white or vice versa! But it’s not only for the look, it does serve a valid purpose. For instance, if it’s a really hot day, you use the white option to reflect heat and also help with things like the electric cars’ aircon power consumption, in turn helping to get more km’s. And on the flip side, if it’s a really bright day, make the car black and it will be very visible to other road users! So it really does have a number of useful perks!

And let me just be real honest here, when it changes color… IT… LOOKS… DAMN… COOL! This… I need it in my life!

Needless to say, I just love myself a bit of a tech digest, especially when it focuses on unusual gadgets.

Now, I’m off to play the Lotto…