You can tell the veterans from the young upstarts at CES simply by how they announce products. Simply putting a new device on stage and feeding you specs is pretty much amateur hour. (Though, it does make the lives of tech journalists much easier.) The big boys know that you’ve got to bury a product launch among piles of hyperbole and abstract concepts that will (supposedly) improve your entire state of being. Enter Life Space UX. Sony’s concept for a world where your walls become virtual windows into the world around you. You could, for instance, project the sky at various points of the day across your living room walls. (Now, why you’d want to do that, is a different question.) At the heart of the concept is a new Ultra Short Throw Projector that can fill a wall with a bright moving image from an extremely close distance. Filed under: Home Entertainment , HD , Sony Comments

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Sony’s Ultra Short Throw Projector will enable an immersive world of video it’s calling Life Space UX

It’s not very often that a light switch really catches Engadget’s eye, so you know it has to be something clever to show up on our virtual pages. This particular lightbulb activation device (as demonstrated by NXP ) is not only wireless, it’s powerless — we were able to turn on a wireless lightbulb simply by tapping on the switch itself, without requiring an external power source. This one single action alone actually generates just barely enough power to push a signal to the bulb. The unit we played with also utilizes NFC to pair wirelessly with a light source. All told, it worked without a hitch, and the tech is currently being sampled out to manufacturers. This means we’ll likely start seeing devices take advantage of this setup sometime this year, so be on the lookout for more details as they come out. Comments

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Finally, a light switch so green it doesn’t need electricity

Sure, we’ve seen a number of electric skateboards out there, but we certainly won’t be turning down the chance to check out one more anytime soon. According to its creators, the E-Go Cruiser is the “lightest” electric longboard out there, and while 13.9 pounds is hardly featherweight, compared to manual longboards we’ve used in the past, it’s definitely a fair bit lighter than other electric ones we’ve tried. We would, however, have preferred some kind of handle we could use to carry it around. The bottom of the desk is covered in carbon fiber and a battery that’s surprisingly slim, as it’s built into the bottom of the board. After hopping on it for a bit, we have to say, we prefer the Zboards’ pad-based control system as opposed to the handheld remote – particularly since backing up requires you to fully stop, flip a switch and then hit the forward button. According to the rep we spoke with, the company is considering getting rid of reverse altogether. The E-Go can manage hills and should give you up to 18 miles on a charge. The company’s asking $700 for the longboard. Filed under: Transportation Comments

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Yuneec’s E-Go Cruiser electric skateboard is a ‘light’ 13.9-pounds

Want to get the most out of your living room PC gaming experience? Origin PC wants to help. Today the company announced its official Steam Machine, dubbed Origin Chronos, in two distinct flavors: standard and SLI-edition. As the name implies, the two boxes are separated by GPU support, the latter being capable of running up to two NVIDIA GeForce GTX Titans under the hood. Each machine can be outfitted with up to six or 14 terabytes of storage space, respectively, and can be professionally overclocked by Origin PC’s in-house team of system builders. As an official Steam Machine, the Chronos naturally runs Valve’s Steam OS and supports the company’s quirky controller , but gamers unwilling to go all-in on Steam’s Linux support can dual-boot their rigs to Windows 7 or Windows 8, too. Origin hasn’t specified how much each unit will cost, but considering both are customizable, we imagine the Chronos will range from relatively affordable to ludicrously expensive. The release date is just as nebulous so far, though the company has said it will be out later this year. One thing’s for sure: It’ll have plenty of competition . Filed under: Gaming Comments

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Origin PC’s Chronos Steam Machine dual boots Windows and Steam OS, comes in standard and SLI-Editions

Four months ago, Intel unveiled its Quark SoC at IDF. Today at CES 2014, company CEO Brian Krzanich wants to introduce you to Edison, a miniature computer based on the same technology condensed into the form factor of an SD card. The tiny computer is built on the company’s 22nm transistor technology, runs Linux, and has built-in WiFi and Bluetooth modules. What’s more, is the tiny machine can connect to its own app store. Naturally, the devices is aimed at developers, Krzanich says, who he hopes will use it to build the next generation of wearable and connected devices. Even so, Intel is leading by example, and showed a small collection of “Nursery 2.0” products using embedded Edison chips: a toy frog that reports a infants vitals to a parent via an LED coffee cup, for example, and a milk warmer that starts heating when another connected item (the frog, again) hears the baby cry. Still, even Intel knows that developers need more than a good example to motivate them, and nothing gets the creative juices flowing quite like the promise of an award. To that end, the company has announced the “Make it Wearable” competition, and says it will be offering up to 1.3 million in prizes for developers churning out wearable tech. The full details of the contest weren’t revealed at the show, but Krzanich did say that first prize would walk away with a cool $500, 000. Oh, and if you’re eyeballing Edison for your award winning idea? It’ll be available sometime in mid-2014. Filed under: Intel Comments

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Intel announces Edison, a 22nm dual core PC the size of an SD card