LAS VEGAS — Netatmo's Urban Weather station debuted in August for iOS devices, and has now added support for Android devices as well.

An update announced at CES, Android users can now use their phone or tablets along with the Urban Weather Station to receive real-time notifications on the air quality and weather conditions specific to their home or office.

Monitoring is done through small indoor and outdoor modules that are possibly best described as the size of a toilet paper roll. The smaller of the two is mounted outside — the unit comes with everything you need except the tools — and the larger module is placed inside. Read more…

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LAS VEGAS — Now that Ultra High-Definition TVs — which have 4x the number of pixels as 1080p sets — are a real thing, the question remains: Does anything exist that can actually play the format? Samsung says yes, offering up a "premium" Blu-ray player capable of serving up Ultra HD video ... with a catch.

The catch is the video is actually upconverted from 1080p (or standard-def), not native 4K (the other term for Ultra HD). You can't really blame Samsung — since there isn't yet a consumer disc format for Ultra HD, there wasn't really a way to build a player that outputs 4K natively, at least not one that would be guaranteed to still work in a year.

The player (model no. BD-F7500) also includes built-in Wi-Fi, letting it play material wirelessly from any DLNA-connected device, or even connect with other Samsung smart appliances. What to check if your laundry's done from your Blu-ray player? Now you can do that. Read more…

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LAS VEGAS — Would you wear a headphone hairband with an attachable hat that looks like you walked out of the Kentucky Derby? What about a pair with spikes or bright pink feathers?

Monster, formerly known as Monster Cable, was at the 2013 International CES show on Monday and showcased some quirky clip-on accessories that can be added to headphones.

"I wanted to create something with inspiration that wasn't just the normal," Monster CEO Noel Lee told Mashable. "A lot of people change colors and fabrics, and we do that too, but we wanted to do something that stands out and makes a statement." Read more…

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After today's announcement of Panasonic's 20-inch 4K tablet, the company unveiled the enormous slab at its booth at CES 2013. We got a close-up look at this super-thin Windows 8 device, and we bring you this gallery along with all of its specs and particulars.

Panasonic told us this prototype is aimed at professionals who will be able to use a stylus to manipulate graphics in the cloud. This might be an excellent tool for professionals such as video editors, who will be able to trim and scrub their video clips on a timeline and share them with colleagues online. Read more…

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LAS VEGAS — Just one day after Sony introduced its 4K OLED TV at the 2013 International CES, Panasonic unveiled its own 56-inch prototype. And, in a word, it's stunning.

Panasonic's 4K OLED TV is set off to the side of the manufacturer's booth at the week-long event in Las Vegas, but it's hardly out of sight. The TV is attracting droves of eyes and for good reason.

Although Panasonic hasn't revealed much information about the specs just yet — and there's been no mention of price, either — the amount of detail in the display is impressive. The company said its OLED panel was created by using the (red-green-blue) RGB all-printing method, which allows a broad spectrum of colors to be displayed. Read more…

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LAS VEGAS — Cross-country and international travel is expensive. Three or four trips to London, Paris or Taiwan a year and you're spending at least $16,000. What if you could spend that much and be in Europe and at home as often as you want? That's what Suitable Technologies' Beam Remote Presence System promises.

The roughly 5.5-foot-tall system is available now and on display at CES 2013. I got to take it for a drive and have to say, it's a pretty cool system.

Here's how it works. Beam connects to your network via a Wi-Fi or cellular broadband connection. It has a large LCD screen atop two slim bars and a rolling base. There's also a charging station. Beam usually starts there so it's fully charged when you're ready to “travel.”

If you're controlling Beam, your view is via your computer or laptop. You drive Beam with a joystick or, more commonly, the arrow keys on your keyboard, while Beam cruises along at up to 3 miles per hour. Your webcam beams your face to the Beam device, so your disembodied head looks like you're wherever your Beam is. It's like your own personal transporter, without the dangerous (and currently impossible) Star Trek hardware. Read more…

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