And the 2022 Minsky Award for Best New Tech Goes To …

AI hit a major milestone in its integration into our lives starting with Dallamp8901E2 and ChatGPT which will not only have a real impact on creative industries but is causing angst and change to the entire educational system as all quotessaysquot are immediately indeterminate Lensa turned everyone into a better looking avatar but did get deserved pushback for oversexualizing women39s images On the hardware front new phones from Apple and Samsung represented incrementalism versus radical improvements although Samsung39s fold phones seem to have picked up momentum Google39s Pixel 7 which was definitely a contender this year for the Minsky award cemented their place in breaking the tenyear plus duopoly that Apple and Samsung have had on the premium smartphone market In VR this year has to be summed up as disappointing and I am specifically talking about the headsets not Metaverse Globally ByteDance released the PICO 4 but sales have been underwhelming The Quest 2 which is the true leader in consumer VR actually underwent a price hike midyear following investor pressure on Meta39s overall loss This was in my opinion a big mistake If Zuckerberg wants to scale Horizon Worlds their version of the Metaverse they must get headsets into the hands of as many consumers as possible The magic cost number in the US for mass consumer adoption is between 150 250 for tech and the current price is 349Now Meta did offer a fairly good holiday deal bundling in the most popular VR game Beat Saber along with wellreviewed zombie hunter game Resident Evil 4 which effectively countered the price hike but a price cut likely would have sold far more Quest 2s Meta released the Quest Pro for Enterprise in 2022 That should have been a contender for the Minsky It was priced at a ridiculous price point of 1500 given the improvements in facial recognition and headset design were nice but not a 1000 greater value than the Quest 2 Adding insult to injury the battery life is two hours at best not nearly strong enough for EnterpriseThere are certain life milestones that open up possibilities And by possibilities I mean the ability to acquire new tech without the guilt or angst of your spouselife partner berating you for spending money on said tech or as I like to call it the quotYOU SPENT HOW MUCHquot effectamp160 And one of these milestones let39s say a daughter39s Bat Mitzvah may have come into play this year we love you Ava opening the window for me to use the excuse of the rite of the montage for a thoroughly unnecessary but very much desired technosplurge I mean when you39re spending thousands of dollars on canapes DJs and giveaways who39s really going to make a stink over a few hundred dollars to ensure that the first 12 years of your precious child39s life is seen in 1080p Full HD HDR and Dolby Digital Audio This year39s winner of The Minsky Award named for my grandfather Abe Minsky zquotl who bought me my first Apple II computer is amp8230drum rollamp8230XGIMI Halo Portable ProjectorFor years my brotherinlaw has been trying to convince me to switch from a television set to a projector but I was and still am in favor of a nice LEDOLED screen over projector for everyday use But as the pandemic wore on I really did want to get something to show movies outside and the Bat Mitzvah needed to provide the perfect trigger I did not want to spend over 1000 but I also wanted quality I looked at the Samsung Freestyle which was buzzy during CES but reviews online were decidedly mixed After literally hours of online research I happened upon a company called XGIMI a brand I39d never heard of prior Based in Chengdu China with an office in San Francisco XGIMI has a wide array of projectors ranging from 4K Ultra Short Throws to small 39fit in your bag39 versions The Halo is in the midrange priced around 850 but it punches way above its weight With builtin Android TV and Chromecast the Halo boots directly into a streaming video paradise with Google recommending what you may want to watch across your various apps The device projects at 900 ANSI lumens don39t go by lumens when choosing your projector They aren39t representative of the overall power and brightness of a projector to the degree that ANSI lumens are which is definitely on the high end for a portable projector yet to be clear not bright enough to be seen well in daylightOne of my favorite features is the auto keystone With most projectors it39s almost impossible to get that perfect rectangle from the getgo The keystone effect where one corner is offkilter or higher than another can truly be annoying With projectors that only provide a manual keystone adjustment you can fidget for a while to get it close to right The Halo has an autokeystone adjustment that works remarkably well and an additional automation that fits the size of your image to the size of your screen Finally there is an autofocus feature as well but I have found myself adjusting that manually on more than one occasionIn terms of audio for a unit so small it is fantastic with DTS HD and Dolby Audio It39s certainly more than adequate for a standard size room in a home or even showing movies outdoors in a private backyard However if you take it into a larger social setting say a large party room I would absolutely recommend additional Bluetooth speakersWhile we39ve most definitely enjoyed it for moviewatching we have found uses that we never thought of before For example there are nights where we39ll project live streams from YouTube of various ocean scenes or live underwater cams which really is incredibly calming and a great way to fall into a sound sleep The builtin Chromecast makes this a go to projector for anyone in the VR space who wants to project their gaming onto a large screen for others to watch at VR demos parties or eventsFinally the icing on the cake that ensured that XGIMI would win this year I dropped the projector in the first week Yup totally an accident I had placed it in what I thought was a secure position on the table that turned out not to be so secure and in slomotion I saw it fall to the floor Thankfully it was carpeted and did not truly damage the Halo however the external casing did dent slightly and popped out a little bit I tried but was unable to get it to pop back inXGIMI39s customer support was the epitome of what customer support and service should be Southwest Airlines take note XGIMI sent the simple instructions on how to send the unit in emailed me after a few days to ensure that I was still interested in swapping out the unit and then kept me well updated once I had sent it in even after the new unit arrived to ensure that the new unit worked It was just superlative servicePortable media players with builtin app ecosystems are a fairly new category but one that will continue to expand the apertures for media consumption in nontraditional venuesGreat product great customer support and the ability to open up new ways of thinking about video is why this year39s winner of the Minsky Award for Must Have Technology is the XGIMI HaloBut Wait That39s Not Allamp8230So what is coming for 2023 We will see an explosion of AI built into devices many of them in the digital health area for selfdiagnosis and noninvasive monitoring of any number of issues from sleep deprivation to diabetes to cardiac and mental health Meta Quest 3 has been confirmed to release in 2023 and will likely have some of the facial movement capabilities of the Quest Pro PlayStation39s PSVR 2 will release in February and although it will still have a cord it will also benefit from PS539s incredible processing power We39ll likely see at long last the introduction of Apple39s longawaited entryies into the world of Mixed Reality That announcement should occur in the early part of 2023 In televisions we will see a plethora of NextGen TV sets and dongles to allow you to receive the twoway overtheair capabilities which allows broadcasters and marketers to create interactive content on broadcast media Will NextGen TV take off or be the next HD Radio We will see but 2023 will be the first year that consumers really will have the opportunity to experience it in the real world While yes there are overall economic concerns about 2023 I choose to remain optimistic and focus on the great tech that awaits us in the coming yearI wish you all a Happy Healthy and Successful 2023NoteThis is NOT a sponsored piece of content and I have received no compensation from XGIMI for this pieceClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet

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And the 2022 Minsky Award for Best New Tech Goes To …

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