'Mind-engaged vehicles will be a disruptive force' and other CES 2018 member comments

Each year in January, tech companies from all over the world gather in Las Vegas to show off their latest and greatest technology from self-driving cars, to robot assistants to the tiniest of TVs.

Now that CES 2018 is over, let's take a look at what you thought about the hot (and not so hot) products and trends that will shape the year ahead.

ZDNet's Community Manager's Top Picks

Nissan wants to use your brain waves to make driving safer

Charlie Osborne (Read more)
Can autonomous systems which read your thoughts make driving safer as well as more enjoyable?

ZDNet member onroda:
So, this is not "driverless" technology, at all.

Which means that, when the other fully autonomous vehicles hit the road, the mind-engaged vehicles will be a disruptive force, meaning that, it presents a danger to all the others using driveless vehicles.

The whole idea behind fully autonomous vehicles is to remove the human factor from driving. Can't have 2 different and basically opposite forces on the road. It's either one or the other, and not both.

One big question: will Nissan's brain-wave band be able to detect an impaired mind, and negate vehicle operation by that "driver"? If operation is operation of the vehicle is rejected for the owner, will the owner have to call for the services of a "driverless" tech vehicle?

I highly doubt that the Nissan direction for better vehicle operation will ever catch on. Now, it could if the future did not also involve completely autonomous vehicles.

5G takes center stage at CES 2018 with actual deployments later

Larry Dignan (Read more)
Welcome to CES 2018 and 5G overload as the technology industry goes into overdrive pitching the perks of next-generation wireless. 5G will be a big deal for business just not quite yet.

ZDNet member roncoffman:
California is already beginning to realize the dangers of constantly exposing people to RF energy by recommending they not carry cell phones next to their bodies, only using them when they have strong signals, and such. The cell phone and other wireless industries have been doing their best to prevent people from learning of such dangers since cell phones came out. Now we are going to let them offer 5G, which uses frequencies about 10 times higher than what cell phones use now. Since power density goes up with frequency, 5G could be 10 times more dangerous to us than the 3G and 4G technologies we use now. We need more research into the possibility of real health risks before we allow this.

Welcome to CES 2018 also known as Microsoft Cortana's funeral

Larry Dignan (Read more)
PC makers start adding Amazon's Alexa to their systems. If Microsoft's Cortana can't win on a Windows PC it's unlikely to reach other touch points in the smart home and office.

ZDNet member M Wagner:
230 "skills" for Cortana and 25,000 "skills" for Alexa? I didn't know those metrics even existed. That kind of a discrepancy says it all. I would have thought that all you have to do is couple voice recognition to any decent search engine. Apparently NOT!I don't see how any of these voice-activated tool can survive in an open business environment - due to the distraction. That said, in environments where audio distractions are not a problem, the "skills" discrepancy is just too stark.Of course, Amazon knows how to market their products.

TechRepublic Members Take on CES 2018

Best smartphone and business tech accessories of CES 2018

Teena Maddox (Read more)
Cool and useful office tech for laptops, smartphones and more were spotted at CES 2018. Wireless charging pads were everywhere, and there were a plethora of Wi-Fi earbuds and smart wallets.

TechRepublic member Skeleton1:
This 75-year-old guy thinks this stuff at CES this year is booooring. There appears to be nothing but gadgets which just add more clutter to our already overly-cluttered lives and homes. In my active working career, there were exciting new hardware and software advances which actually contributed to our advancement. My honkin' laptop is still my tool of choice for technology. I use a cell phone which is about 10 years old now. I only need one charger for each, and I can plug them in and walk away when they lose power. There's nothing like a glass of good wine to recharge MY battery.

The newest tech innovations from CES Unveiled

Teena Maddox (Read more)
Find out about the latest tech innovations spotted at CES Unveiled on January 7, 2018 at CES in Las Vegas.

TechRepublic member krovny:
You missed the biggest life changing technology that is at CES. Over the air wireless charging by Energous called Wattup. It currently has been approved by the FCC for mid-field up to 3 feet but it also is getting approval for far-field. Just imagine your phone is charging while it's in your pocket, remotes charging, hearing aids charging, the list goes on and on.....

Which product revealed at CES 2018 do you think will or will not impact our future? What product/technology were you hoping to see but didn't? Let us know in the comments below.