Arlington, VA—The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA, ce.org) announced the 2015 International CES Best of Innovation honorees, presented by Gracenote. The CES Innovation Awards annually recognize outstanding design and engineering advancements in 28 consumer electronics product categories.
“This was a record-breaking year for entries; we saw a 14% increase in the number of products and innovations entered in the 2015 CES Best of Innovation program. Honorees this year represent the diverse range of consumer technologies and highlight the intersection of artistic, user-friendly design and innovative engineering that capture the hearts and meet the needs of consumers worldwide,” said Karen Chupka, senior vice president, International CES and corporate business strategy, CEA.
CES Innovation Awards entries are judged by a panel of independent designers and engineers. The judges base their votes on overall engineering qualities related to technical specifications and materials; aesthetics and design qualities; the product’s intended use and function; its unique features; and how the design and innovation of the product compares to others in the marketplace.
The Best of Innovation designation is awarded to products with the highest judges’ scores. They will be featured in the Innovation Awards Showcase at CES Tech West in the Venetian at the 2015 CES. Owned and produced by CEA, the 2015 CES runs January 6–9, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The Best of Innovation honoree for 2015 in the digital imaging category is the Sony Alpha a7S full-frame, mirrorless camera. The world’s smallest full-frame interchangeable-lens camera, Sony’s α7S “puts extraordinary sensitivity, low noise and spectacular 4K video quality into the hands of professional photographers and videographers,” noted the judges. Sony took the top honor from 11 CES Innovation Awards recipients in the digital imaging category. Following are the other awardees and the reason the judges recognized them.
Giroptic 360cam. This is the world’s first true Full HD 360º video camera. giroptic.com
SanDisk 512GB Extreme Pro SDXC UHS-I Card. The world’s highest capacity SD card, it’s designed to meet the demands of video and photography professionals. sandisk.com
IC Real Tech IC720 720º Video Monitoring Camera. The world’s first video-monitoring camera to capture 720º (360 horizontal by 360 vertical), its integrated software app provides an immersive remote-viewing experience via mobile devices and tablets. icrealtech.com
Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX100. With a Micro Four Thirds High Sensitivity MOS sensor, it is the sixth generation model of Panasonic’s LX high-end compact camera series. With 4K video recording capabilities, it offers manual controls for incredible still photos and video. panasonic.com
Lytro Illum. The first professional-grade camera that harnesses the power of a light field, it captures the direction, color and brightness of the rays of light in a frame to give users the ability to explore their pictures from different perspectives. lytro.com
olloclip 4-in-1 Lenses. Made for the Samsung Galaxy S5 and S4, this easy-to-use mobile photography tool expands olloclip’s presence into Android mobile device platforms. olloclip.com
Samsung Smart NX1. The newest addition to the award-winning Samsung NX family of mirrorless system cameras, this flagship model is remarkably fast and accurate. It features an innovative imaging processor and Samsung’s fastest autofocusing system. samsung.com
Tiffen Steadicam Curve for GoPro Hero. The Curve is designed specifically for action-packed, one-handed GoPro camera shoots. Combining the Curve’s compact form factor with Steadicam’s stabilization technology, the possibilities for shake-free video are now endless for GoPro users. tiffen.com
Polaroid Cube. This lifestyle action video camera has a built-in microphone, an LED light and a rubberized exterior housing for shock protection and water resistance. It features a 124º wide-angle fisheye lens and records Full HD 1080p video. polaroid.com
Polaroid Socialmatic. A revolutionary digital camera that’s unlike anything else on the market, it is both nostalgic and contemporary. It was designed to make sharing life’s memorable moments easier, more fun and more rewarding. polaroid.com
