Esports News UK rounds up some of the gaming-related announcements from tech conference CES 2021 so far
Razer smart mask and gaming chair concepts, new Blade laptops and esports announcement
Gaming accessory brand Razer made a slew of announcements at CES 2021.
First up, the Project Hazel smart mask concept.
It has a transparent design so you can see people better, a built-in microphone and amplifier so you can hear them more clearly, and interior lights that activate automatically in the dark.
The waterproof, scratch-resistant smart mask has an N95 medical-grade respirator protection, and Smart Pods that apparently regulate airflow for ‘optimal breathability’ and promise to filter at least 95% of airborne particles.
Project Hazel uses replaceable and rechargeable disc-type ventilators that can be sanitized of bacteria and viruses, by placing it inside its wireless fast charging box with disinfecting UV-light interior.
Lighting indicators show charge levels, and the battery ‘enables all-day mask use’. It has an air-tight seal, adjustable ear loops and two customisable Razer Chroma RGB lighting zones.
You can see other smart masks and air purifier devices announced at CES 2021 in this USA Today post.
Elsewhere, there’s the Project Brooklyn gaming chair concept design, which transforms from an ergonomic gaming chair into a ‘fully-fledged entertainment powerhouse’ for PC and console gaming.
Project Brooklyn is built with carbon fiber and RGB lighting, a 60″ rollout surround OLED display, riveting tactile feedback built into the seat, and armrests that roll out into adjustable peripheral tables. These are designed to allow gamers to switch between PC gaming with a mouse and keyboard, and console gaming with a controller.
Razer says ‘the existing types of all-in-one chairs that deliver cockpit-style seating and mounted hardware are typically room-sized and the costs are astronomical’.
Razer also announced new Razer Blade 15 and Razer Blade Pro 17 gaming laptops powered by Nvidia GeForce RTX 30 Series Laptop GPUs, promising higher refresh rates and resolutions, and starting from $1,699.
Finally, Razer announced its intention to ‘lead the charge for esports’ in the 31st Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) in 2021.
As the official esports sponsor for the 30th SEA Games, held 2019 in the Philippines, Razer is now working again with industry partners and regional esports federations around the tournament.
Nvidia announces GeForce RTX 30 Series laptops, RTX 3060, new Reflex Latency Analyzer mice and more
Nvidia is bringing GeForce RTX 30 Series GPUs to laptops, unveiling the GeForce RTX 3060 graphics card, and announcing new RTX and NVIDIA Reflex games, new G-Sync monitors, new tech, Reflect Latency Analyzer mice and more.
Nvidia said that as its Reflex ecosystem continues to grow, mouse makers are making their mice Reflex Latency Analyzer compatible.
Last year, Nvidia announced Reflex Latency Analyzer support from mouse partners Logitech, Razer, Steelseries and ASUS, and today it’s been confirmed that new compatible mice are coming from Acer, Alienware and Corsair.
You can check out all the announcements on Nvidia’s website here.
AMD announces powerful Ryzen 5000 mobile processors to boost gaming laptop power
Today, AMD announced the full portfolio of AMD Ryzen 5000 Series Mobile Processors, bringing the powerful Zen 3 core architecture to the gaming laptop market.
AMD say the new Ryzen 5000 Series Mobile Processors ‘provide unprecedented levels of performance and incredible battery life for gamers, creators and professionals’.
New laptops powered by Ryzen 5000 Series Mobile processors will be available from major PC manufacturers including ASUS, HP and Lenovo, starting in Q1 2021.
There’s some great detail on the AMD Ryzen 5000 Series Mobile Processors over at Eurogamer.
HyperX reveals its first 60 percent keyboard and other new gaming gear
HyperX announced a bunch of new products at CES 2021 including the The the company’s first 60 percent keyboard, the HyperX Alloy Origins 60 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard; a new charging accessory, the ChargePlay Duo Controller Charging Station for Xbox Series X/S, and global availability of the Pulsefire Haste Gaming Mouse, Cloud II Wireless Gaming Headset and Cloud Revolver Gaming Headset + 7.1.
Gigabyte unveils new notebook line-up
Gigabyte has introduced a new line-up of Nvidia GeForce RTX 30 Series laptop GPU notebooks for 2021, which includes the Aorus pro gaming series, namely the 17G, 15G and 15P, and the Aero creator series, which are the Aero 17, 17 HDR, 15 and 15 OLED.
Acer Nitro 5 gaming notebooks
Acer today announced new Nitro 5 gaming notebooks, plus new Aspire 5 and 7 notebooks, powered by AMD Ryzen 5000 Series Mobile Processors.
The powerful new AMD Ryzen Mobile Processors deliver fast and efficient
performance for laptops. With up to 8 cores of processing power, they combine low-power high-bandwidth memory with low power consumption and up to double the data rates achieved by the previous generation of RAM.
Acer also announced updates and refreshes to several gaming notebooks in its portfolio, including the Predator Triton 300 SE, Predator Helios 300 and Acer Nitro 5.
The Predator Triton 300 SE and Acer Nitro 5 notebooks have been updated to include new 11th Gen Intel Core H35-series processors for ultraportable gaming, while the Predator Triton 300 SE and Predator Helios 300 have been refreshed with Nvidia GeForce RTX 30 Series Laptop GPUs.
Smart home robots and more
Samsung has announced the Samsung Bot Handy, an AI robot that can recognise and pick up objects of varying sizes, shapes and weights.
Okay so it’s not a gaming product as such, but could we see smart tech like this used to clear up esports gaming facilities, bring players drinks, clear their laundry and plates and load their dishwashers? Time will tell.
Esports News UK will update this article with more products from CES 2021
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
