Welcome back! We hope your year is starting off on the right foot. Over here, a new year means preparing for a great deal of new gear. The first few months are crackling with trade shows—CES, NAMM, and CP+ to name a few—and each one brings a truckload of new announcements. Even the first few days aren’t empty, and we have some new equipment to discuss this week.
Let’s get started.
APC makes creator-focused Back-UPS battery back-up systems
Much like storage, backup power solutions are not often discussed on the lists of best gear for content creators. That should change. Making sure you keep your electrical equipment—which includes the computer on which you are streaming and editing—safe from power surges and outages is hugely important. APC has long been a leader in this category and now the brand offers some options that look as good as they perform, with the release of a new Back-UPS lineup.
Normally hidden below a desk or in a closet, UPS systems aren’t always flashy. That’s why APC’s new Back-UPS options are appealing. The looks comprise a clean aesthetic and can blend into the background when popped onto a desk, or in the background of a shot, visible during a stream.
Besides that, the Back-UPS are good systems. There are multiple versions with either 6 or 8 plugs and a variety of maximum outputs. You really can’t go wrong; just make sure you have enough protected ports for your devices. If you have a more powerful desktop PC, you might even consider a higher-power version.
Consider everything you might want to keep safe. Your computer, your router, your hard drive/NAS, your camera, your lights, etc. These uninterruptible power supplies are not meant to work on battery power indefinitely, though. They are ideally meant to keep you going so you can save anything you are working on and properly shut down—and for that, they are exceptional.
CES begins January 8 and new products are already showing up
We don’t get much of a break after the winter holidays, because the first couple of weeks of the year are dominated by news from the Consumer Electronics Show, or CES. It’s a fun show. Companies like taking this time at the start of the new year to show off new ideas and their most optimistic views of the future. There’s also a lot of cool stuff, like LG’s giant OLED wall and tons of VR demos.
Here’s what we have so far:
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LG Unveils gram and gram Pro Laptops and MyView 4K Smart Monitors
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Western Digital Announces the WD_BLACK SN770M M.2 Internal SSD
AI is a dominant force in the headlines this year. It looks like there will be more behind-the-scenes use of the tools. TVs with processors that can handle AI enhancement in real time are a good example. We will also see some camera news, likely see some future tech that we can dream of seeing in cameras soon, and some applications for VR and AR.
In other news…
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A hands-on review of SmallRig’s VB99 Pro V-mount Battery.
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Video review of the PTZOptics Move SE camera lineup.
It’s the first week and we don’t have a ton of details, but we will. The next couple of months are going to be exciting. Make sure to stop by here every week to find out what is happening.
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