Seven Must-Read Stories (Week Ending January 10, 2014)

Another chance to catch the most interesting, and important, articles from the previous week on MIT Technology Review.

January 10, 2014

CES 2014: Intel’s 3-D Camera Heads to Laptops and Tablets
Controlled with gestures, these depth-sensing devices will appear in the second half of 2014.
The Hottest Technology Not on Display at CES: Smart Radio Chips
Smartphone battle moves from software to hardware with a crucial component to cut power consumption and allow faster data transmission.
New Battery Material Could Help Wind and Solar Power Go Big
Low-cost materials could make storing hours of power from a wind farm economically feasible.
How Google Cracked House Number Identification in Street View
Google can identify and transcribe all the views it has of street numbers in France in less than an hour, thanks to a neural network that’s just as good as human operators. Now its engineers reveal how they developed it.
Coming Soon: Smart Glasses That Look Like Regular Spectacles
Sunglasses made with nanoscale optical technology hint at a near future of inconspicuous head-mounted displays.
Facing Doubters, IBM Expands Plans for Watson
IBM says it will invest $1 billion in the computer system that won on Jeopardy! but has stumbled so far in the real world.
CES 2014: Less Is More for Smart Watches and Other Wearable Gadgets
Companies have figured out that a smart watch can’t just be functional; it has to look good, too.