There were some truly awesome things to check out at CES. Find out what made us do a double take.
The New Year is here. And that means CES is about to begin.
Around 200,000 people are about to converge on Las Vegas for the technology industry’s biggest showcase of the year. This is the trade show’s 50th anniversary, and the show floor will be jam-packed with products and services that would’ve been dismissed as science fiction back in 1967: everything from self-driving cars to voice-controlled personal assistants to swarms of flying camera drones.
Yes, all those sort of gadgets that seemed outrageously fantastic when employed by the likes of James Bond, Captain Kirk and George Jetson in the 1960s will be on display at CES — mostly as products you can buy soon, if not right now. Oh, and anyone can share photos and live video of the latest and greatest products to a worldwide audience from a pocketable communications device. Welcome to 2017.
Of course, much of that same tech has already been on display at the show the past few years. CES is, after all, better viewed as an evolutionary process of trends that ebb and flow in three- to five-year increments. So, while many of these trends hardly sound new, they’re often more mature and better realized then they were in years past.
To that end, these are the topics and categories we expect to dominate the floor this year.
Expect smart home products to become even more ubiquitous. That means more everyday devices getting an “internet of things” (IoT) upgrade, whether that’s useful or not. Wi-Fi connectivity and app control will be more common in small kitchen-counter appliances , and expect refrigerators , washers and dryers to get smarter too. The same goes for doorbells, lightbulbs , ceiling fans, smoke alarms — and anything else you can think of.
Format wars have long been a part of the consumer electronics landscape, and CES in particular: VHS vs. Beta, HD DVD vs. Blu-ray, Windows vs. Mac or iPhone vs. Android, to name but a few. In the nascent smart home era, the newest format war is that of voice-controlled personal assistants and their underlying smart home platforms.
Look for companies to talk up compatibility with and the relative advantages of Amazon’s Alexa/Echo platform — far and away the current smart home leader — as well as Apple’s Siri/HomeKit, Google Home and maybe even Microsoft’s Cortana . (Ironically, none of those four companies officially exhibit at CES.) Likewise, Samsung — one of the largest exhibitors at the show — could spotlight its recently acquired Viv assistant , too.
Read more: Is the Google Home growing up fast enough?
Ford’s second-generation Fusion Hybrid has upgrades to sensors, electrical controls and computer hardware.
The North American International Auto Show starts on January 8, just as CES is ending. But CES has been stealing more and more of the car tech spotlight with each passing year, and 2017 is no exception. Expect plenty of self-driving and electric car technology to be on display in Vegas, with plenty of news from such industry heavyweights as Fiat Chrysler , BMW , Ford , Toyota, Nissan and Hyundai. We also expect an update on the status of Faraday Future’s electric vehicle plans , as well as auto-related tech news from companies such as Nvidia, Continental , Harman and Delphi. CNET’s Roadshow will be covering it all — before heading out to cover all the news in Detroit, too.
Read more: Self-driving cars to headline CES 2017
The mind-blowing 18-inch concept display rolls up a piece of the TV future.
The Las Vegas Convention Center is dominated by ever-increasing ginormous TV screens every year, and 2017 will be no exception. Samsung, Sony and up-and-coming Chinese brands like TCL and Hisense will be showcasing LCD-based technologies such as quantum dot, all of which is designed to take down OLED, the picture quality king that’s currently the sole province of LG (and its licensees).
4K resolution, HDR technology and still more built-in streaming tech (be it Roku, Chromecast, Android or other) will continue to drop towards mid- and even entry-level status on many models. Oh, and expect some demos of crazy next-gen display technology — and some cool projectors, too.
Read more: 7 TV trends to expect at CES 2017
For whatever reason, the CES show floor is nearly empty of PC vendors. But nearly all of the familiar brands piggyback on the show with offsite events, announcements and hotel suites in Vegas throughout CES week. Look for a cavalcade of new laptops and two-in-one laptop-tablet hybrids from the likes of Dell, Lenovo , Asus, Acer and HP, nearly all of which will be real-world products you’ll be able to buy early in the new year.
You can also expect some more offbeat futuristic concepts (we’re looking at you, Razer), as well as news and possible prototypes from chipmakers Intel and Qualcomm — especially now that Microsoft has announced Windows 10 support for that latter company’s ARM chips .
Huawei is looking for success outside China with phones like the Mate 9.
China has long been a manufacturing hub for the consumer electronics world, but the CES show floor has seen a rise of China-based brands in recent years, too. Look for companies such as Xiaomi , TCL, Hisense, LeEco and Huawei to use the spotlight of the CES show to give their brands a bigger halo as they look to further expand outside of their home market.
Some of the biggest names in the industry met with President-elect Donald Trump.
In some ways, the CES show floor is really just a distraction from the real action of the show, which takes place in bars, restaurants, hotel suites and blackjack tables as companies wine and dine prospective clients, partners and — yes — journalists, swapping all manner of information both on and off the record.
And you can bet the main topic of conversation this year will be the incoming administration of Donald Trump, who takes office later this month. That means a huge swath of laws and regulations that directly affect the global tech industry — everything from trade policy, tariffs, information security, network neutrality rules, tax policies, encryption, financial regulations and immigration, to name just a few — could well be changing, some radically. Even if the pace and extent of the regulatory change is less than expected, however, companies need to brace for a new world in which a presidential tweet could send their stock price soaring — or crashing.
Tbe Ehang 184, a quadrotor drone designed to carry a human passenger, was one of the more outlandish products of CES 2016.
Those are the highlights of what we expect to dominate CES week — but hardly the only thing we’ll see. You can also expect:
Robots — both practical (think: Roomba) and fanciful (plenty of C-3PO-style proof of concepts and showpieces).
Nintendo Switch: Not at CES.
Expect a comparably light news cycle at CES for gaming gear, cameras, phones and wearables. Sure, plenty of these things will be found on the show floor in one form or another, and you may even see a surprise high-profile product launch or two — especially from those aforementioned Chinese brands that are looking to make a splash.
But companies in these categories are generally keeping their powder dry for more focused trade shows in the coming weeks, such as the CP+ camera show in Japan and Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, which happen in late February and early March, respectively.
We’ll also see the first big standalone product launches of 2017 as early as next week, with an HTC event on January 12 , followed by a full reveal of the Nintendo Switch a day later.
But in the meantime, stay with CNET for complete CES 2017 coverage all week, followed immediately by Roadshow’s in-depth reporting of the Detroit Auto Show.
Read more: CES 2017: CNET’s complete coverage

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New Year’s is a great opportunity to reflect on how far we’ve come and where we hope to go next. The trouble is, most of us then proceed to set entirely unrealistic resolutions that we ultimately fail. Here are the most common failed resolutions, and how to approach them instead.
This post was originally published on December 30, 2013.
New Year’s resolutions are tricky. In theory, they’re a great idea, but most of us make too many at once, make them too vague, or just aren’t motivated. This year, do better: find a good resolution , find what steps it takes to get there , and make it easy to achieve.
According to both Statista and Statistic Brain , the single most common New Year’s resolution is to lose weight. It also violates two of the top rules for creating effective resolutions. For starters, “losing weight” isn’t very specific. It can be five pounds or fifty. It’s also an admirable goal that actually encompasses a lot of little goals, which can be overwhelming. So, if you want to make it more feasible, try aiming for those instead. For example:
Of course, there are hundreds of small changes you can make that affect your weight. The key is to choose one or two that easy to manage. Once you get the hang of that, you can skip ahead to the last section.
If there’s one resolution that’s ripe for big promises and crushing failure, it’s the vague intent to do “better” with your finances. Whether it’s to “spend less money” or a promise to “save more”, here are some more specific goals you should try:
The best part about financial resolutions is that they’re easy to quantify. If you want to improve your finances in the new year, start by picking a number. Whether it’s for the year, the month, or the day, giving yourself a specific amount of money you want to save can help narrow down your resolution to something that’s specific enough to pull off.
At this point, you might be beginning to detect a pattern. Despite being vague and directionless, resolutions like “enjoy life” and “worry less” maintain top-of-the-chart status. Fortunately, they’re not impractical. They just need a bit of direction.
Despite being the third most common resolution last year according to Statista , it’s terribly unspecific. Resolutions in general are aimed at improving yourself, so saying you resolve to “be a better person” is a bit like saying you “resolve to resolve something.” As we established earlier, specific goals are better. For example, that might include:
If you get right down to it, the cynical truth is that there’s nothing special about New Year’s. We all collectively agree to take a look back at the past and get excited about writing the wrong year on all of our paperwork for the next month. While this is a great excuse to self-assess, the truth is that changing your ways is a year-long process and if you fail your resolution by February, you can try again in March. If you’re going to set some resolutions, come prepared to track your progress.
Title photo by dolphfyn ( Shutterstock ). Photos by Bruce , Chris Potter , Wapster , Howard Lake , Lori Ann.

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Fitness-focused deals for the new year highlight today’s best deals, but read below to see them all.
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It’s a new year, which means a lot of you will be striving to get into better shape. Luckily, Amazon’s here to help with great deals on protein powders, vitamins, and supplements from Garden of Life.
All of the offerings here are certified USDA Organic, and the prices are great, so go flex your saving muscles and stock up on your favorite products and flavors. Just note that this is a Gold Box deal , meaning these prices are only available today, or until sold out.
If Garden of Life isn’t your brand of choice, Amazon’s also offering a buy two, get 30% off deal on vitamins, supplements, and protein products from several manufacturers, including BSN, Cullucor, Vitafusion, and more. Just add any two products to your cart, and you’ll see your discount automatically at checkout.
Odds are, you’ve got a $20 Crock-Pot sitting in a cabinet, gathering dust. But with just a few added features, the humble slow cooker can be one of your favorite kitchen tools , and one of the best models on the market is on sale for an all-time low $31 , which is an absolute no-brainer price.
Unlike most entry level slow cookers, the Hamilton Beach Set ‘n Forget is fully programmable on a few different parameters. You could set it to cook for a certain amount of time, after which it’ll switch to a keep warm mode; perfect for preparing six hour recipes during nine hour workdays. You can also insert a thermometer probe, and it’ll cook your meat to the proper temperature, and no higher.
I got a very similar cooker as a wedding gift (it didn’t include the clip-on spoon), and I use it on a weekly basis. Just be sure to grab yours today , before it sells out.
I bought the FitDesk 2.0 on a whim a couple of years ago, and was surprised both by how viable it was to work at, and how compact it gets when folded up. It fits easily into a closet, or opens up for use while working, gaming, or marathoning Netflix, and is particularly nice out on the balcony.
Today’s price isn’t the cheapest it’s ever been, but it doesn’t get a discount often. It’s one of the easiest ways I know of to get in better shape for the new year.
Featuring an eight foot power cord, 11 AC outlets, plus coax and phone line protection, this APC surge protector is exactly what you need behind your home theater. Amazon will sell you one for $14 right now ( after you clip the $6 coupon ), which is an all-time low.
Klipsch’s ProMedia 2.1 speaker system is the only three-time winner in Kinja Co-Op history , and BuyDig’s taking $50 off the set today with promo code JINGLEBELLS. If you’re still using, say, your laptop’s built-in speakers, I can’t express how huge this upgrade will be.
If you still haven’t tried out a home theater bias light, there’s never been a better time to pick one up. Vansky’s LED bias light strips plug directly into your TV’s USB port for power, and stick to the back of the set via built-in adhesive. Once you turn your TV on, the LEDs cast a soft glow on the wall behind them, which can reduce eyestrain when watching in the dark, and improve your TV’s perceived black levels.
We’ve posted deals on these several times now, but today’s $12 ( RGB ) and $10 ( white ) price points are all-time lows. Just be sure to use code GT8OMP06 at checkout to get the deal.
2016 was the year of Bluetooth headphones, but if you still haven’t cut the cord, here’s a pair from Mpow for $20 .
KMASHI’s insanely affordable battery packs are back down to their lowest prices, including the 20,000mAh model with Quick Charge 2.0. Even if you already have one (if you read Kinja Deals, that’s a pretty safe bet), these would make great stocking stuffers. Just be sure to note the promo codes.
A good label maker is something everyone should own, and the highly rated Brother P-Touch is down to just $10 today , its best price in months.
If you remember the old label makers that literally pressed the letters into a piece of tape, this is a bit more advanced than what you’re picturing. The P-Touch can print in nine font styles across two lines, along with clipart and special characters, and can even print on multiple label widths, including special iron-on labels.
The next two months are a treacherous time for your waistline, and I’m not just talking about election night stress-eating and binge drinking. That’s where the Sweethome-recommended Withings Body comes in.
The Withings Body Composition Wi-Fi Scale looks like any other bathroom scale at first glance, but it can automatically sync your vitals to your phone (including Apple’s HealthKit), meaning you can keep track of your progress towards your new year’s fitness resolutions. $78 isn’t quite as good as a $68 holiday deal we saw last month, but other than that, it’s the best price we’ve seen.
Feeling bold? Amazon will ship you a randomly selected diamond or zirconia sterling silver necklace for $20 or $13 , respectively. The minimum values are listed as $24 for the diamond, or $22 for the zirconia, so you’re theoretically getting a good deal here; you just won’t get to choose what it looks like.
Reebok’s Professional Deck is actually an adjustable step, workout bench, and storage compartment all rolled into one, and Amazon’s marked it down to $150 today, or roughly $30-$50 less than usual.
Just want a step? The Reebok Aerobic Step is also down to $75, matching an all-time low.
The roguelike survival game Don’t Starve shouldn’t need much of an introduction, but if you somehow don’t have a copy sitting in your Steam library, you can fix that for $4 today .
Note : Will also run on Mac or SteamOS
Blessed are the cheesemakers, but you don’t need much cheddar to buy Monty Pyton’s Life of Brian on Blu-ray today.
These deals may be a little out of season, but if you’re planning any wintertime tropical getaways, these inexpensive dry bags will keep your precious smartphone safe from surf and sand alike.
Beats sound quality has come a long way in recent years, and the new Powerbeats 3 even include Apple’s easy-pairing W1 chip , making them a great option for iPhone-owning fitness buffs, or anyone whose ears aren’t compatible with AirPods. They’re still only a few months old, but for a limited time, Amazon’s taking $50 off.
Once you have a soft close toilet seat , you’ll never go back. It’s a new year, treat yourself.
If you still haven’t upgraded your morning routine up a life-changing wake-up light, the new year is a great excuse to try one out .
The entry-level Philips HF3500 is currently marked down to $58 , down from its usual $70 (though not an all-time low). While there are higher end models with color-shifting light and multiple wake-up sounds, I’ve been a satisfied user of this model for two years, and can’t recommend it highly enough.
You need to buy detergent, paper towels, and toilet paper anyway, so you may as well save $15 on it. Just spend $50 on select brands from Target , and use code CLEAN at checkout to get the discount.
Uniqlo was one of our readers’ favorite clothing brands of 2016, and you can save a bundle on hundreds of closeout styles during their Last Chance Sale. You’ll get free shipping on orders of $125 or more, or $5 flat rate otherwise.
When Sony rolled out the new PS4 Slim and PS4 Pro, they also quietly tweaked the DualShock 4 controller, and here’s another chance to get it for $40 .
This is basically the same gamepad you know and love, but with a futuristic looking light bar at the top of the touchpad, and the ability to communicate over USB when plugged into your console for lag-free input.
If you need a fresh set of wiper blades to survive the winter, you can grab a pair of Bosch Insight wiper blades for $23 from Amazon today .
Just pick the two you need, add them to your cart , and the discount should appear automatically, assuming both were shipped and sold by Amazon.com. The deal even allows you to mix and match sizes, so you can almost certainly find a combination that will work for your car.
I know nobody wants to think about dealing with taxes yet, but Amazon’s currently offering big discounts on TurboTax 2016 software packages .
This page has a handy comparison chart to help you choose the right version for you. And once you’ve decided, you’ll get your choice of a download or a disc.
Breville’s reader-favorite Smart Ovens almost never go on sale, but Amazon’s offering rare discounts today on two different models today, including an all-time low price on the Mini .
Update : The Mini deal is over, but the larger model is still available.
Unless you happen to own some other beautiful Breville products we recommend, it’ll almost certainly be the best-looking appliance in your kitchen. I got one of these as a wedding gift several months ago, and it’s every bit as good as advertised.
The Mini is just $100 , down from its usual $150, and the 800XL is also $50 off , down to $200. If you got some Amazon gift cards for the holidays, I can’t think of many more worthwhile things to spend them on.
If you need a way to fill your holiday downtime, Amazon will rent you any movie in their digital catalog for a buck today with promo code MOVIE99. That applies to holiday films, new releases (I’m renting Sully ), classics; if you can rent it on Amazon, you can rent it for $1.
Remember that after you place your order, you’ll have 30 days to start watching, and then 24 hours to finish it.
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Happy New Year! And welcome, one and all, to the first topic-picking session of 2017 for Will It Sous Vide? , the weekly column where I make whatever you want me to with my immersion circulator.
We ended 2016 on a sweet note with wine-poached pears , and now I’m itching for a challenge. Some ideas:
I am of course willing to take any and all suggestions, so please leave them in the comments below, and don’t forget to star your favorites.
Photo by Claire Lower.

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Someone has probably asked you what your plan is for your life. They may have asked enough that you feel like you have to have one. However, if you adhere too strictly to a plan, it could backfire. Instead, try cultivating opportunity.
As advice site Barking Up the Wrong Tree explains, having opportunities available to you is a fantastic way to ensure that you always have a new avenue to pursue. Maybe your plan was to go to college for a few years and get a steady job in your chosen field. Once you get there, though, you discover you hate it. Every day is a drag, but what can you do? This is the only thing you’ve prepared for.
Instead, cultivating opportunity involves exploring your option. Spend some of your free time developing hobbies or skills. Maybe you won’t make a career out of your hobby immediately, but you’ll develop the framework necessary to pursue the opportunity later on. You don’t want to quit your office job to write that novel, for example, but if you write on the weekends, you’ll be better prepared for it if you decide you want to later.
There are lots of ways to cultivate opportunities in your life. Join a club. Take classes on the weekend. Get involved in a local enthusiast community. Hobbies can quickly turn into jobs or side hustles if you’re passionate enough and you can almost always find a group of people interested in your hobby in your city or at least online.
2 Secrets To The Good Life, Backed By Ancient Wisdom And Research | Barking Up the Wrong Tree
Photo by Online Trading Academy .

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In this first Brain Buffet of the new year, we’re busting myths and inspiring you to do your best. First, the truth about that infamous McDonald’s hot coffee lawsuit, and some facts about human overpopulation. Then watch some serious focus at work, see an artist at craft, and more.
Welcome to Lifehacker’s Monday Brain Buffet , a series where we round up interesting, informative, and thought-provoking podcasts, interviews, articles, and other media that will teach you something new, inspire you, and hopefully start your week off on the right foot.
Every now and again you have the opportunity to watch someone who moves with such incredible focus, deliberate action, and intent that it’s a joy to watch them work, let alone do anything at all, and this video was exactly that for me.
If you’re not familiar with Simon and Martina of Eat Your Sushi (formerly Eat Your Kimchi), they’re always fun and funny to watch, and their videos are joy, but this one—along with some of their others recently—was a special joy to watch. Partially because you get to watch them enjoy some absolutely incredible sushi that’s difficult to describe, but for me, mostly because of Saito, the owner of Sushi Saito, a 3 Michelin Star restaurant.
It’s not just his food that I find entrancing—it’s the way he works. It’s absolutely inspiring, and he makes me want to bring even a fraction of the deliberate, focused work that he does to my own craft every single day. Click play and enjoy—and perhaps most importantly, be inspired. [ via Simon and Martina (YouTube) ]
You probably hear when a new, special postage stamp is released, or when a historic or other noteworthy figure gets their own stamp, but how does the process happen? Well, Antonio Alcalá, one of four art directors for the US Postal Service, explains everything in this video. He explains how difficult it can be working with such a small canvas, but also how those constraints can turn into some really beautiful work at the same time. Oh, and don’t worry, there are plenty of beautiful examples through the whole video. [ via AARP (YouTube) , thanks Kottke! ]
I could share every single Kurzgesagt video in these and never get tired, but this one was especially good—mostly because as our science fiction and dystopian views of the world in the future look more and more bleak, it’s easy to say that overpopulation will be the cause of all of humanity’s ills, but the truth may be more complex.
After all, we have a lot of problems in front of us as a species on Earth, but as long as current trends continue (that is, the number of people living in absolute poverty around the globe has never been lower, more developing and developed nations are improving their quality of life for average citizens, and more and better medical care is available to more people around the globe), the population spike that we’ve seen over the past several decades will round off and flatten back out. It’s a bit more inspiring and data driven, and a breath of fresh air—at least in one regard. Just because we won’t absolutely crowd the planet doesn’t mean we don’t have other problems to face and fix. [ via Kurzgesagt (YouTube) ]
You know the old “coffee cups have to be labeled that the contents are hot because some lady burned herself” complaint? You know, the one that extends to “yeah companies have to label products for stupid people because someone somewhere tried to do something dumb with it?” That, on some level, may be true because most companies want nothing to do with the liability that comes with someone using a product in a way it wasn’t designed to function, but the infamous McDonald’s coffee lawsuit wasn’t that at all—even though it’s often referred to as the originator of the whole problem.
I’ve seen this conversation go around more often than I used to, and I’m actually a bit sad that this myth has persisted for so long. I ran into this as a case study in graduate school, one about how popular conception surrounding a trial can run wildly out of control, and how constant reinforcement of a one side of a story and completely erase the truth. The video above may be from College Humor, but it’s spot on, and like some of the best satire, speaks truth in a humorous and entertaining way to a constant stream of disinformation. [ via College Humor (YouTube) , thanks Kottke !]
Another tidbit from history—many people remember Michael Jackson for the Moonwalk, a dance move most popularly associated with him, but few people know the much older tap dancers and jazz dancers that inspired him to perform it. This video is a rundown of some of them, including the one and only Bill Bailey (whose Wikipedia article is painfully thin,) who essentially invented the move on stage at the Apollo Theatre in 1955 , although then he called it the “Backslide.” (Hit that link for a video of Bailey performing live.)
There’s this video and more over at this piece at Boing , and they’re all worth watching. Hit play, be inspired, and have a great first week of the new year. [ via broallen25 (YouTube) , thanks Boing ! ]
If you have thought-provoking stories, interesting podcasts, eye-opening videos, or anything else you think would be perfect for Brain Buffet, share it with us! Email me , leave it as a comment below, or send it over any way you know how.
Title illustration by Nick Criscuolo.

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