Gallery: The 11 Best Gadgets We've Seen at CES So Far
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Imagine an Amazon Echo. Now make it very slightly better-looking. Congrats! You've now imagined the new Lenovo Smart Assistant. This speaker comes in two flavors, one with standard Lenovo audio (for about $50 less than the Echo) and another with bigger, badder sound from Harman Kardon. Are they a bold new frontier in smart speakers? Negative. Are they proof that starting right now, every Bluetooth speaker worth a damn is going to have a voice assistant built in? You better believe it.
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Two years. That's how long Blink's new XT camera lasts on two AA batteries. The former Kickstarter success story is branching out from its original indoor camera to a full security system, with wind and water sensors protecting every corner of your home. But the rugged, weatherproof XT is the best of the bunch: with 1080p video, motion detection, and infrared night vision, you get all the home monitoring with none of the extension cord. $119
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2017 is going to be chock full of completely wireless earbuds, which means 2017 is going to be chock full of small, mission critical audio gear that's easy to lose. The ceramic Fuse earbuds from Ashley Chloe stay together in a little tubular case that's harder to lose, but the charging options are where things go next-level. There's a wearable, watch-like charging strap to keep your 'buds close, and a pendant-style chain so you can rock them like Flavor Flav. Pricing and availability are still TBD.
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The French company Withings already makes one of the sharpest smartwatches, the Activite, which has an analog Swiss movement and a beautiful design. But the Activite doesn't do much beyond counting your steps. The company's new [Steel HR](https://www.withings.com/us/en/products/steel-hr) smartwatch takes that same analog design and adds the current must-have feature of the connected watch world: a heart rate monitor. The tiny screen shows your heartbeats as well as basic smartwatch-style notifications like texts, calls, and calendar events. It's $180, and it's on sale this week.
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Lots of companies are trying to help people find new ways to get around in cities and other dense areas. Immotor certainly wants its 27-pound, three-wheel Go scooter to be part of that conversation. But founder Daniel Huang, who made his name starting battery-case giant Mophie, is mostly focused on the power within. More than the foldable design or the security features, Huang says the Go's 'Super Battery' is the future. It's modular, it's safe from explosions, and it will someday power all kinds of new devices from Immotor.
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Drones have already changed the way we shoot selfies and annoy chimps. Now they're about to transform the way we cheat at fishing. The PowerRay aquatic drone from PowerVision dives down to 100 feet under the surface, live-streaming 4K video to your mobile device or even VR goggles. No worries if your dream dinner dwells deeper than that, because it also detects things swimming under it with sonar. If you still have trouble catching a bite with all that robotic assistance, it'll even cast a line via remote control. No price yet.
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Think of how much digital *stuff* you could fit into a 2TB flash drive. You can take your time; it’s a lot. In fact, Kingston’s 2TB DataTraveler Ultimate GT will be the highest-capacity flash drive money can buy when it goes on sale in February, placing hundreds of movies literally in the palm of your hand. No price has been announced, but you might want to sit down when you hear it.
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With a virtually bezel-free display, a great processor, and a trim design, Dell's XPS 13 is one of the best Windows laptops you'll find anywhere. So for its successor, Dell didn't mess with the formula. It just stretched the formula a bit. The new XPS 13's hinge allows it to flip 360 degrees and work as a tablet, so you can tap and swipe to your heart's content. Best of all, the keyboard's still right there when you need it. $999 and up.
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The impossibly slim and light LG Gram laptops have durable magnesium alloy frames that weigh only 2 pounds for the 13-inch model and 2.4 pounds for the 15-incher. (The latter is light enough to win the Guinness World Record for lightest laptop of its size.) But that scant load may not even be the most impressive thing about the new Gram. These lean machines have batteries that last up to 18 hours (three times the life of last year's models) and LG somehow squeezed HDMI, USB-C, USB 3, MicroSD, and headphone ports into the sides of them. $800 and up
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There are plenty of features to recommend the Sleep Number 360 Smart Bed. It automatically adjusts its firmness if you switch positions in your sleep. It tilts your head just so if it detects that you’re snoring. All fine and good, but a pittance next to the real showstopper: The 360 has a built-in foot-warmer. The future is cozy indeed.
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