1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,240 It's the final day of CES 2025, we saw new GPUs, laptops and TVs, but today we're recognizing 2 00:00:07,240 --> 00:00:16,520 companies that understood the assignment. The true meaning of CES is showing off tech that's slightly disturbing, tech that's just 3 00:00:16,520 --> 00:00:22,960 a bit wrong. Now I'm not sure you could say that about Mirumi though, it's a fuzzy robot that clips 4 00:00:22,960 --> 00:00:27,240 onto bags and turns its adorable head towards anyone approaching. 5 00:00:27,240 --> 00:00:30,640 If this little guy is wrong, I don't want to be right. 6 00:00:30,640 --> 00:00:39,040 But why would you pay 70 bucks for one? Mirumi's makers, Yukai Engineering, say it's to make the people around you happier. 7 00:00:39,040 --> 00:00:45,000 And maybe give them just a smidge of existential crisis from staring into its bashful, yet 8 00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:50,320 probing eyes. A little uncomfortable, Yukai's got something a little more practical. 9 00:00:50,320 --> 00:00:56,840 The Nekojita Fufu, a little cat with a fan inside that can cool down your hot tea in 10 00:00:56,840 --> 00:01:02,320 the same way humans do, by randomizing its blowing speed and rhythm using its special 11 00:01:02,320 --> 00:01:05,440 algorithm called f***ing system. 12 00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:11,920 That can't be right? You may remember, Yukai Engineering is the company behind many a weird CES product, including 13 00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:19,920 one of my favorites, the Kubo Pillow with a cat-like tail that gently wiggles when stroked. 14 00:01:19,920 --> 00:01:27,000 How I miss it. Other companies are trying very hard to emulate Yukai's perfect mix of cuteness and horror. 15 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:33,600 TCL's A.Me, spelled A.I.Me, is apparently geared towards parents who've decided that 16 00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:36,820 having one real human child is plenty. 17 00:01:36,820 --> 00:01:42,000 But there's room in the family for what is essentially a robot egg baby that can ask 18 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:46,280 its fleshy sibling questions he is not prepared to answer. 19 00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:54,920 What is living? It looks like TCL genuinely thinks families will treat A.Me like it's alive, and you 20 00:01:54,920 --> 00:02:01,880 may think that's creepy. But is it as creepy as the uncanny valley apparitions from real botics pretending to 21 00:02:01,880 --> 00:02:05,360 be something other than chat GPT-powered sex bots? 22 00:02:05,360 --> 00:02:08,800 I don't know, ask the 12 people who have apparently purchased one, I'm sure they're 23 00:02:08,800 --> 00:02:16,040 great guys. CES had wacky displays aplenty, including the vertically extending rollable screen on 24 00:02:16,040 --> 00:02:19,920 Lenovo's Thinkbook Plus Gen 6, which we mentioned on Tuesday. 25 00:02:19,920 --> 00:02:23,800 But there are yet more weird things we can do to displays. 26 00:02:23,800 --> 00:02:30,000 Samsung displays stretchable micro LED prototype, which can create sort of a 3D effect without 27 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:38,880 the use of glasses, is one such display. ZDNet notes it could also be used to create tactile buttons on touch screens, like say 28 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:46,280 a car's infotainment system. So we could use those instead of forcing drivers to tap through their giant dashboard's tablet 29 00:02:46,280 --> 00:02:53,360 settings to turn the wipers on. But if you just want a giant display you can put anywhere, there's the Displace TV, a 30 00:02:53,360 --> 00:02:59,440 battery-powered, fully wireless TV that can combine with other units into a larger display, 31 00:02:59,440 --> 00:03:04,040 each of which can be stuck on the wall with four built-in suction cups. 32 00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:08,120 Because sure, you might be risking your $6,000 TV falling, but it's better than drilling 33 00:03:08,120 --> 00:03:12,080 mounting holes and ruin this perfectly good drywall. 34 00:03:12,080 --> 00:03:19,000 Hey, JSOX says their Flipgoe Horizon adds two monitors to the side of a laptop. 35 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:25,840 But I've seen this before. That's Razer's Project Valorys, stolen from the CES show floor in 2017. 36 00:03:25,840 --> 00:03:30,460 Hmm, maybe we can steal it back in a clandestine operation. 37 00:03:30,460 --> 00:03:36,280 For that, we might consider using the X-Peng Aero HT, which answers the question, what 38 00:03:36,280 --> 00:03:40,760 if a Cybertruck was that huge and obnoxious for a reason? 39 00:03:40,760 --> 00:03:45,520 The reason being it can spit a giant drone out of its back that can seat two people. 40 00:03:45,520 --> 00:03:52,160 Despite costing just under $300,000, it apparently already has 3,000 pre-orders, and will launch 41 00:03:52,160 --> 00:03:57,040 in China in 2026. Aw, what do we get? 42 00:03:57,040 --> 00:04:04,520 Uh, well, there's this three-wheeled, solar panel-equipped two-seater EV from Aptara that 43 00:04:04,520 --> 00:04:07,640 looks like some kind of tadpole shoe hybrid. 44 00:04:07,640 --> 00:04:10,680 Okay, I'll admit, I thought this thing looked goofy when I first saw it. 45 00:04:10,680 --> 00:04:14,360 But if you get a lot of sun, you may never have to charge this thing. 46 00:04:14,360 --> 00:04:19,200 And there's actually a surprising amount of room in the back for cargo or for sleeping. 47 00:04:19,200 --> 00:04:23,480 So we could go off the grid after we pull the Project Valory heist. 48 00:04:23,480 --> 00:04:27,800 One getaway car we're definitely not going to be using is Amazon's autonomous toaster 49 00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:31,360 shuttle, ZUKS! Mostly because of the name. 50 00:04:31,360 --> 00:04:35,000 I want there to be a jingle for that. We can ride in a ZUKS! 51 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:38,960 ZUKS, ZUKS, ZUKS! I could introduce the QuickBits now. 52 00:04:38,960 --> 00:04:42,840 But guess what? We've already been doing QuickBits this whole time. 53 00:04:42,840 --> 00:04:46,680 Oh, you should see your face right now. 54 00:04:46,680 --> 00:04:52,360 They were like, oh. Console accessory makers do be acting a fool right now. 55 00:04:52,360 --> 00:04:58,060 Hyperkin announced a new version of one of its Xbox and PC controllers with a clearly 56 00:04:58,060 --> 00:05:02,800 PlayStation DualSense inspired design called The Competitor. 57 00:05:02,800 --> 00:05:06,880 Look, it's like when you wrap a Coke label around a can of Pepsi because you want to 58 00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:10,840 drink a Pepsi, but you want to feel like you're drinking a Coke, right? 59 00:05:10,840 --> 00:05:18,600 We understand this. Hyperkin also debuted a new Guitar Hero controller for the Nintendo Wii, which came out 18 years 60 00:05:18,600 --> 00:05:25,360 ago. Turns out it's actually the same product Hyperkin released in 2009, but with completely refreshed 61 00:05:25,660 --> 00:05:29,980 brand new internals. And it had to apologize to fans for the confusion. 62 00:05:29,980 --> 00:05:33,060 What is fans of Guitar Hero on Wii? 63 00:05:33,060 --> 00:05:47,180 I feel like they should check out some newer peripherals. Like the AutoKeybo, a Linux PC with built-in ergonomic keyboard, trackpad, and mouse modules 64 00:05:47,180 --> 00:05:52,620 that automatically shoot out like Wolverine's claws when the onboard camera detects certain 65 00:05:52,620 --> 00:06:00,080 motions from your hand. You can customize its speed and sensitivity, so it doesn't shear your fingertips off as 66 00:06:00,080 --> 00:06:04,880 that may compromise your ability to remain perfectly ergonomically productive. 67 00:06:04,880 --> 00:06:08,120 Moving your hand to your mouse and back is quick, but those seconds add up. 68 00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:13,360 But if you love keeping yourself as busy as possible, there's the Mecha Comet, a handheld 69 00:06:13,360 --> 00:06:19,440 Linux computer with modular attachments for adding game controls, a keyboard, sensor arrays. 70 00:06:19,980 --> 00:06:25,100 If you can dream it, and you have vast amounts of patience and free time, you can build it. 71 00:06:25,100 --> 00:06:30,020 If you prefer a wacky device that someone else built for you though, Ukitel showed off two 72 00:06:30,020 --> 00:06:39,260 of them at CES. The WP200 Pro is an Android phone with a chunkier than average camera module because it contains 73 00:06:39,260 --> 00:06:45,740 a pop-out device that can be used either as a smartwatch or a Bluetooth earpiece. 74 00:06:46,200 --> 00:06:49,640 Okay, see this? CES should just be entirely this stuff. 75 00:06:49,640 --> 00:06:58,400 This is what I'm talking about. Ukitel also showed off the Titan, a fantastically chunky phone with a massive 33,000 mAh battery 76 00:06:58,400 --> 00:07:07,000 that can power a 1200 lumen camping light on the back, or a 120Hz projector on the top. 77 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:12,640 Throw that in the back of the Aptara, we're going glamping! Hmm, we may need more solar power though. 78 00:07:12,640 --> 00:07:17,340 We could use Anker's solar panel equipped beach umbrella, but that might attract too 79 00:07:17,340 --> 00:07:23,020 much attention. I'll grab the EcoFlow power hat with built-in solar panels instead. 80 00:07:23,020 --> 00:07:28,700 But once you have that, then you pretty much have to complete the look with Anker's solar-powered 81 00:07:28,700 --> 00:07:34,100 cloak. I'm sorry, you wanted to put solar panels in clothing that people wear in the year 2024 82 00:07:34,100 --> 00:07:37,620 and you went with... Cloak. Hey! 83 00:07:37,620 --> 00:07:40,620 They're coming back! What? 84 00:07:40,620 --> 00:07:44,640 Now, you should always take everything you hear about these wacky CES concept products 85 00:07:44,640 --> 00:07:48,960 with a grain of salt, but you won't need any actual salt for that. 86 00:07:48,960 --> 00:07:54,640 With perhaps my favorite weird thing from CES, the Kieran Electric Salt Spoon. 87 00:07:54,640 --> 00:07:59,160 It's designed to make foods taste saltier by sending a weak electric current through 88 00:07:59,160 --> 00:08:04,240 your food, drawing sodium ions out so it tastes saltier and you don't have to increase 89 00:08:04,240 --> 00:08:10,600 your salt intake. So for that to work though, you have to complete the circuit by holding the bite in your mouth 90 00:08:11,100 --> 00:08:16,020 for a few seconds and make sure you hold it in perfect triangle formation. 91 00:08:16,020 --> 00:08:20,420 The food will taste better not only because it's saltier, but also because you feel relief 92 00:08:20,420 --> 00:08:23,540 that you didn't die. Just light electrocution. 93 00:08:23,540 --> 00:08:27,420 Follow these instructions closely, or you could end up pregnant. 94 00:08:27,420 --> 00:08:31,900 Instead, I want you to end up back here again on Monday for more tech news. 95 00:08:31,900 --> 00:08:38,500 And we'll be back to three episodes a week, because doing one every day is, well, I don't 96 00:08:38,500 --> 00:08:39,620 recommend it.