WEBVTT 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 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 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 00:00:22.960 --> 00:00:27.240 onto bags and turns its adorable head towards anyone approaching. 00:00:27.240 --> 00:00:30.640 If this little guy is wrong, I don't want to be right. 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. 00:00:39.040 --> 00:00:45.000 And maybe give them just a smidge of existential crisis from staring into its bashful, yet 00:00:45.000 --> 00:00:50.320 probing eyes. A little uncomfortable, Yukai's got something a little more practical. 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 00:00:56.840 --> 00:01:02.320 the same way humans do, by randomizing its blowing speed and rhythm using its special 00:01:02.320 --> 00:01:05.440 algorithm called f***ing system. 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 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. 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. 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 00:01:33.600 --> 00:01:36.820 having one real human child is plenty. 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 00:01:42.000 --> 00:01:46.280 its fleshy sibling questions he is not prepared to answer. 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 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 00:02:01.880 --> 00:02:05.360 be something other than chat GPT-powered sex bots? 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 00:02:08.800 --> 00:02:16.040 great guys. CES had wacky displays aplenty, including the vertically extending rollable screen on 00:02:16.040 --> 00:02:19.920 Lenovo's Thinkbook Plus Gen 6, which we mentioned on Tuesday. 00:02:19.920 --> 00:02:23.800 But there are yet more weird things we can do to displays. 00:02:23.800 --> 00:02:30.000 Samsung displays stretchable micro LED prototype, which can create sort of a 3D effect without 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 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 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 00:02:53.360 --> 00:02:59.440 battery-powered, fully wireless TV that can combine with other units into a larger display, 00:02:59.440 --> 00:03:04.040 each of which can be stuck on the wall with four built-in suction cups. 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 00:03:08.120 --> 00:03:12.080 mounting holes and ruin this perfectly good drywall. 00:03:12.080 --> 00:03:19.000 Hey, JSOX says their Flipgoe Horizon adds two monitors to the side of a laptop. 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. 00:03:25.840 --> 00:03:30.460 Hmm, maybe we can steal it back in a clandestine operation. 00:03:30.460 --> 00:03:36.280 For that, we might consider using the X-Peng Aero HT, which answers the question, what 00:03:36.280 --> 00:03:40.760 if a Cybertruck was that huge and obnoxious for a reason? 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. 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 00:03:52.160 --> 00:03:57.040 in China in 2026. Aw, what do we get? 00:03:57.040 --> 00:04:04.520 Uh, well, there's this three-wheeled, solar panel-equipped two-seater EV from Aptara that 00:04:04.520 --> 00:04:07.640 looks like some kind of tadpole shoe hybrid. 00:04:07.640 --> 00:04:10.680 Okay, I'll admit, I thought this thing looked goofy when I first saw it. 00:04:10.680 --> 00:04:14.360 But if you get a lot of sun, you may never have to charge this thing. 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. 00:04:19.200 --> 00:04:23.480 So we could go off the grid after we pull the Project Valory heist. 00:04:23.480 --> 00:04:27.800 One getaway car we're definitely not going to be using is Amazon's autonomous toaster 00:04:27.800 --> 00:04:31.360 shuttle, ZUKS! Mostly because of the name. 00:04:31.360 --> 00:04:35.000 I want there to be a jingle for that. We can ride in a ZUKS! 00:04:35.000 --> 00:04:38.960 ZUKS, ZUKS, ZUKS! I could introduce the QuickBits now. 00:04:38.960 --> 00:04:42.840 But guess what? We've already been doing QuickBits this whole time. 00:04:42.840 --> 00:04:46.680 Oh, you should see your face right now. 00:04:46.680 --> 00:04:52.360 They were like, oh. Console accessory makers do be acting a fool right now. 00:04:52.360 --> 00:04:58.060 Hyperkin announced a new version of one of its Xbox and PC controllers with a clearly 00:04:58.060 --> 00:05:02.800 PlayStation DualSense inspired design called The Competitor. 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 00:05:06.880 --> 00:05:10.840 drink a Pepsi, but you want to feel like you're drinking a Coke, right? 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 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 00:05:25.660 --> 00:05:29.980 brand new internals. And it had to apologize to fans for the confusion. 00:05:29.980 --> 00:05:33.060 What is fans of Guitar Hero on Wii? 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 00:05:47.180 --> 00:05:52.620 that automatically shoot out like Wolverine's claws when the onboard camera detects certain 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 00:06:00.080 --> 00:06:04.880 that may compromise your ability to remain perfectly ergonomically productive. 00:06:04.880 --> 00:06:08.120 Moving your hand to your mouse and back is quick, but those seconds add up. 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 00:06:13.360 --> 00:06:19.440 Linux computer with modular attachments for adding game controls, a keyboard, sensor arrays. 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. 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 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 00:06:39.260 --> 00:06:45.740 a pop-out device that can be used either as a smartwatch or a Bluetooth earpiece. 00:06:46.200 --> 00:06:49.640 Okay, see this? CES should just be entirely this stuff. 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 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. 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. 00:07:12.640 --> 00:07:17.340 We could use Anker's solar panel equipped beach umbrella, but that might attract too 00:07:17.340 --> 00:07:23.020 much attention. I'll grab the EcoFlow power hat with built-in solar panels instead. 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 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 00:07:34.100 --> 00:07:37.620 and you went with... Cloak. Hey! 00:07:37.620 --> 00:07:40.620 They're coming back! What? 00:07:40.620 --> 00:07:44.640 Now, you should always take everything you hear about these wacky CES concept products 00:07:44.640 --> 00:07:48.960 with a grain of salt, but you won't need any actual salt for that. 00:07:48.960 --> 00:07:54.640 With perhaps my favorite weird thing from CES, the Kieran Electric Salt Spoon. 00:07:54.640 --> 00:07:59.160 It's designed to make foods taste saltier by sending a weak electric current through 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 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 00:08:11.100 --> 00:08:16.020 for a few seconds and make sure you hold it in perfect triangle formation. 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 00:08:20.420 --> 00:08:23.540 that you didn't die. Just light electrocution. 00:08:23.540 --> 00:08:27.420 Follow these instructions closely, or you could end up pregnant. 00:08:27.420 --> 00:08:31.900 Instead, I want you to end up back here again on Monday for more tech news. 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 00:08:38.500 --> 00:08:39.620 recommend it.