CultCast #318 - The weirdest, whackiest, & wonderfullest gadgets of CES 2018!

The CultCast - A podcast by America's favorite Apple Podcast - Fridays

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This week: our list of the weirdest, whackiest, and wonderfullest gadgets of CES 2018!  Plus: Stevie Wonder, Stevie Nicks, and hanging with Andy Dick—we remember our favorite stories from CES's of years past.
 
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On the show this week
 
Major power outage hits CES
  • Power in the North and Central halls of the Las Vegas Convention Center, which hosts CES annually, was out for nearly two hours on Wednesday.
  • The outage impacted hundreds of companies, including giants like LG, Samsung, and Sony, as well as many small startups that paid thousands of dollars to have a presence on the massive show floor.
  • This year’s CES seems to be marked by more chaos than usual, including unprecedented rain that flooded streets and shut down Google’s giant funhouse booth for a day.
 
Hue lights’ new iOS and Mac app will customize lighting for any occasion
  • Outdoor products on the way
  • Updated Hue app with complete redesign
  • Partnership with Razer
  • Philips Hue Sync
  • Hue Sync will analyze anything displayed on your monitor in real-time and create light scripts to compliment your content
 
DJI’s new Osmo 2 gimbal makes smooth iPhone footage cheap
  • Capturing super-smooth video on your iPhone is about to get a lot easier (AND cheaper) thanks to the folks at DJI.
  • DJI unveiled its newest handheld smartphone gimbal today called the Osmo 2. The new gimbal packs simplified controls to allow anyone to record shake-free video from their iPhone, and it’s got some new tricks you won’t find on its predecessor.
 
How to reopen a recently closed tab in Safari on iOS
  • You’ve closed a tab in Safari and instantly realized that it was the wrong one.
  • This trick works on both the Mac and on iOS devices. All you need to do is long-press (or long-click on the Mac) the + icon, aka the New Tab icon. Do that, and up will pop a panel with a list of the tabs you closed since the last Safari relaunch. If you force-quit Safari for any reason, this list will be wiped
  • Even easier, just hit command-z on the Mac to instantly reopen the closed tab.
 
 
Smart toothbrush will use ResearchKit to give you a better clean
  • the Colgate Smart Electronic Toothbrush E1 with Artificial Intelligence uses AI to provide real-time feedback to users as they clean their pearly whites. It also uses Apple’s ResearchKit platform integration to crowdsource toothbrushing data from other users. The more people clean, the smarter the brush gets!
  • The brush contains real-time motion sensors, designed to capture brushing efficiency and effectiveness in 16 different zones of the mouth. It also uses Bluetooth connectivity and sonic vibrating technology,
 
Somnox’s robotic pillow is designed to snuggle
One group of researchers in the Netherlands believes thinks the reason you’re not sleeping well is because you’re not cuddling enough.
 
Vortx blows air at your face while you're gaming and it's great
  • Vortx is absolutely ridiculous, totally frivolous, and that’s exactly why you’ll love it.
  • It's a cube that sits on your desk, and it blows hot or cold air in your face, depending on what's happening on your screen.