CES Gave Us a Belt That Judges Your Lunch
A week after CES 2015, some thoughts on the smart belt and the smart toothbrush, and why the show's weirdest gadgets say more about the state of "smart" than the big keynotes did.
Rocket Skates and a Toothbrush That Judges You
Catching up on a week of CES leftovers, and the only two things that stuck were a pair of motorized skates and a toothbrush with a Bluetooth connection.
Sling TV and the ESPN Problem
Dish quietly launched Sling TV out of CES for $20 a month with live ESPN, no contract required. I tried it for a week and it's more interesting than any curved TV on that show floor.
Sling TV and the CES Gadget Pileup
CES wrapped up this week — the one story with real teeth is Dish's Sling TV, plus some thoughts on the smart toothbrushes and self-tightening belts nobody asked for.
Twenty Bucks and ESPN, No Cable Box
Dish announced Sling TV this week at $20 a month with ESPN included, and out of everything coming out of CES its the only thing that actually made me want to cancel cable.
Finally Watched The Interview
Finally rented The Interview over the break and have some thoughts on the movie, the whole Sony hack saga, and the Xbox Video app's terrible playback quality.
The Sling TV Announcement Is the Real CES Story
Dish's new $20/month Sling TV plan puts live ESPN outside a cable subscription for the first time ever, and that matters more than most of the gadgets announced at CES this week.
Samsung Wants Your Toaster On The Internet And I Have Questions
Samsung's CES pre-show keynote promised an Internet of Things future full of buzzwords and short on specifics, while BMW quietly showed off the one demo that actually impressed me.
I Watched The Interview and Now There Are Sanctions
Rented The Interview over New Year's, then woke up to actual federal sanctions over the Sony hack. Some thoughts on how a movie release turned into foreign policy in about three weeks.
My Nephew's Christmas, Ruined by a DDoS Attack
A Christmas Day DDoS attack knocked PSN and Xbox Live offline right as a lot of new consoles were getting unboxed, and it left me grumbling about always-online game design.
My Nephew's New PS4 and the Christmas Day PSN Outage
Lizard Squad knocked PSN and Xbox Live offline on Christmas Day, right as my nephew tried to set up his brand new PS4. A firsthand look at how annoying that timing really was.
Renting the Movie Everyone Tried to Kill
Sony reversed course and put The Interview out on Christmas Day through indie theaters and VOD platforms like Xbox Video and Google Play — a weirder and more interesting story than the hack itself.