From a wearable breast pump to WiFi-controlled ovens, clear space in your home for these upcoming gadgets that wowed at the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show
The Willow Wearable Breast Pump ($429) isn’t just hands free, it’s also unencumbered by that tired tangle of tubes, wires, and bottles. The go-anywhere cups slip right into a nursing bra and as they quietly pump, milk production can be tracked via an app. Pop open the cup, remove the circular milk storage bag, and there are only two pieces that need to be washed, both of which can go into the dishwasher.
Too often, smart devices are just another thing you could control with WiFi. But Sleep Number’s latest bed is truly smart, going to work once you go to bed. The Sleep Number 360 (late 2017, price to come) does everything sleep number is known to do—adjust softness, raise or lower your head—but does it automatically as you sleep as it detects you rolling onto your side or starting to snore. The bed can tell how well you sleep, and if you set up your bedtime in the app, it’ll warm the foot of the bed for you to help you fall asleep faster.
Philips Hue has usually been focused on smartphone-controlled, multicolor lights, but their latest line focuses on one color: white. Their White Ambiance line (from $129) is meant to mimic natural light to help you wake up more energized and fall asleep more easily with a range of settings and colors on the white light spectrum. You’ll be able to control these lights with your phone, or connect them to smart speakers like Amazon Echo or Google Home.
When it comes to home security, sometimes it can take an insane DIY project to get that connected camera right where you need it. Now, home security startup Canary has launched the Canary Flex ($199), with a wide range of accessories and its own WiFi component so you can put your camera wherever you need it--tucked into the garden or hanging from a corner of your Airstream, for example. Canary has also launched a new membership ($10 per month) that gives you peace of mind like never before with a dedicated agent to retrieve your video footage and help you through the insurance steps following a home theft. Even better? Canary’s membership now offers deductible reimbursement of up to $1,000 of your homeowners or renters insurance for qualifying incidents.
Imagine an oven that cooks dinner for you. That's the smart home dream, right? With the June Oven ($1,495), we get pretty close. Preheat the oven on your way home, watch your chicken cook through the HD camera while running a quick errand, and even weigh your food in this smart appliance. With easy settings to cook anything just how you like it, you can really unwind after work and let June ready your meal.
You don’t have to be a homeowner to get in on the solar game now that SolPad ($1,395) debuted a standalone panel that fits on a small patio or balcony. Once you’ve charged up your mobile panel, in about five hours, use the smart plugs to choose how and where to distribute the power. (The refrigerator or maybe the entertainment system?) You don’t have to worry about running low--once the solar charge winds down after about 10 hours, the device will simply revert back to the grid.
Water can go a longer way with U by Moen ($1,225), a showering system that swaps out the old twist-and-turn handles for a digital controller and app. U allows for more efficient water use via customizable timers, a water-savings mode, and a temperature control that will pause once it reaches your magic number.
Food scrap composting is getting a long awaited makeover with the debut of a new in-kitchen recycler that can change expired meals into fertilizer in about 24 hours. Zera ($1,199) is a self-contained system that looks just like a modern garbage can. Just toss in your food waste, anything from veggie peels to small bones or expired pasta, and like a garbage disposal, Zera will quietly chop it into tiny pieces. Once the container is full, drop in a composting additive and Zera churns out kitchen-to-garden fertilizer.
In the modern age of cord-cutting, why have a TV that makes you change inputs to watch the shows you’re looking for? With a smart TV, you don’t have to, and we’re intrigued by Roku’s newest lines of TCL smart TVs, particularly their 4K model (spring 2017, prices to come). Instead of switching back and forth from your TV guide to your streaming devices on different inputs, Roku’s smart TVs have a home menu where you can customize your favorite services and devices, and allow for versatile toggling between cable and consoles without any complicated button work.
Alexa was everywhere at CES this year, with integration in a variety of smart products from speakers to refrigerators. But what about a new take on smart assistants? The Kuri robot ($699 for pre-orders), created by Mayfield Robotics and backed by Bosch, is a robot on wheels that can play your Spotify or NPR in the morning, patrol your house while you’re gone, and send you live footage--with an adorable personality to boot. Rather than just adding another speaker to your house, you’re adding a mini family member.
Whistle’s known for creating the “Fitbit for dogs,” but their new tracker, the Whistle 3 ($79.95, shipping February 2017), steps into the world of pet safety as well as health. The Whistle 3 uses location tracking and activity monitoring to alert you when your pet leaves your designated safe places, or the duration and location of your furry friend's outing with the dog walker. Whistle redesigned the app to make setup simpler, and the tracker itself is smaller than its predecessor to better fit a variety of sizes.
Think of Cubit ($60) as digital measuring tape. This DIY device can be used for something as simple as designing and hanging a gallery wall or for more complex undertakings, such as mapping out a floor plan. When creating a gallery wall, for example, just snap an image of the wall and of the art via the app. Use Cubit to measure the wall and each piece of art with the device's laser measurier or smart wheel. You can digitally arrange the gallery via the app then run Cubit along the wall, which will plot where to put each nail.
Last year, 4Moms debuted its self-installing car seat, Moxi. This year, the company upped its smart baby game with a companion stroller ($699). The new ride includes built-in headlights and taillights as well as an LCD dashboard that tracks everything from speed to distance, calories burned, and more. It can charge your phone, too. The best part is that the system is totally self-charging thanks to a pair of rear-wheel generators that power up when you and baby are on the go.
Feeling tied down to your cleaning routine? Go mobile with LG’s new CordZero Handstick ($449), which allows users to move effortlessly throughout the house, up and down stairs, even out to the garage without plugging in or running low on juice. The wand packs a serious kick with suction 16 times stronger than an airplane engine that can also capture fine dust particles, adjust to reach distant corners, and (bonus for pet owners) prevent fur from jamming the brush. All that buzz and a dual pack of lithium-ion batteries will keep it charged so as not to interrupt your cleaning spree.