While many CES 2016 gadgets were genuinely impressive, some were weird and others just plain silly.
The annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas wrapped up Saturday. CES 2016 featured 3,600 companies showcasing everything from self-driving cars to the latest in wearable tech.
For the most part, the CES 2016 gadgets offered a glimpse in to the future of tech. But every year, you'll see some products on the exhibit floor that should have been shot down at the brainstorming meeting.
Here's seven of the most inexplicable CES 2016 gadgets:
Oddball CES Gadget No. 1: The CleverPet Hub
If humans can have a PlayStation or Xbox, why not a gaming console for dogs? That's the CleverPet Hub, a $299 device that uses three blinking lights to entertain the canine members of your household. Sure the dogs in the promotional video appear amused (see below), but is this device really that much of an improvement over a $10 squeaky chew toy from PetSmart?
Oddball CES Gadget No. 3: The DigitSole Smartshoe
And if those three gadgets seem like a waste of money, you won't believe what else we found...
Oddball CES Gadget No. 4: The HairMax LaserBand 82
Oddball CES Gadget No. 5: The PitPat Dog Activity Monitor
Oddball CES Gadget No. 6: Kodak Revives Super 8 Film Cameras
Oddball CES Gadget No. 7: "Smart" Luggage from NUA Robotics
Dragging luggage around an airport is such a hassle. What if it just followed you around like a puppy? That's the idea behind NUA Robotics' smart luggage, which it expects to put on the market within a year or so. With a Bluetooth chip to connect to your smartphone and a camera to track its owner, the NUA luggage can follow at your heels - as long as you're walking on a flat surface. It can also charge your mobile devices, which actually sounds like a good idea. But self-propelled luggage might not work out so well. Most people move through airports in a hurry. Can the NUA luggage keep up? And what if the connection drops in a crowd and the luggage stays behind? The TSA officers won't be happy about that. For that matter, what if a thief grabs it? And look at the video below - the owner has to keep looking back at his luggage and can't watch where he's going. Not good. Luggage with wheels - now that was a breakthrough!
The Hottest Trend at CES 2016: Twenty years ago people would have laughed at the idea of the auto industry having anything to do with the Consumer Electronics Show. But the Detroit automakers totally dominated this year's show. Here's why...
About the Author
David Zeiler, Associate Editor for Money Morning at Money Map Press, has been a journalist for more than 35 years, including 18 spent at The Baltimore Sun. He has worked as a writer, editor, and page designer at different times in his career. He's interviewed a number of well-known personalities - ranging from punk rock icon Joey Ramone to Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Wozniak.
Over the course of his journalistic career, Dave has covered many diverse subjects. Since arriving at Money Morning in 2011, he has focused primarily on technology. He's an expert on both Apple and cryptocurrencies. He started writing about Apple for The Sun in the mid-1990s, and had an Apple blog on The Sun's web site from 2007-2009. Dave's been writing about Bitcoin since 2011 - long before most people had even heard of it. He even mined it for a short time.
Dave has a BA in English and Mass Communications from Loyola University Maryland.