Takeaways from CES on the iPhone's 10th anniversary (The 3:59, Ep. 159)

We're back from CES!

With the biggest show in tech wrapped up, we review our takeaways from the Las Vegas showcase. Razer's concept tri-screen laptop, titled Project Valerie, certainly left an impression on our team, as did Amazon's voice assistant, Alexa, being available on ... well, everything.

 

2017: The year digital assistants for kids began to flourish at CES

I've spent days now, walking the show floors at CES, listening to pitches from baby- and kid-tech developers, and writing up analyses on all of it. I'm a smart-home reporter, so I knew coming into CES how ubiquitous Alexa and her retinue would be. But I wasn't prepared for how fundamentally it would affect kid-tech. If CES 2017 is any indicator, Alexa's biggest skill in five years will be nannying.

Here are three things I've discovered at CES about voice assistants for kids.

 

Watch two Google Home voice assistants arguing

It's no " Robot Wars," but you can now watch two Google Home devices argue with each other in a never-ending loop.

The two voice assistants, named Vladimir and Estragon after "Waiting for Godot" characters, have been pitted against one another on live-streaming service Twitch. On Friday, the pair jumped from topic to topic, sometimes chatting about why the Earth is flat, then switching to "My Little Pony." In a heated discussion, Estragon tried convincing Vladimir that it's human.

At one point, Vladimir threatened to slap Estragon, even though the home assistants don't have hands or faces.

 

A smart home scoreboard for CES 2017

How about a good, old-fashioned technology arms race?

You could just buy a smart light bulb set, but for a lot of consumers (reportedly more than 5 million of you, as of November 2016), it's Amazon's voice-activated Alexa that will be the entry point for controlling devices around your home.

Along with Amazon, Apple continues to grow its Siri-powered HomeKit smart home system. Google has also entered the fray with its own blandly named smart home AI, Google Assistant, which featured prominently in Google's Echo-imitating Google Home speaker in November 2016.

 

Smart home experts hope 'magic' moments will convert nonbelievers

What will it take to convince smart home newbies that the tech is for them?

In a panel at CES in Las Vegas on Thursday some of the biggest names in the smart home industry joined CNET Editor in Chief Lindsey Turrentine and Editor at Large Brian Cooley to look at what it will take for the smart home to become a real, essential and seamless part of everyday life.

Speaking at the event, Alex Hawkinson, chairman and CEO of SmartThings, said the sales his company has seen over the past year suggest it's not just early adopters opting in to the smart home revolution. The industry is growing, but a huge challenge still lies ahead.