VR is here, but it hasn't really arrived -- yet

Cool new headsets? Check.

3D interactive, immersive experiences? Check.

Customers? Um.

There's been a lot of hype around VR over the past year, but for all the money being thrown at the virtual-reality market from Facebook, Google and Microsoft, among others, it's still not clear whether the next major change in how we think about computers is going to be driven by VR.

 

Uber challenged on diversity by Jesse Jackson

A long list of big-name tech companies have released statistics on the racial and gender makeup of their workforces, including Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google and Microsoft.

Uber isn't on that list. And on Thursday, civil-rights leader Jesse Jackson wrote a letter to Uber CEO Travis Kalanick pushing the ride-hailing company to make its diversity figures public.

"As we enter the new year...we urge Uber to 'lean in' and join the ranks of technology companies that are reporting your diversity and inclusion data," Jackson wrote, referencing the title of Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg's book about women in the workplace.

 

Google Calendar update makes it easier to track fitness goals

Just when you were ready to ditch that New Year's resolution to go running every morning, Google is here to help. Well, it's here to help people who use the Goals feature in Google Calendar.

Google on Thursday said you can now connect Google Fit and Apple Health to your fitness goals in Calendar. "When you do, activity in your favorite fitness apps will be recorded and used to mark your goals in Google Calendar as 'done' automatically," reads a post about the update.

 

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.

 

SolarGaps turns window decor into solar panels at CES

Opening the blinds has never been so helpful. On display here at CES in Las Vegas, SolarGaps turns the actual slats of your window coverings into solar panels. SolarGaps blinds will be smart enough to shift their angle slightly throughout the day in order to maximize their power intake. The company also plans to integrate with the Google Home.

Smart home scoreboard at CES

The scoreboard

Google Home's progress

Alexa's progress

Siri's progress