The New York Times - Spotted at CES

Hey, Julia Bush here, Wirecutter’s social and community manager.
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I made a grave error immediately upon arriving at the Consumer Electronics Show, the annual sprawling tech conference: I let a robot paint one of my nails. I was a moth drawn to the manicure station’s flame. The device first scanned the size and curve of my finger. Then its miniature robot arm swiped two coats of shiny red polish onto my singular nail, coloring—if not disastrously, at least noticeably—outside the lines. Did I have a plan for how to paint the other nine nails? No. Did I spend the next few days explaining why I had a single finger painted a messy crimson red? You know it.

My coworkers—many of whom are longtime CES veterans—were more discerning in their endeavors, and focused on finding the coolest things on the horizon to test. Senior staff writer Rachel Wharton, who covers kitchen appliances, was impressed by GE’s countertop smoker, which cooks at super-precise temperatures. 

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Meanwhile, smart-home editor Jon Chase got giddy over the Pawport, a smart pet door that opens and closes automatically as your pet approaches it. “I’m looking forward to getting a dog one day just so I can have one of these,” he says.

One of the showstoppers of the week was LG’s OLED T, a transparent TV that creates images that seem to float in space. At first I was unconvinced by the hype. Then I watched the screen turn from opaque to transparent, revealing deputy editor Jason Chen, who was standing behind the glass, grinning and waving at me. I’ll admit it—I was charmed.

All the stuff we can’t wait to test→