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Get a peek at some of our favorite emerging tech on display at CE Week 2018

CE Week 2018
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Each summer, some of the most exciting tech startups make their way to New York City for CE Week. For its twelfth anniversary, CE Week is moving uptown to the Javits Center for its biggest show yet. In between listening to fascinating discussions from tech leaders, we walked the halls of CE Week to take a look at the exciting products making their way to store shelves. Here are a few of our favorites.

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AirSelfie 2
AirSelfie
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If you’ve ever wanted to get a group selfie but realized your arms aren’t quite long enough, then AirSelfie 2 may be the perfect alternative. It’s a tiny selfie drone you control with your smartphone that’s packing a 12 megapixel camera. Photos are sent directly to the Airselfie app, where you have option of sharing them on social media or saving them to your phones photo gallery.

AirSelfie 2 is available online and select retailers. Pricing starts at $200 for the drone and you can purchase it with an optional powerbank for $250.

Lotus by Seam
Seam Lotus
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While we’re seeing tons of new safety wearables in 2018, very few are as gorgeous and versatile as the Lotus by Seam. In addition to providing location data to friends and loved ones, Lotus also provides an audio recording when activated. For emergency situations, Lotus can automatically dial your primary contact and allows you to communicate using its built-in speaker. And in addition to all its safety features, Lotus also offers Google Assistant integration.

Lotus is expected to go on sale later this summer for $130. The wearable is available in two gender-neutral colors and clips directly onto clothing. An optional watch and necklace accessory will also be available from the Seam website.

3Doodler
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Launched from a massively successful Kickstarter campaign in 2013, 3Doodler is an interactive 3D pen. Sort of like a glue gun on steroids, the 3Doodler allows users to create three-dimensional objects using heated plastic tubes.

There are currently three different versions of the 3Doodler available online: The 3Doodler Start has no hot parts and is meant primarily for children, while the 3Doodler Create Plus uses more versatile plastic tubing and is deaigned for older children and adults. Finally, the 3Doodler Pro is targeted toward creative professionals and can use speciality materials like wood, bronze, and copper to create 3D objects and renderings.

Owl Car Cam
owl car cam inflatable duck
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While there are dozens of car cams on the market, the Owl Car Cam is one of our favorites. It’s a gorgeous, always-on car cam with a few tricks up its sleeve. In addition to filming both the inside and outside of your vehicle, the camera also offers awesome theft deterrent and social sharing features.

The Owl Car Cam sells online for $350. If you want to learn all about its awesome features, check out our full review.

Somnox 
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Last but not least is Somnox, our favorite sleep robot. Somnox uses relaxing melodies and simulated breathing to help you get a better night’s sleep.  The peanut-shaped robot is controlled entirely from your smartphone and you can adjust the breathing settings as well as turn off the melodies completely.

Somnex is available  for pre-order starting at around $550.

Steven Winkelman
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Steven writes about technology, social practice, and books. At Digital Trends, he focuses primarily on mobile and wearables…
Star Wars legend Ian McDiarmid gets questions about the Emperor’s sex life
Ian McDiarmid as the Emperor in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

This weekend, the Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith 20th anniversary re-release had a much stronger performance than expected with $25 million and a second-place finish behind Sinners. Revenge of the Sith was the culmination of plans by Chancellor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) that led to the fall of the Jedi and his own ascension to emperor. Because McDiarmid's Emperor died in his first appearance -- 1983's Return of the Jedi -- Revenge of the Sith was supposed to be his live-action swan song. However, Palpatine's return in Star Wars: Episode IX -- The Rise of Skywalker left McDiarmid being asked questions about his character's comeback, particularly about his sex life and how he could have a granddaughter.

While speaking with Variety, McDiarmid noted that fans have asked him "slightly embarrassing questions" about Palpatine including "'Does this evil monster ever have sex?'"

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Waymo and Toyota explore personally owned self-driving cars
Front three quarter view of the 2023 Toyota bZ4X.

Waymo and Toyota have announced they’re exploring a strategic collaboration—and one of the most exciting possibilities on the table is bringing fully-automated driving technology to personally owned vehicles.
Alphabet-owned Waymo has made its name with its robotaxi service, the only one currently operating in the U.S. Its vehicles, including Jaguars and Hyundai Ioniq 5s, have logged tens of millions of autonomous miles on the streets of San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Austin.
But shifting to personally owned self-driving cars is a much more complex challenge.
While safety regulations are expected to loosen under the Trump administration, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has so far taken a cautious approach to the deployment of fully autonomous vehicles. General Motors-backed Cruise robotaxi was forced to suspend operations in 2023 following a fatal collision.
While the partnership with Toyota is still in the early stages, Waymo says it will initially study how to merge its autonomous systems with the Japanese automaker’s consumer vehicle platforms.
In a recent call with analysts, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai signaled that Waymo is seriously considering expanding beyond ride-hailing fleets and into personal ownership. While nothing is confirmed, the partnership with Toyota adds credibility—and manufacturing muscle—to that vision.
Toyota brings decades of safety innovation to the table, including its widely adopted Toyota Safety Sense technology. Through its software division, Woven by Toyota, the company is also pushing into next-generation vehicle platforms. With Waymo, Toyota is now also looking at how automation can evolve beyond assisted driving and into full autonomy for individual drivers.
This move also turns up the heat on Tesla, which has long promised fully self-driving vehicles for consumers. While Tesla continues to refine its Full Self-Driving (FSD) software, it remains supervised and hasn’t yet delivered on full autonomy. CEO Elon Musk is promising to launch some of its first robotaxis in Austin in June.
When it comes to self-driving cars, Waymo and Tesla are taking very different roads. Tesla aims to deliver affordability and scale with its camera, AI-based software. Waymo, by contrast, uses a more expensive technology relying on pre-mapped roads, sensors, cameras, radar and lidar (a laser-light radar), that regulators have been quicker to trust.

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Uber partners with May Mobility to bring thousands of autonomous vehicles to U.S. streets
uber may mobility av rides partnership

The self-driving race is shifting into high gear, and Uber just added more horsepower. In a new multi-year partnership, Uber and autonomous vehicle (AV) company May Mobility will begin rolling out driverless rides in Arlington, Texas by the end of 2025—with thousands more vehicles planned across the U.S. in the coming years.
Uber has already taken serious steps towards making autonomous ride-hailing a mainstream option. The company already works with Waymo, whose robotaxis are live in multiple cities, and now it’s welcoming May Mobility’s hybrid-electric Toyota Sienna vans to its platform. The vehicles will launch with safety drivers at first but are expected to go fully autonomous as deployments mature.
May Mobility isn’t new to this game. Backed by Toyota, BMW, and other major players, it’s been running AV services in geofenced areas since 2021. Its AI-powered Multi-Policy Decision Making (MPDM) tech allows it to react quickly and safely to unpredictable real-world conditions—something that’s helped it earn trust in city partnerships across the U.S. and Japan.
This expansion into ride-hailing is part of a broader industry trend. Waymo, widely seen as the current AV frontrunner, continues scaling its service in cities like Phoenix and Austin. Tesla, meanwhile, is preparing to launch its first robotaxis in Austin this June, with a small fleet of Model Ys powered by its camera-based Full Self-Driving (FSD) system. While Tesla aims for affordability and scale, Waymo and May are focused on safety-first deployments using sensor-rich systems, including lidar—a tech stack regulators have so far favored.
Beyond ride-hailing, the idea of personally owned self-driving cars is also gaining traction. Waymo and Toyota recently announced they’re exploring how to bring full autonomy to private vehicles, a move that could eventually bring robotaxi tech right into your garage.
With big names like Uber, Tesla, Waymo, and now May Mobility in the mix, the ride-hailing industry is evolving fast—and the road ahead looks increasingly driver-optional.

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