CES 2015

These tiny wireless earbuds pack an MP3 player, a versatile fitness tracker and much more

Ever since the iPod's heyday a decade ago, I was been wondering whether Apple in its pursue of miniaturization might eventually come around engineering an iPod shuffle of sorts that would be entirely embedded inside the firm's In-Ear Headphones.

But as Apple hit the brake on iPod innovation amid rise of the iPhone, my dreams have remained mere wishful thinking — up until now. A German company called Bragi has created a tiny earbuds that contain an embedded MP3 player, a comprehensive fitness tracker and a host of other features.

CES 2015: Harman builds CarPlay solution based on steering wheel-mounted touchpad

Jeremy Horwitz of 9to5Mac had a chance to play with Harman's novel CarPlay solution at CES 2015 which ditches touchscreen-based interactions in favor of a steering wheel-mounted touchpad.

Harman, which designs and sells audio and infotainment equipment, says its Integrated Essentials Cockpit is noteworthy as it doesn’t render UI on an in-car display like other CarPlay systems, but rather puts it in the dashboard directly behind the steering wheel.

Such an approach could be viewed as better compared to touchscreen-based CarPlay systems for a number of reasons, yet isn't without its pitfalls.

New noise-cancelling headphones from Philips draw power from Lightning port

As The Verge reported Thursday, Consumer electronics maker Philips took the wraps off its new on-ear headphones that don't have a built-in battery, instead drawing power from the Lightning port of an iOS device.

The Fidelio NC1L features noise-cancelling technology which uses four different microphones to suppress background noise. Audio quality is improved further thanks to the use of Philips's own integrated 24-bit digital-to-analog converter instead of the one built into iOS devices.

CES 2015: upgraded Flir One thermal imager has 4x resolution, works with any Lightning iOS device

This time last year at at CES in Las Vegas, the world’s first private thermal imager, the Flir One, was announced and released six months later in the form of a case that slides onto an iPhone 5/5s. And now at CES 2015, a much improved version got unveiled which works with any Lightning-enabled iOS device and Android smartphones via USB.

Additionally, a Flir One software developer kit (SDK) was released in December for the iOS platform.

Android developers will gain access to the SDK in the Spring. Both iOS and Android editions of the Flir One SDK will let programmers write apps which access absolute temperature data for all pixels and control the camera’s shutter mode, in both manual and automatic settings.

After T-Mobile, AT&T to roll over your unused data to the next month, but with a twist

Wednesday, AT&T promised to give folks on its shared plans rollover data. Beginning January 25, the more than 50 million of its Mobile Share Value customers will be able to carry over any unused cellular data allotment to the next month.

Any unused, shareable plan data in a given month gets rolled over to the next, as long as family members are on the same Mobile Share Value plan.

T-Mobile back in December launched a similar data rollover feature called Data Stash.

CES 2015: Pioneer unveils new CarPlay receivers with Sirius radio, advanced Bluetooth and more

Shortly after Kenwood went head to head with Pioneer with its own aftermarket receivers with CarPlay integration, the company responded by announcing a second-generation Networked Entertainment eXperience (NEX) in-dash receivers with CarPlay support.

Building on the features introduced in the previous NEX series (the $1400 AVIC-8000NEX, $1200 AVIC-7000NEX, $900 AVIC-6000NEX, $750 AVIC-5000NEX and $700 AVH-4000NEX), the updated receivers offer better displays, support for Bluetooth connectivity and are Sirius XM-Ready.

CES 2015: Incipio’s new Prompt Folio iPad case has a built-in display for notifications

Incipio announced a unique new case for Apple's iPad Air tablet at the Consumer Electronics show in Las Vegas today. The case, which it's calling the Prompt Notification Folio, features a built-in OLED screen for discreetly delivering notifications from a connected device.

The Folio connects to "most smart devices" using Bluetooth Low Energy, and is capable of displaying incoming phone calls, emails, text messages, calendar appointments, low battery alerts, and more. Battery life for the case falls between 7-10 days per complete charge.

CES 2015: Mophie out with Juice Pack battery cases for iPhone 6 and 6 Plus

Renowned accessory maker Mophie is out of the gate with the first 'Made for iPhone' licensed battery cases for Apple's iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

Their new Juice Pack protective battery cases promise to boost the run time of your iPhone 6 by 120 percent, or up to sixty percent in the case of the larger iPhone 6 Plus which already packs a notably stronger battery than its 4.7-inch sibling.

The California-based company said the new cases for Apple's last handsets are now available for pre-order.

CES 2015: Moshi launches AirPlay speaker with eye-candy cabinet design

Moshi, the maker of premium accessories and peripherals for Apple devices, announced today at CES in Las Vegas a gorgeously crafted wireless speaker with built-in support for AirPlay, a media streaming technology from Apple.

Because AirPlay is directly supported by the Spatia speaker hardware, as Moshi is marketing its new product, you can stream music from an iPhone, iPod touch, iPad or Mac to the speaker without being connected to a home Wi-Fi router.