Day two of CES 2017 in Las Vegas came and went, and with it, another slew of devices. Some proved truly innovative, while many others? Not so much.
My colleague Dan Howley explored the first-ever connected cruising experience from Carnival Corporation (CCL). Called the One Cruise Experience Access Network — OCEAN, for short — it will use a series of sensors placed throughout the ship so passengers can virtually control many aspects of their trip with a coin-size medallion you can wear as a bracelet, necklace or just toss in your bag.
The medallion can detect when you’re approaching your room, so it knows to unlock the cabin door, turn on the lights and activate the air-conditioner or heater. Even more impressive, say you order a drink in your cabin but go to the pool afterwards. Because Carnival employees know where you are — and where you’ve gone — they know to deliver that drink to the pool.
Later in the day, we attended PepCom, a three-hour showroom event with over 250 companies showing off tech aimed at transforming your everyday life. Three devices that impressed us most were:
Switchmate
Stanford engineering grads Robert Romano and Ashish Dua founded Switchmate last year with the goal of making any home a smart home. Their second-generation smart switch, which launches this week, lets anyone automate the overhead lights in their home by simply placing the device over a conventional light switch. And because the smart switches attach with magnets, no installation is needed.
Nixplay
Nixplay isn’t the first company to release a digital photo frame, but theirs may actually be the most slick. Released in the late fall for $199, the Nixplay Iris sports an 8-inch display with 1024 x 768 resolution that uses WiFi and the cloud so a list of approved people can snap and virtually send photos to your frame in minutes.
Altwork desk
Standing desks remain trendy, but what about a desk that transforms into a workstation that lets you work lying down? The $5,000 high-tech Altwork desk, which began shipping this winter, lets people pick and adjust how they work — standing, sitting, lying down — with the press of a button. The company lets users customize their desks, from the fabric on the cushions to the color of the desk frame and desktop. Affordable? No. But it’s a heck of a lot of fun.
Stay tuned for more updates this week as we explore all CES 2017 has to offer.
More Yahoo Finance CES coverage:
Dell is kicking off CES 2017 with slick new laptops that double as tablets
What to expect this week at CES, the world’s biggest gadget show
Fiat Chrysler’s Portal concept is an upgradable car for millennials
The Norton Core is a beautiful Wi-FI router that protects your digital home
Samsung’s new washing machine will save you time and aggravation
The biggest busts from the world’s most renowned gadget show
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JP Mangalindan is a senior correspondent for Yahoo Finance covering the intersection of tech and business. Follow him on Twitter or Facebook.