It’s that time of year again: the Consumer Electronics Show is set to take over Las Vegas, Nevada, during the first week of January. CES 2020 kicks off on Tuesday, January 7th, and runs through Friday, January 10th. But you can join Nilay Patel, Dieter Bohn, and Ashley Carman for a special CES preview The Vergecast Live on Monday, January 6th.
The event runs from 3PM–5PM PT; The Vergecast Live will begin recording at 3:30PM with a reception to follow at 4:30PM.
Seats are limited for this exclusive preview episode. If you’ll be in Vegas, you can reserve a ticket here.
The Vergecast Live
Monday, January 6th, from 3PM–5PM PT
Encore at the Wynn, Debussy Ballroom 1
3121 South Las Vegas Boulevard,
Las Vegas, Nevada

What’s in Your Bag? is a recurring feature where we ask people to tell us a bit more about their everyday gadgets by opening their bags and hearts to us. This week, we’re featuring Verge video producer Sarah Bishop.

The cold truth about this bag is that it’s not my bag. Until recently, I had been carrying the same Jansport backpack for about 10 years. It’s actually quite sentimental, despite the gunk collected on its bottom from setting it on the subway floor. My Dad bought it for a trip to Disney World with me and my brother two decades ago, and I started carrying it in college as a sad acknowledgement that there would never be a time I would cradle finely bound textbooks wrapped by a belt. It’s a great bag: it has two large pouches, a smaller front pouch that has interior organizational pouches, and the standard front zip pouch. But one strap finally gave way, and I have yet to stitch it back together.

Now I’m carrying my partner’s bag, a commuter crossbody I bought for him a few years ago. (He’s started carrying a bag that accommodates his gym shoes.) It fits my laptop and has forced me to carry less, which I resent, but also from which I benefit.

LOTUFF CANVAS + LEATHER CROSSBODY BAG

I bought this bag for my partner the first year we moved to New York together. He’d just gotten a promotion, and I couldn’t resist. It has a front and back zip pocket, as well as two interior spaces and some catch-all pouches toward the back. I’ve been carrying it for about a month and tend to put my laptop and cord in the back pouch, with the rest fitting toward the front. Lotuff bags are made in America and typically leather; this is canvas with a leather topper. I wasn’t at the all-leather-everything financial bracket when I bought it, which is what Lotuff is known for.

Crossbody bags hurt my shoulders, so while I look a thousand times more adult carrying this than the beat-up backpack, I will definitely need to switch back to a two-strap system.

I keep my keys on a karabiner, some kind of sentimental shout-out to production life and ye olde rock climbing days. It’s usually hooked so they hang inside the bag.

LAPTOP + CORD + EARBUDS + GLASSES

I’ve had my Vox Media laptop for a little over two years, and frankly, I’m emotionally attached. It’s a 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display from 2015 with a 2.8 GHz Intel Core i7. I have the full Adobe suite on it and have used it to ingest about 150 videos’ worth of b-roll during CES, and my downloads folder is a brutal mess at the end of each week. I’ve filled up the 500GB of memory more than three times; below the keyboard, there’s an illustration on gaff tape from a former co-worker of me and my partner kissing our cat. The front has every brand sticker from Vox Media; I was a producer in our central studio, working with every brand, before I began producing with The Verge. I’ve also got a “Tech Stands with Planned Parenthood” sticker that I got from Code Conference 2017.

My laptop cord has some gaff tape with my initials that was affixed during my first CES. The earbuds are for my commute, and the glasses have a film on them to filter out blue light from screens. I realistically look at a laptop, smartphone, or television for about 12 hours a day — any media job these days demands as much — and in the last few years, my near-daily headaches have grown a few times into full-blown migraines. Until CBD can be legally used to treat pain, I’ll have to settle for these frames.

LUMIX + VINTAGE CLUTCH

Because I’m a garbage person — or maybe because I have done things a garbage person would do but am not a garbage person? — I don’t know where my lens cap is for the Lumix and have kept it in this vintage clutch for safety. The interior is a sturdy satin, and I like that I don’t have to worry about the display getting scratched in my garbage person bag. I’m just being honest.

My mirrorless camera is a Panasonic Lumix DMC-GM1 and is primarily used for travel and hanging out with friends. I love that it can connect to my phone over Wi-Fi to send photos to the Panasonic Imaging App. I don’t ever change the 12-32mm lens on it since it suits casual needs; if I’m going to bring lenses, I’m going to be breaking out my old Canon cameras (5DMIII, 60D), hangers-on from run-n-gun freelance days when I would shoot.

WEDDING PLANNING BOOK + TIGERLILY MEDIA JOURNAL

I’m getting married in a month. When I first began the planning process, I told myself I would never be that person who did any wedding anything at work or talked endlessly about the planning process. Ha! Such a sweet, sweet summer child.

My reality is that it’s a familial rite of passage and a performative cultural celebration acted out to respect the traditions of my elders. Family members have a vested interest and a ton of opinions. Emotions run high, and budgets are broken across the land. It’s much easier to launch a new Facebook page under the Verge umbrella, or to produce a video series under Nilay’s scrutiny, than it is to plan a wedding. So, when my backpack broke and I finished my last commuter book, I used the scant space in this bag to carry my wedding planning book instead of a novel.

The other journal is one I’ve carried for about three years. It was a gift from a company I’d worked with in my hometown called TigerLily Media. TLM was the first place I ever worked at that felt like a true family, and I strive to create the culture they exhibit wherever I go. I learned a ton of production from them, and I love their work; it’s really great carrying this around and being able to feel a bit of the inspiration they give me. I always carry two Zebra pens in the journal in alternating colors. Right now, my pens are green and black.  

MAKEUP BAG

As the embroidery states, I was gifted this makeup bag when I was a bridesmaid for a dear friend, and I’ve carried it around daily. I’m not trying to be a sentimental creep; it’s just perfect for commuting and it shrinks and expands more than one could guess. But I do love thinking about my friend when I see it. (She is a bridesmaid — bridesmatron? — in my pending nuptials.)

Most of my makeup is sample-size because I keep forgetting to cancel my Birchbox subscription, but also because it’s incredibly convenient to use a sample of mascara instead of buying a tube that won’t get used up before you’re supposed to throw it out. The large sample of Yves Saint Laurent Tuxedo perfume was actually a favor from another wedding of good friends. It’s such a fantastic smell and really one of the best wedding favors ever. The perfume and the bag; what more could I want?

I’ve also been carrying this pretty dope Kailijumei lipstick: it’s got a little flower in it and these flecks of gold that make it fun to look at. Practically, the color is good, but it leaves a weird film on my lips that I end up scraping off. I bought a pack of them to give in gift boxes to my bridesmaids for the bachelorette trip, and there was one left over — score!

This bag is a bit of a wedding takeover.

CROWN ROYAL BAG + YOGA CLOTHES

When I want to make an effort to be healthy, I bring some yoga pants and a sports bra and rush to Bikram yoga after work. Because it’s ungodly hot (105 degrees Fahrenheit), I don’t have to worry about a shirt or much else in terms of workout gear. I roll it all up and put it in the Crown Royal bag so I don’t embarrass myself in the locker room by upending my supplies to find the clothes.

I also bring my ring box to store my engagement ring while exercising. It stresses me out to leave it behind but apparently it’s bad for jewelry to wear it while sweating.

The tampons were in my bag because I was having a Super day. Just Super.

TURTLE KEYCHAIN + TOTE + THUMB DRIVE

The little turtle used to be a keychain, but the links broke apart, and so I carry it as a little trinket to remember my sister. It’s a bit of a family thing; I know my mom has a lot of turtle paraphernalia as well. My sister got a beautiful, fully colored tattoo of a sea turtle on her thigh, but then died a week later in a car accident. No one heard her explanation behind the sea turtle before she died, and it became a symbol to us all while coping.

I keep the Shakespeare & Co tote bag in my big bag in case I want to go somewhere during the day without hauling it around. It also serves to carry groceries home. The thumb drive is from Akumal Animal Sanctuary; a really great, albeit touristy, half-day experience outside of Tulum, Mexico. The sanctuary has been open for about a year. There are photos of me and my maid of honor playing with monkeys on it.

MAP + STAMPS + TEA + HAND LOTION

I got this map of Paris from an Airbnb host, and I’ve actually been using it folded up in its smallest form (about half the size of a card) as a bookmark. It’s just a great trinket from my trip. Incidentally, I was in France for a friend’s wedding — the woman that gifted the perfume — in case you thought we weren’t talking about weddings anymore.

I still believe in the USPS, and they still believe in receiving payment for their work, so I have a few stamps I’ve kept on me for postcards and letters. The immune support tea is mostly for show… I’ve been drinking it almost every day but have still had two colds in the last three weeks. My sinus allergies have been nuts this year. Related, I was re-gifted the hand lotion after giving it to my soon-to-be father-in-law — it’s made with almonds, and he has a nut allergy. It was an accident!  

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Where do you store your toothbrush? Mine is often stored in an old, toothpaste-stained salsa jar (label removed) next to a mug of hydrogen peroxide, where I leave my retainer to soak. These are precariously placed in the top-left corner of my pedestal sink, a decidedly bad place to store anything of importance.

But I keep my toothbrush on the farthest left ledge of the tiny sink because I’m driven by fear — fear of poop particles and all other manner of germ accumulation that happens in the only bathroom of a 450-square-foot apartment. If you’re as anxious as I am about hygiene, the Kickstarter for Puretta might ease your concerns.

Puretta is a wall attachment that is a toothbrush holder and a toothpaste and floss dispenser, and it claims to sterilize toothbrushes with UV light. It also has a solar panel to charge — so hopefully your bathroom gets a lot of light.

The sterilization is performed with a 253.7 nm UV light (also known as a “germicidal light”). These lights can be commonly found in laboratories as part of a water sterilization sequence, according to Novus Light Technologies Today. They work to inactivate the DNA of microorganisms like bacteria and viruses, and the lamps work most effectively from light ranges 250 nm to 280 nm.

In June 2015, the American Society for Microbiology released a study finding that at least 60 percent of toothbrushes from participants in communal bathrooms were contaminated with fecal coliforms. Yum. To make the shitcake sweeter, there’s an 80 percent likelihood that the fecal coliforms did not belong to the toothbrush owner.

I haven’t tested Puretta, but if it does come equipped with a properly functioning 253.7 nm UV light, it should actually sterilize the toothbrushes, which is all I give a crap about. The light is supposed to last for five years and is replaceable, although some bathrooms — like my dingy one — may be far too dark to charge the solar-powered Puretta.

The campaign launched on August 15th, is already 300 percent funded at time of writing, and almost all discounted backing perks have been claimed. Puretta expects to ship in October 2017, but did not specify retail pricing. Judging from early bird pledges, you can expect it to hit shelves for around $60 to $75, if the company delivers. Puretta appears to be the first product from Puretta Technology, which doesn’t have any history of shipping a product, so take your usual precautions before backing the project.

You’re hot. Your partner is cold. It’s a classic story: one of you throws off the blankets in the middle of the night while the other is burrowed underneath them. But it defeats the point of sleeping next to your person — if you’re spooning through a duvet, you might as well hug a body pillow.

SmartDuvet, the company that first launched a self-making bed on Kickstarter, is now offering a second edition that lets two people adjust their preferred temperatures on their side of the bed. The SmartDuvet Breeze, like its predecessor, is basically a blow-up air-blanket you put on your duvet, inside your duvet cover. (Do you have a duvet cover? I don’t. Should I have a duvet cover?) It attaches to a control box, which you might be able to hide under your bed.

Think of the control box as a mechanized air pump. SmartDuvet makes the bed by filling up like a pool toy. Because it’s attached to your bedding, it pulls everything with it as it fills with air. Your bed will be “made” when it reaches its final form.

Through an app, you can control the climate of each side of the SmartDuvet Breeze by blowing warm or cold air from control box. It’s dual-layered to include the bed-making and the temperature control air tubes, which you connect to the blanket during setup.

SmartDuvet creators claim that it’s not just good for your comfort, but that bed oxygenation will reduce sweat and prevent bed-bugs. They also say it’s a green product since you wouldn’t be heating or cooling your whole house to your desired temperature. Joke’s on you, SmartDuvet, I live in New York City and I can’t control my apartment’s thermostat. But it’s a nice idea. 

It’s more than 550 percent funded on Indiegogo at time of publish and we demoed the first SmartDuvet at CES 2017, so while there’s no guarantee on receiving your crowdfunded product, this could actually ship in September 2017 as advertised.  

For now, SmartDuvet Breeze is taking early pledges starting at $199. Once on market, the company aims to sell it for $359.