CES 2016 Day 3: All the news from Netflix, GM, and more – The Verge

Here’s how Gorilla Glass could come to your car, walls, and fridge

2016-01-07T00:17:49-05:00

About five years ago, Corning - the company behind the ubiquitous strengthened Gorilla Glass found in countless smartphones - made a concept video called "A Day Made of Glass" designed to show off how glass could be applied in futuristic ways to pretty much every aspect of life. This year at CES, Corning's booth is dedicated to claiming how that vision is now feasible.

Or at least, it'll be feasible as far as Corning is concerned - many of these demos show impressive use of glass married to janky software that really ought to have been built by an actual software company. That's actually part of why Corning is at CES; it hopes to meet partn …

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Razor promises its Hovertrax hoverboard won’t catch fire or explode

2016-01-06T22:48:01-05:00

The hoverboard was undeniably the breakout gadget of 2015. So it's only fair the self-balancing two-wheeled scooters would show up in full force here at CES 2016, and Razor's Hovertrax is among the most talked about models in the category. That's because the brand known still for its handlebar toy scooters says its the only company legally allowed to sell hoverboards in the US thanks to an exclusive licensing agreement it inked earlier this year.

Luckily, Razor's version seems pretty good - and relatively cheap at $599.99 compared with the many $1,200 to $1,500 models out there. Also, the company wants you to know its model won't spontaneou …

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The company behind Faraday Future’s money made an infotainment system for Aston Martin

2016-01-06T22:19:59-05:00

LeTV, the Chinese media and electronics company that's backing EV startup Faraday Future, has created an infotainment concept for Aston Martin.

Unlike many of its sports car competitors, Aston doesn't have a large parent company to inexpensively appropriate technology from. Instead, it has to develop everything from scratch or partner with a larger company to develop it for them, as it recently did for the RapidE concept. Aston Martin also has an agreement with Mercedes' AMG division to build engines, and now, it seems, it could get a better infotainment platform - the radio and navigation system usually located in the center console - from …

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This pocket thermal camera helps you see in the dark

2016-01-06T22:07:55-05:00

The next time I find myself camping in the Sahara surrounded by lions, I'm going to wish I had a FLIR Scout TK on me. It's a monocular thermal camera shaped like a cartoon bomb and easily usable in one hand; it picks up objects based on heat, so you can see animals even when obscured by foliage, or footprints normally invisible to the eye.

Here's what this can look like:

FLIR Systems is one of the largest thermal imaging companies in the world, and the Scout TK uses its inexpensive "Lepton" microcamera core. The device is really simple to use, with just a few buttons on top to control recording, brightness, and color palette, and it has …

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ExoLens promises to make your iPhone photos better — for $300

2016-01-06T22:06:04-05:00

Phones have largely replaced digital cameras in day-to-day use, but they still have a few major limitations, like their fixed focal length and inability to zoom. There's a bevy of accessory lenses meant to give photographers more range with their phones, and the latest comes from a partnership between Fellowes, maker of the ExoLens, and the German lens maker Zeiss.

ExoLens and Zeiss displayed three prototype lenses at CES: a wide-angle lens, a macro lens, and a telephoto lens. Each attaches to an aluminum mount, compatible with iPhone 6/6 Plus and 6S/6S Plus.

We tested out the wide-angle lens briefly at the CES booth, and the images of wat …

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This gadget simulates oral sex with suction

2016-01-06T22:00:23-05:00

Fiera Arouser for Her, on display at CES 2016, is one of the latest in a new trend of sex toys for women called suction oral sex stimulators. It's aimed at stimulating blood flow to the genitals, to help women suffering from low libido get in the mood before having sex. And it has some research showing that it does just that.

Fiera is small and compact, able to fit in the palm of your hand. It contains three massagers that sit behind a silicon suction cup, which is meant to be placed over the clitoris. You can then control the intensity of the massagers, as well as the patterns in which they move to help draw blood to the region thereby inc …

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Strip clubs are hijacking the CES 2016 hashtag on Instagram

2016-01-06T21:53:21-05:00

Strippers, casinos, nightclubs with free limo pick-up, an evening DJ-ed by Steve Aoki - the choices presented for those searching the CES 2016 hashtag on Instagram are endless.

It's not uncommon for "spam" to take over an Instagram hashtag. What's interesting about this particular invasion is its geographic precision - these are all real Vegas locales, as far as I can glean. You have to respect the marketing savvy. Why would you send someone to stand on the strip passing out fliers when your target audience is one of the most digitally connected in the world?

Vegas understands supply and demand

And these posts aren't merely there - they're …

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Remix OS is Android for the desktop, and it works with nearly any PC

2016-01-06T21:23:30-05:00

Last year at CES, we mocked a company called Jide for creating a blatant Microsoft Surface clone. Well, this year they've come back with something new - and they've also returned much richer. See, between CES 2015 and today, Jide created a Kickstarter campaign for the Remix Mini, a $70 device that can run Android on any screen with an HDMI input. It took in $1.6 million.

But this isn't plain Android on a plastic box; instead, it's Remix OS, a customized fork of the software that looks more like Windows or Chrome OS than it does Android. There's a start menu. You can swipe in from the right side for a notification tray a la Windows 10 and OS …

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The Jaq charges a smartphone using hydrogen fuel cells

2016-01-06T21:20:51-05:00

The Jaq smartphone charger, from Swedish startup MyFC, is trying to swap lithium-ion batteries for hydrogen fuel cells. MyFC says it's the world smallest and most powerful fuel cell charger in the world, and it lets you stay charged without ever having to touch a wall outlet.

Instead of plugging the charger into the wall and juicing up a standard battery, owners of the Jaq create a chemical reaction with a sealed card containing water and salt. You slip the card inside the charger and its 10 hydrogen fuel cells convert the resulting energy into 1,800mAhs. That's nearly a full charge for an iPhone 6S or Samsung Galaxy S6, and it's transferre …

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Netflix’s content boss discusses the company’s plans for world domination

2016-01-06T21:02:06-05:00

Netflix made the biggest announcement of CES today, rolling out its service to 130 new countries while CEO Reed Hastings was onstage delivering his keynote speech in Las Vegas. The company has been on a tear for the last year, winning a bevy of awards for its original content and adding subscribers at a pace which has sent its share price soaring.

With today's additions Netflix suddenly has billions of potential new customers. Some of this growth will be held back by the cost, which will be roughly at parity with what it costs in the US, as well as lack of access to speedy internet in many of the new territories. But equally important will …

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