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LAS VEGAS--I love power tools. I also love smartphones. Finally, my two passions came together on the show floor of CES 2013. Amzer makes the ShatterProof line of screen protectors for electronic devices. They invited me over to go nuts on an iPhone protected with this thin urethane film.

The available objects of destruction were a power drill and sander. There would have been a hammer, but it had been stolen from the booth. I felt like I was building a set of cabinets rather than testing out a tech item.

Shatterproof is .2 millimeter thick and sticks on with the help of an included wedge. It has already been through a battery of ASTM tests to prove its tear strength and hardness. Now, it was my turn.… Read more

LAS VEGAS--Like an ancient dragon returning to its mountain cave for a thousand years of slumber, CES is starting to wind down for another year. Despite being three days in, exciting new tech and developments are continuing to emerge however, so here are the gadgets and videos you need to check out immediately.

Firstly, CNET has rounded up the hottest tech from the show, and -- with a huge helping hand from our readers -- has compiled our Best of CES 2013 Award Winners list. It's good news for Razer, whose Edge gaming tablet takes home the coveted Best … Read more

LAS VEGAS--As hints leaked that both Lexus and Audi would be showing autonomous cars at CES 2013, no less a publication than the Wall Street Journal hyped the story. However, those expecting to see cars driving themselves around the Las Vegas Convention Center were disappointed. This trend had no gas.

Lexus burst the bubble with a surprisingly short press conference. The company brought two of its LS sedans on stage, one of them fitted with sensors and processors to research advanced safety features. Lexus vice president Mark Templin described the company's research as focused on safety, which could be … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Plextor has more news in regard to its SSD development to share at CES 2013, in addition to introducing the M5 Pro Xtreme drive.

The storage vendor unveiled a few new solid-state storage devices today, including the M5M mSATA SSD, a Next Generation Form Factor (NGFF) SSD, and its new embedded multimedia card (eMCC).

The M5M mSATA is a 6Gbps SSD. The new drive has no outer casing and is just one-eighth the size of a standard 2.5-inch drive, designed especially for ultrabooks with limited space. It features the new Marvell 88SS9187 controller, and Toshiba's new 19nm … Read more

LAS VEGAS--There's no question that flexible screens are the future, along with the bendable products that go with them. Corning, maker of Gorilla Glass 3, was kind enough to drop by our CNET booth at CES to show me Willow Glass, its take on bendable glass so thin you can curve it in a deep arc without breaking.

Willow Glass is as thick as a business card -- only 0.1 millimeter thick -- and as malleable as promised. I could easily bend it within its plastic laminate cover, but at this early stage in development, I wasn't … Read more

LAS VEGAS--When the company behind the gesture technology in the Kinect came to CES a year ago to show how its 3D sensors can enable people to control their TVs with simple gestures, its execs talked about how their sensors eventually would be embedded in mobile devices, opening up a range of possible applications.

At CES 2013, that company, Israeli-based PrimeSense, showed off the tiny sensor it says will soon make that a reality.

PrimeSense's new 3D sensor, called Capri, is 10 times smaller than its current sensor and, according to the company, the smallest in the world. The … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Eton has unveiled a few different solar charging Bluetooth speakers here in Las Vegas. Earlier we highlighted the Rokus XL, but here's a closer look at the Rugged Rukus, the company's more compact model, which is due to hit stores in the next few months for $99.99.

The lightweight Rugged Rukus has a splashproof rubberized exterior, a 20-square-inch solar panel and a USB port for charging cell phones.

The internal lithium ion battery gives you about 8 hours of audio streaming via its wireless Bluetooth connection and it takes about 5 hours to charge in full … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Don't believe the image makers.

They tell you that pictures are all, that a thousand words won't make up for one visual.

Yet what hurts us most? The pictures people take of us? Or the words they say to us?

So while exhibitors at CES try to inflame you with their glamor and their allure it's worth focusing for a moment on what they're actually saying. … Read more

LAS VEGAS--The LCD touch screen has become commonplace in cars, but the technology suffers from limited shaping. Texas Instruments used its Digital Light Processor (DLP) technology to come up with a display that could take a wide variety of shapes in the car, and allow touch control for people wearing gloves.

In its exhibition area at CES 2013, Texas Instruments had a car dashboard mounted on a stand to show off the concept. A very large screen followed the curves of the dashboard down the center stack, capable of showing car functions such as navigation, phone, and audio. Just like … Read more