A 1970 Dodge Hemi Challenger R/T SE known as âBlack Ghostâ will be auctioned in May. Its nickname comes from its former owner, Godfrey Qualls, who would attend illegal Detroit street races, then vanish.
In todayâs email:
CES: A pee scanner and a flying car.
Chart: The kids and cable TV.
Digits: Retail âshrink,â a new patent king, and more.
Around the web: More documentation, fewer meetings, saying no, a court case search, and more.
đ§ On the go? Listen to todayâs 10-minute podcast for a rapid news rundown to start your week. Learn about an AI lawyerâs court battle, Americaâs new patent king, a smart contact lens pivot, and a whole lot more.
The big idea
What happened at CES this year?
All kinds of companies flock to CES annually to announce forthcoming products. Letâs take a quick look at some of this yearâs announcements, shall we?
Neutrogena and supplement company Nourished have partnered on a line of customized gummies for skin health. Theyâre 3D-printed after scanning customersâ faces.
Withingsâ U-Scan is a device that attaches to your toilet and analyzes your pee to offer daily health info. (Itâs sparking privacy concerns.)
Delta Air Lines will offer its SkyMiles members free WiFi on most domestic flights.
John Deereannounced an electric excavator and ExactShot, which could save farmers 60%+ more starter fertilizer.
Sony and Honda announced their mysterious EV prototype, Afeela, due in 2026. Sony Honda Mobility CEO Yasuhide Mizuno said Sonyâs experience with AI, VR, and AR would play a role, perThe Verge. Hmm!
Amazon opened its Ring Car Cam for preorder starting at ~$200. It records as you drive, but also if it senses a break-in and if told to. Meanwhile, Garmindebuted an always-on dash cam for ~$400, plus a ~$10/mo. subscription.
Gluxkind announced Ella, a $3.3k self-driving stroller. This sounds mildly terrifying, but Ella only moves autonomously if a child isnât inside. It can also play lullabies.
Brelyonâs Brelyon Fusionprototype is a wrap-around display that offers VR-style immersion sans headset. TechCrunch reports a marketable model is 3-4 years off, but we could totally see this at the gaming cafes of the future.
Lenovoâs Yoga Book 9i is a dual-screen laptop with a stand, keyboard, and stylus. Not gonna lie â this looks very handy.
Acer is leveling up the standing desk with its $999 eKinect BD 3 bike desk. Not only does it keep you moving, but you can also pedal to generate energy for your devices.
BMWâs âi Vision Deeâ concept car is an EV sedan that changes color thanks to exterior panels. For something even more futuristic, check out the Aska A5, a four-seat electric flying car (eVTOL) that could be available for ride-sharing in 2026. Personal preorders are â gulp â $789k.
See something you loved at CES? Tell us about it!
TRENDING
Thatâs wild: DoNotPayâs AI legal assistant will instruct a defendant in court via earpiece in a secret February test. The company will pay any fines imposed.
SNIPPETS
A new California law that took effect last week requires companies with 15+ employees to post pay scales on job listings. Netflix currently has a job up that pays anywhere from $90k to $900k.
Mojo finding its mojo? Mojo Vision, a startup long-focused on developing smart contact lenses, is pivoting to Micro-LED displays and laying off 75% of its staff.
Foster Farms, a major US chicken processor, says that Union Pacificâs railroad delays in the delivery of corn are threatening the lives of millions of chickens.
Seattle Public Schools filed a lawsuit against TikTok, Google, Meta, and Snap alleging that the companies have profited off âcausing a youth mental health crisis.â
The USDA approved the first-ever vaccine for honeybees. Dalan Animal Healthâs vaccine, which is mixed into the queensâ feed, protects against American foulbrood.
AI buzz: Microsoft is reportedly looking to embed OpenAIâs ChatGPT into Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook. In 2022, $1.37B+ was invested into generative AI startups, nearly totaling investments from the previous five years combined.
Box office: Avatar 2 has now made $1.7B+ in global box office sales, while sci-fi horror flick M3gan saw a $30m opening. That brings box office revenue up ~70% YoY.
Oof: Southwest Airlinesâ holiday chaos could cost the company a whopping $825m, per a company regulatory filing.
Meow: Talking to our pets may not be as far off as we think. This short clip breaks down the tech powering animal translation.
FROM THE BLOG
Achieving work-life balance is almost impossible if you donât have healthy boundaries at your job. Fret not: We rounded up tips for setting boundaries to safeguard your time, energy, and satisfaction.
CHART
Singdhi Sokpo
New business data on the state of kidsâ TV
Long gone are the days of Disney Channel saying something along the lines of ânew episode at 8/7 centralâ like we understood what that meant as seven-year-olds.
With todayâs kids born into a world of streaming, YouTube, and TikTok, primetime viewership of kidsâ TV has fallen 76% since 2017, per Variety.
Interestingly, despite the declines, almost every kidsâ network has seen affiliate revenues â the share of cable bills that goes back to networks â Â grow by double-digits, totaling $3.1B last year.
Since 2017, affiliate revenues for Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, and Disney Channel have grown 19%, 31%, and 19%, respectively.
Disney Channel, for instance, brought in $1.1B in affiliate revenue last year. Though linear TV is increasingly outdated, expect media companies to ride this positive impact to their bottom lines as long as possible.
BTW: The best innovation in kidsâ cable TV this decade, by far, is the NFL on Nickelodeon. Itâs incredible.
Free Resource
25 smooth sales email templates
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Digits: EV sales, a new patent king, and more news numbers
1) In 2021, American âretail shrinkâ â losses incurred through things like product theft and damages â grew to $94.5B, up from $90.8B in 2020. In November, Target said thefts would reduce its gross margin by $600m+ in 2022.
2) While US auto sales fell 8% in 2022, EV sales grew to 5.8% of all vehicles sold, up from 3.2% in 2021. Tesla accounted for 65% of EV sales.
3) The US Census Bureau apparently updated the definition of an âurbanâ area to include a population minimum of 5k people, up from 2.5k. As a result, 4.2m people previously considered to be living in urban areas are now living in rural areas.
4) Macao, a special administrative region of China and major gambling destination hit hard by covid lockdowns, saw casino revenues in 2022 plummet 51% to 42.2B patacas, or $5.24B. Thatâs 14% of 2019âs earnings.
5) Until 2022, IBM had filed more patents annually than any company in the last 29 years. Last year, Samsung took the crown with 8,513 patents, compared to IBMâs 4,743 â a 44% annual decline.
AROUND THE WEB
đ€ On this day: In 1493, Christopher Columbus, who mistook the Americas for India, thought he saw mermaids ânot half as beautifulâ as depicted in art. They were manatees.
đ Thatâs interesting: Tremendous, a payouts platform, wrote a blog explaining how its work culture relies on more documentation and fewer meetings.
đ”ïž Useful: A website for searching court cases.
đ Aww: And now, a baby capybara goes for a ride.