2019 Consumer Electronics Show

The Consumer Electronics Show has long been a place where one expects to learn about surprising and inspiring new products. In recent years the show has become more mundane and the new products introduced have had the kinds of improvements more typical of the National Hardware Show. "Check out this new widget in a fluorescent color!" Reading reports from this year's show it seems like the trend of somewhat-interesting-but-not-really-inspired new product introductions has continued. With that in mind, here are three that cut through the clutter:

Actually Tasty Vegan Hamburger - Impossible Burger 2.0 is a second-generation version of a plant-based "meat" that is a truly decent substitute for ground beef. Impossible Foods plans to start selling the product to restaurants and stores later this year. Read more from PopSci.

Roll Up TV - A prototype of LG's Roll Up TV was shown at last year's CES. The news this year is that manufacturing is starting and consumers will be able to soon actually buy it. The 65-inch screen looks great and when you hit a button it rolls back into its built-in 100 watt soundbar. It's the TV for anyone who wants a big screen, but doesn't want a massive empty black picture frame hanging on their living wall. It's expected to cost around $10,000. Read more from the Verge.

Robotic Sex Toy for Women - The Osé Personal Massager is said to feel like a human partner. After initially being selected as winner of the CES 2019 Innovation Awards in the robotics and drone product category, the Consumer Technology Association, which organizes the event, rescinded the award and pulled the product from the exhibition floor because they deemed it obscene. This seems hypocritical since last year's CES saw the introduction of a female robotic sex doll for men. Read more from interestingengineering.com

And so 2019 begins.

- Mike