Why You'll Want these 7 Winning Innovations in Technology from CES 2017

According to the badge I received when I checked in at #CES2017, I've been attending the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas for the past 19 years. I've seen many highly lauded "innovations" come and go. 3D TV is one that comes to mind. I watched 3D on my smart television exactly once.

So when I attend this conference, I look for the unusual, the technology that I think will help people in their everyday lives. My post from 2015 listed some interesting innovations that I believe are still valid. I skipped posting last year because there really wasn't much that moved me. This year, 2017 is different. A few of the products I saw, really stood out.

Google Daydream VR Headset

When it comes to Virtual Reality, previously I could take it or leave it. I tried many headsets from the Oculus to the cardboard and never really felt it was worth investing in. Google's next mobile VR platform, Daydream, is far more robust than previous iterations. It is also considerably lighter. I also didn't feel quite as queasy when I tried the Huawei View (powered by Daydream) because of the improved frame rate and head tracking capabilities. To explore the VR environment in 3D with this headset, you use a remote-like controller as a pointer. You're able to point at and click on objects, navigate menus, and more. New phones (powered by Android 7.0 Nougat) need to a be high powered to provide this quality experience. At this time, only a few like the Huawei Mate 9 Pro meet the specs.

Online Sellers: Have Trouble Storing Your Shipping Supplies? A Fresh Idea #eBay

My home office shippping area is mortifying. I have boxes of boxes and boxes of padded envelopes, rolls of labels, stickers... if you have a home based e-commerce business you know what I'm talking about.

I keep the boxes of boxes in the garage and the smaller shipping items in a bathroom in my office. (I figured I didn't need the shower anyway). The boxes of padded envelopes were annoying. A half empty box would start to fall over - and worse yet - take up precious space.

I decided to use those recyclable, supermarket brown paper bags. I fill them with padded envelopes, and since they only hold a small quantity, I can remove the bags as they empty and am no longer dealing with huge cardboard boxes. It seems like a simple solutions, but it was new to me. Thought I'd share...

Going Green for Christmas: My Recycled Cardboard Tree

To me, there is nothing more fun during the holiday season than going to the tree lot on a chilly night. Living in Los Angeles, I can make believe for that brief time that I am back in the northeast (where Christmas feels like Christmas).

Bringing home and having an elegant fir tree throughout the season always makes the house smell like Christmas, and the twinkling lights made us happy. But each year I rue the task of taking the tree down. It's not quite as lovely as the day we brought it in, and frankly? It makes a mess and becomes a fire hazard.

My initial foray into daring to go green for Christmas was when I saw an old aluminum tree at a garage sale, I snapped it up and we had a sparkly 50s Christmas. (I also found they sell for a tidy profit on eBay and bought as many as I could to resell - but that's another story).

This year, while in Montreal speaking at webcom, I saw a tree displayed made completely out of cardboard. It reminded me that much of the decor at PayPalX this year was made of recycled cardboard and I was intrigued.

I inquired and got a Cascades tree delivered to my house - we were happily surprised! It was delivered in a nice (easy for future storage) flat box. The tree and it's ornaments are diecut from sheets of 100 % recycled fiber (the  Trees are FSC® certified) and we had a great time putting the tree together. It was very much like putting together a huge puzzle!

The tree I selected was the Moderno with a festive holiday print on natural color board. They sell several style and color options on the Cascades website. The trees were developed together with Cascades’ Italian partner,  Reno De Medici. The styles in the Collection are the Classico, Moderno and Piccolo trees. Sizes? The Classico is 41″ x 28″, the Moderno 52″ x 29″ and Piccolo 24″ x 13″. Each style comes in your option of three colors: white, forest green and a print version. Prices range from $29 to $45 and include free shipping.

I no longer have the guilt of being party to a beautiful tree's demise!

Families with children will particularly like the plain white trees. I can easily see children having a great time designing their own. Seems that's what they had in mind too.

Take one minute and enjoy this short video, produced by Cascades, to give you an idea of the fun you and your children can have: