A 1970 Dodge Hemi Challenger R/T SE known as “Black Ghost” will be auctioned in May. Its nickname comes from its former owner, Godfrey Qualls, who would attend illegal Detroit street races, then vanish.
In today’s email:
CES: A pee scanner and a flying car.
Chart: The kids and cable TV.
Digits: Retail “shrink,” a new patent king, and more.
Around the web: More documentation, fewer meetings, saying no, a court case search, and more.
🎧 On the go? Listen to today’s 10-minute podcast for a rapid news rundown to start your week. Learn about an AI lawyer’s court battle, America’s 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. Let’s take a quick look at some of this year’s announcements, shall we?
Neutrogena and supplement company Nourished have partnered on a line of customized gummies for skin health. They’re 3D-printed after scanning customers’ faces.
Withings’ U-Scan is a device that attaches to your toilet and analyzes your pee to offer daily health info. (It’s 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 Sony’s 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 isn’t inside. It can also play lullabies.
Brelyon’s 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.
Lenovo’s Yoga Book 9i is a dual-screen laptop with a stand, keyboard, and stylus. Not gonna lie — 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.
BMW’s “i Vision Dee” 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 — gulp — $789k.
See something you loved at CES? Tell us about it!
TRENDING
That’s wild: DoNotPay’s 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 Pacific’s 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 “causing a youth mental health crisis.”
The USDA approved the first-ever vaccine for honeybees. Dalan Animal Health’s vaccine, which is mixed into the queens’ feed, protects against American foulbrood.
AI buzz: Microsoft is reportedly looking to embed OpenAI’s 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 Airlines’ 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 don’t 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 kids’ TV
Long gone are the days of Disney Channel saying something along the lines of “new episode at 8/7 central” like we understood what that meant as seven-year-olds.
With today’s kids born into a world of streaming, YouTube, and TikTok, primetime viewership of kids’ TV has fallen 76% since 2017, per Variety.
Interestingly, despite the declines, almost every kids’ network has seen affiliate revenues — the share of cable bills that goes back to networks — 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 kids’ cable TV this decade, by far, is the NFL on Nickelodeon. It’s incredible.
Free Resource
25 smooth sales email templates
If you still craft every email with love (from scratch), we appreciate you.
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Here are 25 hot-and-ready templates to save your salespeople time while maintaining that endearing touch. Crafted by the experts at Sandler Training, Breakthrough Email, and HubSpot.
Digits: EV sales, a new patent king, and more news numbers
1) In 2021, American “retail shrink” — losses incurred through things like product theft and damages — 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 “urban” 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. That’s 14% of 2019’s 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 IBM’s 4,743 — a 44% annual decline.
AROUND THE WEB
🤔 On this day: In 1493, Christopher Columbus, who mistook the Americas for India, thought he saw mermaids “not half as beautiful” as depicted in art. They were manatees.