CES 2015 - Peripheral maker NYNE launched the Edge, Verge and Rock water-resistant Bluetooth speakers, designed to be used while exploring the outdoors.

All three speakers support Bluetooth 4.0 for streaming and NFC for one-tap connections. A built-in microphone allows for hands-free calling, along with a USB power bank, 3.55mm aux input and up to 12 hours of battery life.

The Verge, Edge and Rock speakers will be available during Q2 of 2015, with the Verge sporting a $119.95 MSRP, Edge will cost $159.95, and Rock will be available for $299.95.

Ralph Osterhout was responsible for creating underwater vehicles featured in two James Bond films, he's developed smaller and cheaper night vision goggles for the military, he has invented many children's toys throughout the 90's (Yak Bak, TalkBoy and Power Penz) and is now working with his company, Osterhout Design Group. on a Google Glass competitor - the ODC Smart Glasses.

Powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 chip, these glasses are described as "basically a full Android Tablet you can wear on your head", giving users a transparent heads-up display instead of a touchable surface. The screen is quoted to feel like a 55-inch 3D floating screen floating eight feet in front of your eyes, provided by two 720p micro displays.

This product also features a five-megapixel camera and various different sensors for application purposes. Theoretically you could use these glasses as your own personal 3D Cinema like the Sony HMZ headset, however no cords are needed.

Storage company Seagate has unveiled the Seagate Personal Cloud and Seagate Personal Cloud 2-Bay storage solutions for consumers to be able to enjoy content at home, in the office, and via mobile devices. The drives also can be used as central backup for PCs, Apple OS X machines, USB flash drives, Apple iOS, and Google Android mobile devices.

The storage solutions can stream to the Sony PlayStation 3 or PlayStation 4, Microsoft Xbox 360 or Xbox One, and other DLNA-based devices. It'll be possible to auto-backup to Amazon S3, DropBox, Google Drive, Box, Baidu, HiDrive and Yandex.Disk, according to Seagate.

The Seagate Personal Cloud will begin shipping later this month, with 3TB, 4TB, and 5TB storage capacities available. The Seagate Personal Cloud 2-Bay will launch with 4TB, 6TB and 8TB capacities. Pricing details weren't made available.

Xiaomi, the No. 3 global smartphone manufacturer, saw its sales triple in 2014, racking up more than 61.1 million units sold in 2014. It's impressive growth from 18.7 million units in 2013, as the company continues to expand outside of China - with a focus on India, Russia, and other markets.

Sales also doubled year-over-year, up to $11.97 billion, as the company continues to prove it may have what it takes to put pressure on Samsung and Apple. Although the company has focused on selling cost-friendly devices - with no specific rush to enter the United States or UK - there are plenty of first-time smartphone owners the company is able to cater to.

"In 2015, the smart devices playing field will become extremely competitive, especially as the growth of the smartphone industry in mainland China slows down," said Lei Jun, Xiaomi founder and chief executive, in a blog post.

The Internet of Things (IoT) has a large amount of momentum to start 2015, with 65 percent of American consumers reportedly moderately or extremely interested in adopting some type of smart home product, according to the Internet of Things Consortium (IoTC). There is great potential for manufacturers to sell these products to consumers, with 54 percent of consumers saying word-of-mouth is the largest consumer factor.

It is now up to manufacturers to make affordable, easy-to-use solutions, along with creating proper security protocols to keep customers safe. Constant connectivity could be a great asset, but not if customer data and privacy are at risk.

"This survey highlights that IoT is moving towards mass adoption, but that industry leaders must make their connected home solutions intuitive, simple and cost-effective to put into play," said Nate Williams, CMO of Greenwave Systems, in a press release. "Consumers don't really care how they manage their smart devices, but they want a frictionless experience - ideally with a solution that someone else installs for free - that saves them money and improves their quality of life over the long-term."

If you're looking for an excuse to bludge your way through the new working year, you just cannot wait until the launch of the new Star Wars film or you're a big space fanatic - NASA has just released their new "NASA's Eyes" application - created by NASA themselves, allowing users to explore the galaxy and view information collected by Kepler, Hubble and Spitzer.

If download sizes are a concern, the whole package amounts only to 28.5mb, also including self-updating capabilities the ensure you're always kept up-to-date with the latest findings and information.

NASA also provide a bunch of video tutorials to get you going, alongside a handy "demo" mode - which sets out to rescue any idle PC by zooming between Earth, satellites, telescopes and the Kepler stars.

Intel has given Vuzix a $24.8 million investment, as the hardware manufacturer wants to help Vuzix possibly create fashion-based wearable glasses. Vuzix will use the Intel cash investment to accelerate fashion-based wearable display products directly to the consumer market, as Google Glass seemingly fell flat.

Intel missed the boat on smartphones and tablets, but is interested in making sure it has a major presence in the wearables market. The Silicon Valley company has already created a partnership with Opening Ceremony to create a wearable smart bracelet, catering to a higher-end market.

Meanwhile, Vuzix has had success in wearable development - and the enterprise market seems most appealing to manufacturers - but with Google Glass unable to appeal to most consumers, Vuzix has a unique opportunity to use Intel's investment to invade the market.

Sony Pictures received a lot of public criticism, from the Obama Administration and the public, for its decision to pull "The Interview" from theaters ahead of its Christmas release. The company decided to push ahead and release the movie in a smaller number of theaters, while heavily pushing online rentals and sales.

There are now questions as to whether movie studios should begin offering movies directly to the Internet from day one - while also screening movies in theaters. It's not going to be an overnight change, as movie theaters still help produce increased revenue per viewer than online rentals or sales, industry figures indicate. However, this could help spur interest in movies from viewers that otherwise wouldn't go through the trouble of seeing a movie in theater.

"The floodgates are now open for digital distribution," said Roger Kay, technology analyst and founder of Endpoint Technologies Associates, in a statement published by the San Francisco Chronicle. "Yes, these were special circumstances, but they allowed the world to see there's no reason not to stream on day one. I think it will change movie distribution ever."

CES 2015 - If you're still searching for a GeForce GTX 970 card, Zotac will be showing their new AMP! Extreme and AMP! Edition models in Las Vegas very soon at CES 2015.

Quoted as "designed for enthusiast gamers" in their recent press release, these two new graphics additions to the Zotac family will be focused around extended features and performance capabilities.

ZOTAC will be displaying these cards in an SLI configuration, showcasing their stellar 4K gaming capabilities to the public. One system each will be displaying their AMP! Edition and AMP! Extreme Edition cards.

Acer are looking to please the gamer with their recently announced release of the XB270HU and XG270HU gaming monitors.

Their XB270HU model is claimed as the world's first NVIDIA G-SYNC gaming monitor equipped with IPS technology, with Acer's XG270HU being quoted as "the world's first gaming monitor with an edge-to-edge frameless display" as according to their newly issued press release.

Both of these models feature WQHD, 2560 x 1440 resolution coupled with a speedy 144hz refresh rate - said to massively improve and enhance in-game performance and feel. The XB270HU will provide a large 178-degree viewing angle all held up by its multi-functional ErgoStand - enabling the user to tilt, swivel and adjust the screen to their optimal position.