WELCOME TO OUR CES 2021 liveblog! The WIRED crew isn’t in Las Vegas this year; the show was moved online due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. But even a global health emergency can’t stop the march of consumer technology. There are still plenty of gadgets, apps, electric vehicles, smart-home appliances, brain-training headsets, and Alexa-powered workout gear to tell you about. This liveblog is the place where we’ll report all of our findings. We’ll have videos, photos, written dispatches, and of course, more than a few lulz.
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This App Lets You Scan Your Skin for Trouble Areas
Miiskin app
Photograph: MiiskinEver spotted a freckle and wondered where it came from? The Miiskin app makes tracking those easy, so you won’t have to think about if a birthmark has grown or changed color—something that can potentially be a sign of skin cancer. While the app itself isn’t new, the company debuted a new feature, Automatic Skin Imaging, which helps you take full body photos while it scans for freckles, moles, and other skin lesions. It’s somewhat similar to getting a body scan at a dermatologist’s office and particularly helpful for places you can’t see, like your back. Just prop your phone up, and the app will walk you through the process.
It isn’t meant to be a replacement for a dermatologist, but as a way to bring changes to them to get checked, and an assurance that nothing goes unnoticed. However, it could be incredibly helpful for anyone who can’t afford yearly visits.
The Automatic Skin Imaging feature is available on the app now, and a new mole sizing feature, which measures freckles and moles in comparison to something like a quarter so you can keep track of it, should be released this spring.
The company says that all data and images that you take on the Miiskin app are encrypted and no other app can access these images, which could be you in your underwear since that’s the only way to really see if anything new has popped up. You’ll also be able to blur any parts of the photo you’d like, and you could intentionally keep your face out of frame. The company is also HIPAA compliant.
You can download the Miiskin app here.
—Medea Giordano
Fossil Has New Smartwatches, Sorta
The Fossil Group, which includes watches from a variety of fashion brands like Skagen and Michael Kors, has a slew of smartwatch announcements. Unfortunately, there’s nothing here that’s drastically different from last year’s offerings.