Smart home devices got a lot of hype in 2016, from in-home assistants like the Amazon Echo to connected and automated toilet seats. While most of these smart home devices range from under $100 to a few hundred, the Samsung "Family Hub" refrigerator, clocking in at a cool $5,999 on the high-end model, takes the prize as the most expensive smart home device of the year. Here's what that hefty price tag will get you, and why 2016 looks like just the beginning of a connected home revolution. The Samsung "family hub" refrigerator is not your typical ice box. The 21-inch touchscreen on the outside …

Safilo Group SpA, the eyewear company that makes frames for Dior, Fendi and Hugo Boss, is looking to succeed in a high-tech category where even Google has struggled: smart glasses. The Italian company is debuting a set of Internet-connected spectacles next month at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Unlike Google Glass, a product that was discontinued last year, the Safilo frames won’t have a camera or display -- they’ll just look like regular glasses.

Pokémon Go maker Niantic just launched the Apple Watch version of the popular game. As TechCrunch notes, the release follows an erroneousreport claiming that Niantic had canceled its plans to bring Pokémon Go to the Apple Watch. “The new smartwatch app lets you more easily play Pokémon without having to always pull out your phone,” TC writes.

The day after California regulators shut down Uber’s self-driving car program in San Francisco, Uber on Thursday packed up its autonomous vehicles and hauled them to Arizona, vowing to resume testing there. The move was a quick rebound by Uber after its pilot program in San Francisco fell apart after just one week. Instead of giving in to California regulators and applying for a $150 permit to test its self-driving cars on public roads, Uber on Thursday once again signaled it doesn’t need to play by its home state’s rules.

The California Department of Motor Vehicles on Wednesday revoked the registration on all 16 of the vehicles involved in Uber’s self-driving ride-hailing pilot in San Francisco, forcing the company to shut down the program. The decision follows repeated statements from the DMV warning that it would take action after Uber began the program without applying for state-mandated autonomous vehicle testing permits. Uber argued it did not need to apply for the permits because the vehicles were constantly monitored by company engineers.

It's no longer surprising to see postal services experimenting with delivering mail using drones. However, France is kicking things up a notch: its national mail service will be the first to deliver packages by drone on a regular route. DPDgroup, the express courier subsidiary of the mail service, is running a test program where a hexacopter drone (not shown here) will carry packages up to 6.6 pounds along a 9.3-mile route in France's southern Provence region. These are commercial customers using dedicated spaces to collect their orders, so you can't …

When Fraser Stirling was 16, his father asked him what he wanted to study in school. His answer: industrial design. His father, who's been an assistant principal and a soccer coach, wasn't pleased. "[He] said that was not a proper job for a man in his house," Stirling recalled in a thick Scottish accent. "He wanted me to get a job where I could actually make some money." Twenty years later, Stirling is in charge of designing products for the unlikeliest of companies: Comcast.

Virtual assistants are set to pummel virtual reality headsets in the fight for consumer dollars this holiday season, while smartwatches drive wearable sales. Drones may fly under the radar, though. Interviews with nearly two dozen analysts indicate high hopes for holiday electronics sales, but estimates of what will be the hit have changed.

Amazon infiltrated the home when no one was looking with a smart assistant loaded on some low-price hardware, and now the competition has a whole lot of catching up to do. In this last push ahead of the holidays, Google is certainly making a valiant effort. The company’s Home hub has been available at retail since October, offering the promise of a whole lot of functionality on the way. In just the week, the team has added a slew of new controls to the device. Yesterday the connected product got support for Netflix, making it possible to play a select number …

The technology will act as a personal tour guide for visitors to the zoo, providing location-specific information about the zoo, its animals and conservation work, at the touch of a button. The zoo, which claims it is the first zoo in Australia to use iBeacon technology, has developed the app with sponsorship from Beach Energy and technology partner Specialist Apps. Zoos SA tourism and digital marketing coordinator, Hayden Zammit, says visitors will download the mobile application to hear from keepers directly as they explore the zoo with interactive maps and learn about the more than 3000 animals housed at the …