CES Gadget Show: Toilet paper robot and tracking the elderly

A robot that can fetch toilet paper when you're stranded on the loo and services to keep track of the elderly from afar were among the technologies showcased this week at the annual CES gadget show in Las Vegas.

The annual technology conference is the place for big brands and startups alike to unveil their products and services for the coming year, though larger companies such as Apple, Google and Microsoft typically hold their own announcement events. Streaming services and surveillance technologies are among the hot topics. The show formally opens Tuesday following two days of media previews.

Here are some highlights:

The Alarm.com water management smart water valve is shown here with the app at the CES Unveiled media preview event, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2020, in Las Vegas. (AP PhotoRoss D. Franklin)

ROBOT FOR THE LOO

Charmin wants to solve a familiar feeling: being stranded on the toilet with an empty toilet paper roll.

Its solution: a two-wheeled robot that can fetch a fresh roll. The robot, around 6-inches tall, has the face of a bear — like the cartoon ones in Charmin’s commercials — and toilet paper sitting on top.

The CarePredict Tempo Series 3 appears on display at the CarePredict booth during CES Unveiled before CES International, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2020, in Las Vegas. The wearable device for seniors detects changes in the senior's activity and can alert caregivers and family via an app. (AP PhotoJohn Locher)

But don’t expect it to roll to your bathroom anytime soon. Procter & Gamble, the company that owns Charmin, said the robot won’t be for sale and was just an example of what’s possible.

“Car companies have concept cars, but P&G has concept bathrooms,” said Marc Pritchard, who oversees Procter & Gamble’s brands.

The company didn’t have a working robot available at a press conference Sunday, though executives say one will be demonstrated when the show floor opens Tuesday.

The CarePredict Tempo Series 3 appears on display at the CarePredict booth during CES Unveiled before CES International, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2020, in Las Vegas. The wearable device for seniors detects changes in the senior's activity and can alert caregivers and family via an app. (AP PhotoJohn Locher)

SENSING WATER LEAKS

New sensors promise to stop water leaks before they ruin your home.

Monitors from Alarm.com and Flo Technologies connect to homes’ water lines and track usage. If the systems sense more water than usual is flowing through the pipes, they send an alert through their apps — after all, it could just be a long shower. But if something really seems off kilter, the monitors will automatically shut off water.

The app for the CarePredict Tempo Series 3 appears on display at the CarePredict booth during CES Unveiled before CES International, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2020, in Las Vegas. The wearable device for seniors detects changes in the senior's activity and can alert caregivers and family. (AP PhotoJohn Locher)

Flo used CES to launch its newest sensor, a raindrop-shaped device that looks like a smoke alarm and can detect any water or moisture when attached to toilets, washers or other leak-prone areas. Each detector costs $50.

Another option, Phyn, makes a $299 device that hooks up to the pipes under a sink and measures changes in water pressure.

TRACKING THE ELDERLY

What are your grandparents up to? Startups are pitching a way to keep an eye on the elderly from afar.

The new sensors can tell if a loved one has moved around and eaten — for instance, by detecting when the fridge is opened.

The efforts come as the U.S. government expects adults over 65 to outnumber children for the first time by 2034.

“We want to enable loved ones to live on their own,” said Ryan Herd, founder of Caregiver Smart Solutions.

Caregiver's sensors tracks the elderly through motion detection, though the product can also tell if someone has showered by measuring humidity. Another company, CarePredict, has a wrist-worn device that can detect falls and alert caregivers. It also tracks how much the person has moved around and what rooms they’re spending most of their time in.

Tracking isn't cheap. CarePredict's device, for instance, costs $450, plus a $70 monthly fee.

Neither company uses cameras, so you'll need something else if you want to peer into your grandparents' homes. Just keep in mind that if you can check video on an app, so might a skilled hacker.

GADGETS FOR YOUR EAR

Nearly 67 million wireless earbuds are expected to be sold this year, according to projections by organizers of this week's CES gadget show in Las Vegas. That’s up 35% from 2019, making it one of the fastest-growing categories in consumer tech.

According to the organizers, the Consumer Technology Association, much of the growth will come from Apple’s AirPods and Samsung’s Galaxy Buds, both of which play music and take calls without any wires. But others are vying for your ear canal, too. Amazon started selling its own buds late last year, and Microsoft plans to have one in 2020.

Also popular: smartwatches, fitness trackers and other devices that track and monitor your health. The CTA expects 64 million health devices to be sold this year, the first time the group has counted the category.

Smartphones and TVs will see slower growth. Both are expected to rise just 2%.

Overall, revenue in the U.S. consumer tech industry is expected to grow 4% to $422 billion, the CTA said. But the group warned that its numbers could change significantly if the trade war with China escalates or if tariffs are expanded. Much of the world's electronics are put together in China, and the CTA has said that steeper tariffs could hurt the industry by making gadgets more expensive for consumers.

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A Ukrainian drone strike killed one person and wounded three others in the Russian city of Voronezh, local officials said Sunday.

A young woman died overnight in a hospital intensive care unit after debris from a drone fell on a house during the attack on Saturday, regional Gov. Alexander Gusev said on Telegram.

Three other people were wounded and more than 10 apartment buildings, private houses and a high school were damaged, he said, adding that air defenses shot down 17 drones over Voronezh. The city is home to just over 1 million people and lies some 250 kilometers (155 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

The attack came after Russia bombarded Ukraine with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles overnight into Friday, killing at least four people in the capital Kyiv, according to Ukrainian officials. For only the second time in the nearly four-year war, Russia used a powerful new hypersonic missile that struck western Ukraine in a clear warning to Kyiv and NATO.

Ukraine’s largest private energy supplier, DTEK, said Sunday that 30,000 people in Kyiv were still without power following the attack. Mayor Vitali Klitschko said around half the apartment buildings — nearly 6,000 — in snowy Kyiv were left without heat in daytime temperatures of about minus 8 degrees Celsius (17.6 Fahrenheit).

The intense barrage and the launch of the nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile followed reports of major progress in talks between Ukraine and its allies on how to defend the country from further aggression by Moscow if a U.S.-led peace deal is struck.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday in his nightly address that Ukrainian negotiators “continue to communicate with the American side.”

Chief negotiator Rustem Umerov was in contact with U.S. partners on Saturday, he said.

Separately, Ukraine’s General Staff said Russia targeted Ukraine with 154 drones overnight into Sunday and 125 were shot down.

The Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s main intelligence directorate said Sunday that Russia this month deployed the new jet-powered “Geran-5” strike drone against Ukraine for the first time. The Geran is a Russian variant of the Iranian-designed Shahed.

According to the directorate, the drone can carry a 90-kilogram (200-pound) warhead and has a range of nearly 1,000 kilometers (620 miles).

Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

This photo provided by the Ukrainian Security Service on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, shows a fragment believed to be a part of a Russian Oreshnik intermediate range hypersonic ballistic missile that hit the Lviv region. (Ukrainian Security Service via AP)

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, second left, listens to British Defense Secretary John Healey during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Danylo Antoniuk)