As 
carmakers and consumer electronics companies find new ways to connect drivers to their gadgets, the National Transportation Safety Board is renewing a call to remove devices that do not relate to the actual practice of driving.
The agency listed distracted driving — which covers everything from cell phones to in-dash entertainment systems and other hands-free devices — on its 2013 “Most Wanted” list, which identifies the year’s biggest transportation challenges.
The 
looming public launch of Redbox Instant by Verizon appears to be an escalation of the war between Redbox and Netflix. But the streaming service plans to focus on movies, rather than a catalog of TV shows, which could put the companies on parallel paths.
“Movies are the core business of Redbox,” said Redbox CEO Shawn Strickland at CES. “TV is increasingly becoming available via multiple sources, and while there is valuable content there, and our strategy could evolve, we didn’t see there was a clear offering to come out around television.”
After 
spending much of the past year educating consumers on the merits of UltraViolet, Hollywood is ready for the digital locker service to go mainstream in 2013.
Launched by a consortium of more than 70 major entertainment players, hardware manufacturers and retailers in late 2011, UltraViolet was designed to serve as a convenient way for people to store their purchased movies, TV shows and other forms of entertainment online so they could be played using various devices without worrying about formats.
OLED TVs have been touted as the next big thing in television for the past six years, when Sony rolled out the first prototype — an 11-inch set that sold for $2,500. To date, though, the organic light-emitting diode TVs have failed to materialize on a large-scale basis. But the technology’s time may finally have come.
That seemed the case in 2012, when LG and Samsung both had OLED sets prominently on display at CES to wide acclaim (LG’s 55-inch OLED won CNET’s coveted Best of CES award, with Samsung taking a very close second place).
While music streaming service Spotify commands the spotlight for its growth over the years, a giant looms in its shadow: Sony.
As Sony rebrands its online offerings, Sony Network Entertainment could prove an important platform for delivering music to consumers through a host of devices.
With 
high-definition flat screens now firmly entrenched in living rooms and bedrooms around the globe, the world’s television manufacturers are already looking for the next big thing.
3D, so far, hasn’t really engaged consumers. Oled sets have been stuck in neutral for a few years and recent reports indicate there have manufacturing problems for Amoled TV screens. The same reports say LG and Samsung are shifting their focus from Amoled to 4K LED, but 4K is just making its debut. Will any of those technologies be the game changer the industry wants? What else can we expect to see in the coming years?
Paramount 
Pictures is going mobile as it ramps up promotion on “Star Trek Into Darkness.”
The studio is teaming with Qualcomm to launch an app at the end of January that will let fans unlock nuggets of information about the film in the months leading up to its May 17 release, with the first info drop occurring during the Super Bowl.
Qualcomm 
CEO Dr. Paul Jacobs faced a big challenge when he accepted the opening keynote position at CES this year. To date, only two people had taken the stage — Bill Gates and Steve Jobs.
So Jacobs brought an eclectic group of bold-faced names to help him out, including Big Bird, helmer Guillermo del Toro, “Star Trek Into Darkness'” Alice Eve, NASCAR champ Brad Keselowski, Maroon 5, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer in a move meant to serve as a ceremonial passing of the torch.
While 
the remote control is certainly a big step up from the days of manually changing the channel, the technology is starting to feel a bit dated.
Today’s televisions are like patients in a hospital, hooked up to several devices feeding them content, each with its own remote, which can get confusing real fast. Universal remotes can only do so much — and some people find them too complicated to program.
The 
transition of videogame consoles into something more than just game machines started in 2000. Sony, in one of its most prescient moves, included a DVD player in the PlayStation 2 — at a time when the technology was still relatively new and expensive. And consumers couldn’t buy the system fast enough.
The speed of consoles’ evolution has increased dramatically in this generation, and the dawn (and explosion) of streaming media has been a large part of that. As Nintendo launches its next generation system — and Microsoft and Sony prepare for theirs, non-gaming elements are shaping up to be a critical part of the landscape.
Chris Morris: Journalist 