On CE - For Dealers, Distributors and OEMs of Consumer Electronics throughout EMEA

The MousePad+ is a fancy-looking wool fibre mouse pad with an interesting addition-- a built-in wireless charging pad complete with Quick Charge 2.0 fast charging support.

Developed by New York-based design studio Takieso Graft Design, the MousePad+ has a felt base with wool fibre on top for the portion housing the mouse. Meanwhile the wireless charger is clad in brown, black or blue leather and is portable, since users can simply wrap the mouse pad around it before tying the bundle with the included USB cable.

Misfit starts shipping the Path-- a hybrid of analog and smart watch featuring the slimmest design from the company yet, with stainless steel construction and interchangeable silicon straps.

The Path lacks a touchscreen, since the 38mm watchface looks like that of a traditional timepiece. However it does carry a number of smart features, since it pairs with a companion smartphone app via Bluetooth to track steps, calories burned, distances traveled and sleep duration. The case is water resistant up to 50m, allowing it to track the wearer while swimming.

The resurgence of vinyl records is still going strong, and Austria-based startup Rebeat Innovation is looking to improve on the venerable technology through the introduction of "high definition vinyl."

As Pitchfork reports, Rebeat recently received $4.8 million in funding for the initiative. Based on a patent first filed back in 2016, HD vinyl involves converting audio into a 3D topographic map, before etching said map on the vinyl via laser. The result, according to Rebeat," is LPs with up to 30% more playing time, 30% more amplitude and "overall more faithful sound reproduction."

b8ta, the US CE retail startup by former Nest employees, promises to make opening brick-and-mortar stores easier with "Built by b8ta"-- a software solution promising to bring about the store-as-a-service.

The startup opened a first 130-square-metre space located in Palo Alto, California, in 2015. It allowed customers to check out devices on a hands-on basis, with employees demoing products such as drones, security cameras and VR headsets. Fast forward to 2018, and b8ta now has 79 outlets, including shop-in-shops. It also claims to have "the process of opening stores down to a science, from financing to real estate to construction and staffing and beyond."