According to a survey published today by consumer group U.S. PIRG, 45 out of 50 appliance manufacturers automatically void the warranty of a device if it has undergone “unauthorized” repair. And worse, they aren’t even upfront about it: 31 of the companies surveyed discourage independent repair in the language of their warranty, but don’t explicitly disclose whether or not doing so actually voids the warranty. PIRG reached out to the customer service teams at each of these organizations and foun...

Manufacturers are really pushing the envelope to “smarten up” their products, whether or not those products actually need to be smart. And since I’m currently at CES—the largest consumer electronics trade show in the world—I’m at the heart of the world’s feverish effort to connect all of our stuff to the internet.

I kicked off my adventure last night at CES Unveiled, a media-only event where manufacturers pitched their newest gadgets and gizmos. As expected, the majority of the products were no