Among a sea of new TVs, robovacs, and smart glasses, Yukai Engineering's Mirumi was a unique standout at CES 2025 earlier this year. The tiny robot has no practical purpose other than looking adorable and bringing a smile to people's faces by simulating an inquisitive personality. The company planned to release the companion bot sometime in mid-2025, but mere weeks before the year ends Mirumi is finally available for preorder through a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign.
We've been working on a new show for the last few months, called Version History, and the first episode is now live! It's called "Hoverboards: so hot right now," and it's an hour-long tour of the biggest rideable gadget of the 2010s. Hidden inside the history of this weird two-wheeled scooter is a crucial inflection point in Chinese tech manufacturing, some hugely influential social media stars, a referendum on self-driving cars, and so much more.