CES 2018: The Best of Pepcom With LaCie, Zagg, August, Ring and More

At CES, there are several major media events like Unveiled, Pepcom, and ShowStoppers, which often serve as a way to see the highlights of the best products on display at the show without having to brave the show floor.

Pepcom took place last night, and MacRumors videographer Dan was on hand to seek out some of the most interesting products and accessories that were being demoed.


Unsurprisingly, Pepcom, like Unveiled, was filled with smart home products featuring Alexa, Google Assistant, and HomeKit support, but the focus was definitely on the former two integrations rather than Apple's smart home system.

Ring was showing off its newly announced recent devices, including the Stick Up Cam and the Ring Beams, outdoor lights with motion sensing that integrate with existing Ring security cameras and doorbells. Though many would like Ring to introduce HomeKit support, the company has not done so.

Noon had a neat smart lighting system with light switches that feature integrated OLED displays. Noon's system is designed to work with traditional bulbs because it replaces standard light switches, but it's pricey and doesn't include HomeKit support.

There were multiple smart locks on display, including the August Smart Lock and a smart lock from Yale, both of which do, in fact, have HomeKit support and work with your HomeKit setup.

Other products on display at Pepcom that were of interest included Zagg's new iPad Pro cases that combine keyboards with rugged protection, the Alexa-enabled Voice One from KitSound, and the Lightning-equipped LaCie hard drive created in partnership with DJI. LaCie and parent company Seagate have several other new storage solutions debuting at CES, which are listed on the Seagate website.

LaCie's hard drive is designed to allow you to automatically back up drone footage, and it can be controlled and accessed using the DJI app, but it also works with other non-DJI cameras and products.

Make sure to stay tuned to MacRumors for additional CES coverage, because there's a lot more to come with the show floor officially opening up this morning. We're highlighting all of the new products and accessories relevant to Apple users. To check out what we've shared so far, take a look at our CES 2018 hub.

Popular Stories

Apple Logo Spotlight

Report: Apple to Launch These New Products in 2026

Sunday November 2, 2025 5:34 am PST by
Apple is planning to launch at least 15 new products in 2026, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman outlined what to expect from Apple in 2026 in the latest edition of his "Power On" newsletter. He said the company is heading "into one of its most pivotal years in recent memory," with the rollout of major new Apple Intelligence features, intense regulatory pressure on the App Store,...
iOS 26

Apple Releases iOS 26.1 With Liquid Glass Toggle, Slide to Stop Alarm, New Apple Intelligence Languages and More

Monday November 3, 2025 1:11 pm PST by
Apple today released iOS 26.1, the first major update to the iOS 26 operating system that came out in September, iOS 26.1 comes over a month after iOS 26 launched. ‌iOS 26‌.1 is compatible with the ‌iPhone‌ 11 series and later, as well as the second-generation ‌iPhone‌ SE. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones over-the-air by going to Settings > General >...
iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Available Now With These 8 New Features

Monday November 3, 2025 5:54 am PST by
Following more than a month of beta testing, Apple released iOS 26.1 on Monday, November 3. The update includes a handful of new features and changes, including the ability to adjust the look of Liquid Glass and more. Below, we outline iOS 26.1's key new features. Liquid Glass Toggle iOS 26.1 lets you choose your preferred look for Liquid Glass. In the Settings app, under Display...
Finder Siri Feature

Apple's New Siri Will Be Powered By Google Gemini

Wednesday November 5, 2025 11:57 am PST by
The smarter, more capable version of Siri that Apple is developing will be powered by Google Gemini, reports Bloomberg. Apple will pay Google approximately $1 billion per year for a 1.2 trillion parameter artificial intelligence model that was developed by Google. For context, parameters are a measure of how a model understands and responds to queries. More parameters generally means more...
Early Black Friday Deals 2

The Best Early Black Friday Apple Deals

Sunday November 2, 2025 10:04 am PST by
We're officially in the month of Black Friday, which will take place on Friday, November 28 in 2025. As always, this will be the best time of the year to shop for great deals, including popular Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and more. In this article, the majority of the discounts will be found on Amazon. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When ...
Apple Intelligence General Feature 2

New Version of Siri to 'Lean' on Google Gemini

Sunday November 2, 2025 6:06 am PST by
In his "Power On" newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today provided an update on the status of Apple Intelligence and the plans for it in 2026. Apple is still planning to roll out its revamped version of Siri around March of next year. The release should be accompanied by the release of a new smart home display product with speaker-base and wall-mount options. A new Apple TV and HomePod...
HomePod mini and Apple TV

New Apple TV and HomePod Mini Likely Launching Soon

Sunday November 2, 2025 5:49 am PST by
A new Apple TV and HomePod mini could launch as soon as this month, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today suggested. In today's "Power On" newsletter, Gurman said that Apple retail stores are planning an overnight refresh on the evening of November 11, where changes will be made after closing, such as refreshing displays and placing new products for the following day. The timing of the overnight...

Top Rated Comments

otternonsense Avatar
102 months ago
I feel old enough to remember Steve Jobs' media event stealing the spotlight from the drab CES carousel of TVs and appliances. Good times. Look at CES 2018 ('https://twitter.com/hashtag/CES2018?src=hash') now, all jam packed with goodies while Apple has turned into a bored rich recluse that endlessly rehashes its 5 year old heyday designs. :(
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
otternonsense Avatar
102 months ago
Cnet shows that Apple’s heydays are over. What, who is Siri?
We kinda knew that before CNET turned it into a clickbait article.

Just look at each one of Apple's media events of the past years. It's like watching a TV show that's been bad for three seasons hoping this is the episode where it all turns around.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
otternonsense Avatar
102 months ago
With CNET I meant CES (autocorrection is like SIRI, most of the time it doesn’t understand)
Ah ok. Well, Apple used to trounce CES in its absence. Now it's both absent and irrelevant.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
9081094 Avatar
102 months ago
I feel old enough to remember Steve Jobs' media event stealing the spotlight from the drab CES carousel of TVs and appliances. Good times. Look at CES 2018 ('https://twitter.com/hashtag/CES2018?src=hash') now, all jam packed with goodies while Apple has turned into a bored rich recluse that endlessly rehashes its 5 year old heyday designs. :(
Cnet shows that Apple’s heydays are over. What, who is Siri?
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
9081094 Avatar
102 months ago
I spoke with Ring Tech Support yesterday and they said that the Apple Watch is only partly compatible with Ring right now but that they expect to have it fully compatible (Where you can watch video on the apple watch of what the ring camera recorded) by mid 2018.

I also asked about HomeKit support for the Ring Doorbell Pro and they told me they were excited to finally be allowed to officially announce that support would be added for Homekit this year (no specific date of course) but good to know that they are still onboard with doing that.

Just thought I would pass along the information!

EDIT: They also told me they had a mailing list for people to be notified when Homekit support would be made available so I asked to be added to that list as well. In the event some of you also would like to do this I would suggest contacting them. Otherwise I'm sure it will be pretty big news and you will hear about it pretty soon afterwards anyway.
For me I’ve got the feeling history repeats. There was a time Apple support was a no brainer. Today it’s like the mid nineties where all novelties happens on Android, Alexa first and maybe a future support for über priced Apple products where the possibilities will be crippled and minimal compared to the competition.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Chupa Chupa Avatar
102 months ago
I feel old enough to remember Steve Jobs' media event stealing the spotlight from the drab CES carousel of TVs and appliances. Good times. Look at CES 2018 ('https://twitter.com/hashtag/CES2018?src=hash') now, all jam packed with goodies while Apple has turned into a bored rich recluse that endlessly rehashes its 5 year old heyday designs. :(
You think these are "goodies"? Yes, Apple's Jan event usually offer a lot more exciting stuff than CES, but different times. Now Apple is equally boring, not flipped with CES not being exciting... unless getting notifications from your dishwasher excites you. Everything I've seen as "best of" CES so far has been a rehash of another company's product or a marginal upgrade to their existing product. For me I have stuff like it or it really doesn't interest me. Another Wi-Fi security cam or Apple Watch band. Flip a coin to which one is more cutting edge.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)