On this week’s all-star episode, we feature noted industry analyst Stephen Baker, Vice President for Industry Analysis at the NPD Group. He begins the conversation discussing the success of 4K (Ultra HD) TV sets during the holiday quarter. What about the advanced picture technologies, such as HDR, and what about the dearth of 4K content? The discussion will also focus on whether Samsung was hurt at all, in holiday sales, by the exploding batteries scandal that forced the company to discontinue the Galaxy Note 7 phablet. You’ll also hear some positive news about Mac sales for the holiday quarter despite the controversy over the Late 2016 MacBook Pro.

You’ll also hear from Derek Kessler, managing editor of Mobile Nations, a web portal that runs several popular tech sites. The discussion begins with the success of 4K TVs, and whether or not Samsung customers were dissuaded by the failure of the Galaxy Note 7. There will also be a preview of the expected hot ticket items at the 2017 CES in Las Vegas, which include VR gear. Is virtual reality poised to come into its own? What about the connected home — the Internet of Things — and can security issues derail its success? Gene and Derek will also talk about smartwatches. and the recent failure of Pebble, a pioneer in the market. Its assets were recently purchased by Fitbit. So are smartwatches now stillborn, or is there hope that the Apple Watch can help move the market to the point where such products become must-haves?