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Blighty’s slate grey skies may soon be peppered with DroneCops, after it was revealed by The Times that drones have been given the go ahead for “high-risk” criminal investigations by UK police.

More than a quarter of the 43 police forces in England and Wales are mulling whether to bring in drones to help them tackle burglaries and sieges, according to a report in the The Times—which was briefed on the plans.

However, the quadcopters could also be used by cops to, for example, allow them to eyeball protesters, in a move that is likely to raise concern among privacy campaigners.

SAN LEANDRO, Calif.—All I knew was that somebody called in a local disturbance—a local barbecue had apparently gotten a little too loud. I tapped twice to activate my body-worn camera, which hung from the middle of my chest. I listened for the beep to indicate that it was recording and started walking.

A moment later, I was face-to-face with a man who seemingly would not shut up.

"Hello, how are you sir?" I said, trying to be authoritative, friendly, and cop-like.

Video by Jennifer Hahn (video link)

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.—We arrived at an imposing building that stood apart from its boring office park neighbors. While other structures looked to be housing pencil-pushers, this exterior had a three-story image of a police officer looming over all visitors. Even the entrance to the building was something else entirely—it featured a spaceship-like metallic circle with a projected logo on the floor. The receptionist buzzed us via an iPad. It was clear this wasn't the normal nine-to-five.

With all the recent excitement about upcoming virtual reality headsets, many observers have still worried about a pretty basic problem: the inability to see the world around you when your eyes are encased in a vision-blocking headset. A new prototype of the SteamVR-powered HTC Vive being shown at CES this week aims to solve that problem with a forward-facing camera that can integrate views of your surroundings with virtual reality scenes.

The HTC Vive Pre, the second dev kit offered by the company, will be used by many developers working on software before the planned rollout of the consumer version in April (after a recent delay from "2015"). While the Pre isn't representative of final hardware, it seems much closer to a complete consumer device than the rough prototypes we first saw last March, which featured lots of exposed wiring and clunky design touches.

The biggest new feature on the Pre is the front-facing camera, the main purpose of which seems to be the ability to orient yourself in the real world without having to briefly lift up the headset to have a look around. A hands-on look from The Verge describes how the external real-world view turns on automatically when you reach the edge of the system's tracking volume, offering a faint black-and-teal view of your surroundings that lets you see objects and patterns like walls. You can replace the VR world with a full view of your surroundings in "chaperone mode."

We liked the Broadwell version of HP's Spectre x360 last year. As it makes its Skylake refresh, HP is also expanding the range.

The 13-inch laptop is picking up a 15.6-inch big brother. It's the same style of machine—a thin-and-light laptop with a 360° hinge, only larger. It includes a 3840×2160 screen option, and to drive all those pixels, Intel Iris graphics are also available. It also includes a hefty 64.5Wh battery while only weighing in at around 4lb. As with other Skylake systems, the 15.6-inch Spectre can have up to 16GB of RAM. Prices will start at $1,149 when it goes on sale in February.

Just as Lenovo announced on Sunday, HP has also revealed an OLED screen variant of the 13-inch Spectre x360. The 2560×1440 system will be available in spring, with no price information yet available. In addition to the typical OLED benefits of deeper blacks and wider color gamut, the OLED screen will also make the laptop slightly thinner and 50 grams lighter.

Fitness tech continues to have a strong presence at CES 2106, with some bigger names now jumping into the hardware field. Today, Under Armour revealed its partnership with HTC in the form of HealthBox, a fitness tracker, smart scale, and heart-rate chest-strap bundle that work together to connect with the revised Record app. Neither company is a stranger to fitness tech, but this is a first-time collaboration for them and the first connected devices from Under Armour in a long time.

HealthBox tries to take the guesswork out of creating a connected fitness ecosystem that’s easy to set up and use. The $400 box includes the UA Band, which rose from the ashes of the HTC Grip that was unceremoniously cut from the company's product line; the UA Scale, which monitors weight and body fat percentage to lead you towards a new goal weight; and the UA Heart Rate strap, which appears to be just like any other Bluetooth-connected chest strap that tracks pulse, heart rate zones, and workout intensity.

This is the most visible manifestation of Under Armour's connected fitness endeavors to date. Ever since the company purchased MyFitnessPal, MapMyRun, and Endomondo, Under Armour is looking to be a presence of the fitness tech world. All of the aforementioned apps can be connected to most popular fitness trackers including Fitbit devices, so you may not be aware of Under Armour's presence initially, but it's there. Now with HealthBox, users have the option to go all-in with Under Armour and its community of athletes.