expected to spend more than $680 billion, but what if you have no idea what to get joining us now is dan ackerman from cnet to talk about every tech budget. thanks for being here. >> thanks for having me. >> you have the google home mini and the amazon dot. >> they are excellent devices. they're both about $29 from $50. >> $29 that's crazy. >> you can add them on to the existing echo or google devices. >> they work the same way. if i say alexia, what's the weather. >> you can say alexia to the dot or, hey, google, what's the weather. >> so you've got one of these devices. you say both of them are great i can't believe the price point. what about the smart plug? >> it's a t.p. smart plug. these little pugs get smart home into your house. you give it a name turn on this or turn on this i hook up the christmas tree lights and i say, alexia, turn on the switch and i tuf tree an on the switch and it turns on the tree these are sound bug earplugs these are perfectly good for $55. you're not going to worry about losing them or leaving them behind >> what is this? >> roku. if you want smart tv stuff, ama

joining us right now is dan ackerman from cnet to tell us about the very best tech gifts for every budgete today. >> glad to be here. >> if i'm on a budget there are a couple of hot new things that are out there. the echo dot.gle home mini and which one's better? >> they're actually very, very similar devices. they give you answers to questions. they'll tell you the weather. they control smart home stuff. and they're both $29 now, down from 50. >> that's crazy. >> you can add them on to, you know, the existing echo or google home that you have or th just be stand-alone devices p. >> they work the same way where you can say alexa what's the weather? >> you say alexa what's the dot. the other one you say okay google or hey google. >> hey google what's the weather? okay. so you've got one of these devices. you say both of them are great. i can't believe the price point. what about a smart plug? what does it do? >> that's a tp link smart plug. and it works with these other devices. these little pucks are just kind of troej. horse that's get smart things into your house. i hooked this up to my

as snow continues to fall, the met office has issued an number whether morning made dan ackerman forhe east of england and wales. passengers are burning and other airports have been warned about delays and cancellations. 20 flights have been cancelled from sta nsted. flying over wales it could be a scene from the snowman, a thick coating of white across the mountings and lakes. for these children in the peak district, finally a chance to play in a winter wonderland. i like it because where we live we never get snow, it is just sweet. i like snow because you can make si'iow i like snow because you can make snow angels and snowmen and i find it really fun to do. for many it is a time forfun and enjoyment, but with more snow on the way, more disruption is inevitable. joining us arejessica parker in gerrards cross in buckinghamshire and matthew richards in llangollen in denbighshire in wales. to you first, jessica. the traffic moving behind you but pretty slowly? yes, as you can see the m25 clockwise is moving pretty slowly but it was at a complete standstill and hour and a half ago. we

dan ackerman is a section editor at cnet. great to have you athee. this is confusing. explain how this all went down.. what apple did was come up with an unreasonable solution to a problem that's not easy to fix. batteries that we r everythi, older, they can't give out the energy at the sam when you have apps on your phones that want to do people f on their older phones, the onat hpened to me with my iphone 6 plus. they had aof. most are detaermed by the updates, that saide' going to tune up these they're trying to make the battery last interesting. this did make me think when i read this story, when you blackberry, you'd take the battery out yourself and put a new one in. with the iphone,todo. you actually have to go into the store and have it done for you. your battery life more easier -- easily on your iphone. explain that. >> yes. they're not going to change what the software update did in slowing yourne battery life but they're going to add something to the software you monitor it and give you more information, transparency of how much space you why i think peo mo

dan ackerman is a section editor at cnet. great to have you at the table. this is confusing. explain how this all went down. >> it's a complicated issue. what apple did was come up with an entirely not unreasonable solution to a problem that's not easy to fix. that's batteries that we use for everything, as they get older, they can't give out the energy at the same peak levels. when you have apps on your phones that want to do on their older phones, the phones would shut down. that happened to me with my iphone 6 plus. they had a software update. most are detaermed by the updates, that said we're going to tune up these peaks. they're trying to make the battery last longer. >> it's interesting. this did make me think when i read this story, when you had a blackberry, you'd take the battery out yourself and put a new one in. with the iphone, it's not easy to do. you actually have to go into the store and have it done for you. apple is now saying they're going to allow you to follow your battery life more easier -- easily on your iphone. explain that. >> yes. they're not going t

dan ackerman is a section eder to at our partner c-net. great to have you back with us at the table. apple is apologizing but not for what some of its users are accusing it of doing. explain how this all went down. >> it's a complicated issue. what apple did was come up with a not entirely unreasonable solution to a problem that's not very easy to fix. that's the batteries that we use in everything, as they get older, they don't hold as much charge and they also can't give out energy at the same peak levels. when you have newer apps on phones that really want to do impressive stuff, they need a lot of energy and people found on their older phone, sometimes not only was the battery life not as long, the phones would just shut down. i found that happen to me with my iphone 6-plus. they had a software update because so many things are determined by software updates that come after you buy the original device. that said we're going to smooth out some of those peaks, do some power management to say the phone can't give out as much energy to the

dan rather, thank you both. >>> and next, was james comey making the case for obstruction for robert mueller today? former watergate prosecutor nick ackerman and matt miller join me after this two-minute break. >>> i hope this is the president speaking, i hope you could see your way clear to letting this go, to letting flynn go. he is a good guy. i hope you can let this go. he did not direct you to let it go. >> not in his words, no. >> do you know of any case where a person has been charged for obstruction of justice or for that matter any other criminal offense where they said or thought they hoped for an out come. >> i don't know well enough to answer. and the reason i keep saying his words is i took it as a direction. it is the president of the united states with me alone saying i hope this -- i took it as this is what he wants me to do. >> former fbi director james comey making it clear, thoh he was careful not to make it colicit he h thinks there is evidence the president committed obstruction of justice. when he cornered comey in february and asked him to drop the investigation into michael flynn. >> i really -- a really significant