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In a small but very significant way Apple is trying to change China. It's a step perhaps no one else could make, and it's rather complicated.

If 2012's CES gadget fest has a theme already it's "thin, thinner, thinnest." But in the endless quest for skinny devices, what gets left out?

A streamlined packing list that won't sacrifice your ability to get things done on the road.

This and more important news from your Fast Company editors, with updates all day. Apotheker Replaced By Whitman At HP . Late yesterday, HP's board took a controversial decision and ousted its CEO Leo Apotheker after just 11 months in the role

Want to wake up to something besides murderous rage at a blaring klaxon? These alarms use people, podcasts, and science to help you rise without raising your ire. If you own a smartphone, it's easy to gaze at an old-fashioned, single-purpose alarm clocks and conclude it doesn't do nearly enough.

Can't keep track of where you leave things around the house? Need a little distance from your home life? Check out these gadgets, essential for every home office

What items can't you live without on the road? Inc. asked readers what technology and comforts they can't live without when crossing the country for business travel.

Strange but true: A vigorous foot massage is one of the simplest short-term solutions to jet lag. And since no one wants to fit yet another gadget in their carry-on, we'jre going low-tech with our choice of the Soothera wooden ball foot massager. The real bonus here is the set of slippers that come with it, which contain within their lining thousands of thermal gel beads that can be heated or chilled, depending on whether one wants to reduce swelling or increase circulation after a long flight

Netflix and Hulu should probably be paying attention. HBO's lone-cowboy strategy might be brilliant. HBO Go , the app from HBO that gives streaming access to 1,400 titles (including the big ones--The Sopranos, True Blood, and so on) hit 1 million downloads in just a week

Xobni, which makes a free Microsoft Outlook plug-in that helps you manage your inbox, has launched the Xobni Gadget Store . If you already have Xobni installed, you can visit the store and download “gadgets” from a variety of services, including Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

A real-life version of the tracking devices seen on detective shows, the Garmin GTU 10 lets you keep tabs on prized possessions. The waterproof GPS transmitter, which is roughly the size of a cigarette lighter and weighs 1.7 ounces, comes with a case, a carabiner ring, and an adhesive strip for attaching it to objects—a briefcase, say, or a dog collar

Call it the comeback car.

Earlier this month, we looked at the X-Ar, an exoskeletal support that attaches to the arm and shoulders, allowing users to keep their X-Ar-attached arms outstretched for hours on end. Now we have video of the gadget in action. The device, manufactured by Equipois, could prove invaluable to anyone who works with their arms all day--think surgeons, jewelers, and factory workers