CES 2020: Smart postbox will stop thieves from stealing your parcels

It’s one of the perils on online shopping - when a delivery person leaves an item on the doorstep, which then vanishes.

But a new postbox by Canadian company Danby could make parcel theft a thing of the past, allowing postmen to deliver packages to a secure box on the doorstep and without gaining access to your house.

The Parcel Guard works in a similar way to ‘smart’ doorbells such as Nest Hello, with a motion-sensing camera and the ability for homeowners to talk to couriers via the app.

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If a customer decides that a postman should be able to access the box, they can open it remotely and the courier can drop a package into it.

The device requires a Wi-Fi and power connection, similar to smart doorbell systems.

Danby has not yet set a UK price for Parcel guard, but it costs $399 in the US.

The Ring Doorbell launched in 2014, after being rejected on American entrepreneur TV show Shark Tank, and heralded a wave of video doorbells around the world.

The CES tech trade show, which has run since 1967 and is where Danby unveiled its product, has a history of being the site of the launch of notable technology, including the DVD and HD television.

Show organisers have also highlighted that the 2020 show will see a number of "non-traditional" companies not known for their work in the tech sector appearing at the event.

World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), Impossible Foods and agricultural machinery giant John Deere are among those confirmed for CES.

CES has committed to continue working to improve diversity at the show, following criticism in recent years that its line-up of keynote speakers has failed to showcase equality.

Jean Foster, the senior vice president for marketing and communications at the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), which organises CES, said diversity was an industry-wide issue but confirmed CES had created an advisory board to help improve representation among its keynote speakers.

"We take this platform very, very seriously and we want to drive the industry forward," she told the PA news agency last year.