Americans' high-tech appetite is even more voracious than anticipated as sales of digital assistants, drones, VR headsets and 4K Ultra HD TVs expected to surpass forecasts. The total 2017 consumer bill for tech products -- from Amazon Echo voice-activated speakers to virtual headsets from HTC, Oculus, Samsung and Sony -- is expected to hit $321 billion, up 3.2% over 2016, according to the Consumer Technology Association's mid-year sales forecast. "Driven by consumer demand for the products we already know and love, as well as new, innovative technologies, revenue growth in the consumer technology industry is exceeding expectations," said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of CTA, which released the forecast earlier this week. Drones, OLED TVs and VR are all expected to surpass $1 billion in sales for the first time. Still, the categories grabbing the biggest share of sales remain smartphones, expected to increase 2% to $55.6 billion, laptops ($28 billion, down 1%), televisions ($18 billion, -2%), and tablets ($16 billion, -8%).