If you wanted to see the future of electronic gadgetry, the place to be was last week's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. It turned into a bit of a Google-fest with the launch of its new online video-on-demand service. Then we had the new Google Pack, a package of consumer-oriented software applications supplied and updated via Google seems to be a direct challenge to Microsoft. They have even persuaded Motorola to put a Google button on some mobile phones!
It's impossible to take it all in, but CNN did helpfully pick out five of the more unusual new products on show this year.
Celestron's SkyScout is for techno-astronomers. It resembles a pair of binoculars, but with only one viewing lens. On the side is an LCD display to access the GPS and other clever stuff inside. Basically, point it at the sky and it tells you what you're looking at and can direct you to any specific star or planet with a series of arrows inside the lenses. For example, if you want to know where Mars is in the sky, just hold it up, and follow the red arrows that blink as you move the SkyScout across the horizon!
The iRobot Roomba robot-vacuum cleaner was launched in late 2002. Using a series of sensors, the Roomba can clean your carpets while navigating around any furniture or walls. This year the company showcased the Scooba, a unit about the size of a set of bathroom scales that can scrub, wash and dry floors and carpets. Apparently it can suck in loose dirt on the floor, clean with brushes that spin about 1400 rpm, and then suck away the remaining cleaning solution. It will take about 45 minutes to clean a 200-square foot room, depending on what's in the way without any help from an operator! The good thing is it's battery-operated, so maybe this gadget will find its way over to Europe. At $399 its going to sell like hot cakes.
The eMagin X800 3D visor uses OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) displays and a few carefully placed lenses to give the viewer the impression of watching a 105-inch screen from about 12 feet away! At $799 it's going to be cheaper than a giant plasma TV, and of course it's portable.
Sling Media launched its Slingbox last year, a neat silver box that enables you to watch TV or video on any Internet-connected, Windows-based PC or laptop. This very clever device works by letting you 'broadcast' an audio/video signal ' via your high-speed Internet connection ' and watch the result on a PC or laptop. You can watch that feed on any computer running the Slingbox software, anywhere in the world. This year they will be adding a mobile component to the Slingbox so that any wireless-enabled Windows Mobile Smartphone or handheld will soon be able to see live or taped TV shows on the go. Clearly it will be a US-based service, but it will reinforce the status the mobile phone as the natural viewing platform for mobile video.
Battery life is the number one problem with most mobile electronic gadgets. Maybe the MFuel Universal Power Bank will be the solution. It's a little larger than a DVD case and uses Lithium-Ion power to run virtually anything with a battery, getting its power from your laptop or other charger. It comes with a huge array of adaptors so chances are you can plug it into virtually every battery-hungry gadget you have. Pricey, maybe, at $299. The company makes several other products too, including one called a Turbo Charge that needs only one "AA" battery to give you up to 2 hours of talk time on your mobile phone.
Nigel Harris
Executive Peripherals Editor
