Gadget Geeks Unite! Consumer Electronics Show Opens
Jan. 08, 2007 — -- From iPods to digital cameras and flat-screen televisions, the average American home now contains 26 consumer electronic products and spends an average of $1,500 on them per year.
The Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas is where many of those gadgets first see the light of day. "Good Morning America" tech guru Becky Worley picked the newest products guaranteed to tempt you -- or at least make you laugh.
Jawbone Tooth Headset from Cingular
Price: $120
This headset operates similarly to a cell phone with Blue Tooth, but this touches the outside of your jaw and minimizes outside noise. All users hear is the voice they want to hear on the phone.
Walk Up Home Computer HP Touch Smart from Hewlett Packard
Price: $1,799
A classy-looking computer screen, on a stand, allows you and your family to walk up to the screen and write notes, check a calendar of events and play music. This is the high-tech version of the family with a blackboard or wall of Post-Its in the kitchen.
Wireless Digital Picture Frame from Kodak
Price: $229
A special picture frame allows you to display digital photos downloaded from a distance.
Motionsync Home Theater from D-Box
Price: $10,000
Special equipment for your furniture. Your chair will rock 'n roll as you watch action movies and TV shows at home.
Redlight Camera Detector from Cobra
Price: $449
Similar to radar detectors, red-light detectors alert you that a traffic signal has a camera that snaps photos of cars rolling through red lights.
Live TV and Internet in Your Car from Microsoft
Price: $1,995 for Internet; $2,995 for live TV
Although some cars enable drivers and passengers to use the Internet, this function allows you also to watch local television shows live while driving or parked.
Alive Elvis from WowWee
Price: $349.99
This animated singing-and-talking bust of Elvis is based on the King's 1968 comeback TV special. It is operated with a microphone-shaped remote control.
Duo Wireless Speaker Lamp Soundolier
Price: $249
Guys love surround sound, and women love living rooms that don't look like movie theaters. The Soundalier is a state-of-the-art, omnidirectional speaker hidden within a stylish floor lamp.
The Soundolier Duo solves the two most common surround speaker installation challenges -- wiring and appearance. Most existing homes have no in-wall prewiring for surround speakers, requiring home theater lovers to either pay for expensive wire runs, live with unsightly exposed wires or do without.
Conventional surround speakers can be unsightly, competing with decorations when mounted on rear walls or, when placed on stands, with end tables or reading lamps.
Golf Launchpad Electric Spin
Price: $200-$249
Golf Launchpad from Electric Spin is a unique golf simulator available on Windows, Mac and PlayStation2 platforms. Play golf at home on the world's best golf courses with unbeatable comfort and convenience. You can even tee off against competitors online. From driving to putting, you can do it all, including playing along live with tournaments that are on TV.
Sanza Express SanDisk
Price: $59
Sanza Express is an mp3 player that is competitive with the iPod Shuffle. But it's actually better: it has a screen, so you can manipulate files on the go, instead of just accepting the Shuffle's order of things. It has a USB plug as part of the player that plugs directly into your computer -- no cord to lose. It holds 250 songs and it is $20 cheaper than the Shuffle.
Digital USB Pen by EPOS
Digital pens have been around for a while, but the fact that they all require expensive special paper for note taking is enough to turn any poor ramen-fed student against them. EPOS may just have the answer to this problem by using 3D positioning to track its movements on any surface. The small receiver that comes with the pen is placed on top of the surface and wirelessly records the pen's movements, and is then plugged into the computer's USB port to download the text and drawings. Another bonus: As the name implies, the receiver doubles as a flash drive.
Wireless Digital Music System by Sonos
Sonos is the first wireless, multi-room digital music system that lets you play digital music all over your house and control it all from the palm of your hand. With a wireless Sonos controller in hand, you'll have plug-and-play access to millions of songs from music services, Internet radio and your personal digital music collection. With Sonos Soneplayers in the rooms of your choice, you can play the same song in different rooms, or different songs in different rooms.
71-inch Plasma HDTV by LG
Price: $14,999
LG Electronics has pushed the boundaries for home theatre with the announcement of a massive 71-inch high-definition (HDTV) monitor. LG repositioned its flagship 71-inch plasma full HD monitor, one of the largest plasmas available for consumer purchase, by cutting the price by 80 percent. When it was first introduced last year, it retailed for $70,000.