CES 2007: Amplify your sound with eMana

Listen to your music files on a radio, a stereo system, or your computer. eMana is a USB FM transmitter which accepts any digital storage (mp3 or otherwise) extracts the file and transmits it to your radio.  Available in five varieties: light grey, petroleum, yellow, metallic grey and metalli blue eMana allows you to share your music experience with friends and family directly. It’s operating range is 10-30 feet depending on the FM radio receiver and it is fully compatible with USB 1.1/2.0. Finally, eMana can act as a power source for your MP3 players. How’s that for multitasking?

CES 2007: Ring in the year with your iHorn

The iHorn, marketed to be “the best experience of portable sound” is just an adorable product from the Ozaki brand. The iHorn is small enough to be carted along with your other gadgets but it also serves as a great accessory for any room. Available in black, turquoise, yellow, green, red and orange the only thing that could possibly make us love this product more is the addition of pink and purple horns. Buy one or collect them all — we’re hesisitant to call them “the best” but we’ll definitely settle for the most colorful experience in cart along sound.

CES 2007: Antibacterial WowPen Laser Pointer Aims to Replace Your Mouse

It’s not too often that we get to see much innovation with computer peripherals. The WowPen is set to break all previous conventions by becoming a new alternative to the computer mouse. Sporting full mouse functionality plus a built-in laser pointer and optional flash memory, the WowPen claims to also have a superior ergonomic body. And for all you germaphobes, it has silver nano technology embedded in to it which minimizes the spread of bacteria caused by shared mouse usage. Kinko’s needs to get these. The WowPen works on both PCs and Macs, is available in several colors, and is available with RF or bluetooth wireless options. [Read more]

CES 2007: Aigo Video Watch

We were kind of skeptical about the idea of wearing a watch that is also a video player. Turns out that Aigo’s MP3-F029 isn’t too shabby in person. It’s got a surprisingly decent 1.3″ OLED screen and it sports a whole range features including the ability to play videos and mp3s, record audio, play back photos, tune in to FM radio and it can display E-books. Oh, and it can tell time too. The watch is available in black and white.

CES 2007: Animal USB Drives

We instantly fell in love with these SEE-AN Animal USB keys. There are several types of panda versions dressed in different outfits, as well as a lion, tiger, and what we think appears to be a frog. These are available in capacities ranging from 256MB to 4GB from SEE Electronics.

CES 2007: Luxeed Interactive Keyboard

White, black and grey… the boring standard basics in most consumer electronics. But what if you want a bit more color and flair? Sure there are a few colored keyboards, but none like the Luxeed from Luxiium Lighting & Technology, the first truly interactive keyboard. Each of the keycaps can be personalized using 512 different vibrant colors. Be it a single hue, a spectrum rainbow or your very creation, it’s up to you to decide. Let your personality shine. Color skins are available for download via their website, or save your own to remember various color patterns and such. Music skins can also be created so that the colors “dance” to the music. Different programs can trigger their own skin. Brightness of each skin can also be adjusted. The possibilities are endless! The Korean company is marketing it as a way to relieve stress via color therapy, but we just think it’s really pretty. Why didn’t someone think of this before?

CES 2007: Vizio’s 47 Inch HD 1080P LCD for $1650

In time for CES, Vizio has announced a slew of affordable LCDs and Plasmas. When we read about the price point and specs for the GV47LF, we decided that we had to go and see it for ourselves. Was it to good to be true - A 47 inch LCD with 1080p for $1899? Surely there had to be a catch. The specs read 2 HDMI ports, 2 component ports, a 1920×1080 resolution and a 8ms response time. In person the GV47LF turns out to be stunning, with super sharp and colorful visuals coming from a 1080p source. The design of the plasma itself is clean yet stylish with a set of beautiful but unusual touch-sensitive controls on the case. We also appreciate that it comes with a speaker and a stand, two things that many companies often skimp out on. The GV47LF would be suitable for almost any surrounding and definitely add to the wow factor of any room. We still cant believe that its only $1899 – that is not just affordable, that is a steal. And Costco customers can score a $250 off coupon on it this week, making it just $1650. Unheard of.

Next up we got to take a look at the Maximvs- A 60 inch Plasma behemoth beauty with 4 HDMI ports and 1080p input support. We don’t get how they are managing to offer it at this price. Like the GV47LF, the Maximvs also has rich vibrant and sharp colors that blew us away. Packed into a 4.8 inch thick spectacular bronze frame, the TV also has two spiffy speakers that down-fire to a removable translucent sound reflector, thus illuminating the need to have the speakers take up extra space.

Both TVs also come with a remote and an easy-to-understand visual instruction manual because Vizio understands how confusing it can be to set up a home theater system properly. Overall, there is nothing else on the market this big with this high standard for quality and a top notch feature set at this price. While large LCD and plasma televisions have been dropping in price, devices supporting 1080p input still cost a pretty penny because they are the most future proof. Meanwhile, Vizio is opening the door for everyone to be able to afford the latest and the best for your home theater.

Our Top 5 Highlights and Dissapointments of CES 2007

Our Top 5 Highlights of CES 2007
1. Vizio’s GV47LF. 47 inches of beautiful LCD in all its glory with 1080p for just $1899.
2. Asus’ U1 1.78 pound Core 2 Laptop that blows away all of the UMPCs.
3.Forget all the big-wig companies, we spotted some of the most innovative new electronics at small Asian vendors.
4. So many colorful ipod speakers that do more then just play music off of your ipod.
5. iRivers slew of new PMPs fill our void for the widescreen ipod we expected but didn’t get.

Our top 5 Disappointments of CES 2007
1. No single product really blew our heels off.
2. Why’d apple have to go and release the iPhone on Tuesday and steal some of CES’ steam
3. Samsung reps tell us that there are no pink, floral designed or crystal phones or accessories destined to come to the U.S. for at least the first half of ‘07. Meanwhile our European and Asian cousins can rub their high tech hot pink Samsung phones in our faces from afar.
4. Too many ipod speakers that do everything. As soon as we’ll buy one, another one will come along that fits in everything but the kitchen sink. Wait, we may have seen an ipod speaker with a kitchen sink on the show floor…
5. This is the second year that we got kicked out of the Hello Kitty booth for taking pictures. Really Ms. Kitty, why did you bring your newest gadgets to CES if you wouldn’t even let us take photos. Why must you taunt us so.

Oh, and even though CES is technically over, it isn’t for us. We still have a couple of cool stuff to bring to you that we caught on the show floor.

CES 2007: World’s Smallest Wireless FM Transmitter

About as wide and high as a penny, GT Telecom’s GT-Cube is the world’s smallest wireless FM transmitter. Sort of resembling Mobiblu’s cubic mp3 player, the GT-Cube is designed to attach to your cell phone via a string so that you can conveniently broadcast your phone’s tunes to your FM radio. The GT-Cube is available in blue, red and silver.

CES 2007: Pero the Play Entertaining Robot

At first glance, Pero the Play Entertaining Robot just seems like an alien robot whose eyes light up. Oh, but those eyes betray and are deeper than that. Supposedly they can read your moods and communicate your emotions through the color of their eyes, much like how retro mood rings work. Who knew robots were this sensitive? And if you buy all five of the Pero robots, they can all get together and sing a cappella with a five part harmony. Talk about talented. And if you are inclined to do so, you may also buy accessories for them like hats, because hey, robots need to look stylish too.

CES 2007: iMainGo iPod Case Sound System

With a bevy of iPod accessories out there, the iMainGo by Portable Sound Laboratories combines both the added protection of a padded [built-in air cushions] case with the sound system of quality stereo speakers. Unzip the fabric case and connect your ipod to the audio jack. It’s that easy. Sized at 5.7” x 3.8” x 2.4”, it fits all ipods and you can still access all the controls without opening the case making it very convenient and portable. The iMainGo also features a 360 degree view packaging, a wakeup alarm, and it comes with a carry strap. It’s Available in a variety of color selections and it runs on four AAA batteries for a battery life of up to 30 hours. Retails for $65.95.

CES 2007: jWIN Digital FM Scan Personal Radio

Okay, so a FM Radio isn’t all that remarkable, but you have to admit that jWIN’s pink teddy bear radio pulls at your heartstrings with its cute factor. It has an auto scan-up and reset buttons for FM station search, clock display with time setting buttons, a volume control knob and a LCD display with a backlight. It also comes with earphones and a lanyard.

CES 2007: Internet Phone Mouse

The iPhone has managed to bring two lovers together, the cell phone and the ipod. Junjiada, a China based electronics company strives to create a similar union. This marriage however is between a home phone and a mouse. The Internet Phone Mouse comes in two color schemes: blue with black detailing or white with orange detailing. What’s next, the USB phone? Pricing information is currently unavailable.

CES 2007: Dino and Friend Webcams

Great for children and “pet” lovers, these webcams from Computer Expressions are playful and eye-catching without being too clunky. Available in the blue dino or purple dog versions, these webcams are of just average quality producing images of 350 pixels. But they are just so cute! And at a price of $24.99 each, why not indulge in a small luxury?

CES 2007: WowWee’s Robopanda

WowWee’s Robopanda is a fun [albeit stiff] robotic friend who happens to look like a panda. There is no controller for a completely true-to-life experience. Kids interact with Robopanda by touching or activating his sensors located thoughout his body. In addition, his IR vision and stereo sound sensors allow him to track objects, avoid obstacles and pinpoint sound sources. Animated, talkative and playful, Robopanda is a wonderful toy for your kids to play and learn with. Because he is a Chatty Cathy, he will read stories, play games and even sing songs. He comes with a mini plush version of himself which he can recognize and talk to. Robopanda responds with mood specific behaviors and sounds and will changes his mood and conversation based on the interaction. This realistic panda has incredible movement enabling him to sit, crawl, walk on all fours, roll over and even give hugs. It’s the robotic BFF that your child never knew s/he needed. Retails for $229.

CES 2007: Cellular Pen Alerts You of Incoming Calls

The cellular pen looks like an ordinary pen, but it’s got a few neat tricks up its sleeve, including the ability to flash when you receive an incoming phone call. It also flashes when you use your phone, and it contains a special UV light that can detect counterfeit currency. The pen is available in black or silver for $9.99. CellularJewerly, the company behind the cellular pen also has cellular bracelets and cellular watches which also flash to alert you of incoming calls.

CES 2007: Pink and Blue E62s Spotted at Nokia’s Booth

It looks like the very popular Nokia E62 is going to be sporting some new colors this year. Say goodbye to silver, and hellow to light pink and a very light blue. These new E62 would be the first QWERTY smartphone device to ever come in pink.

CES 2007: Laptop Messenger Bags, DigiCam Cases and Mp3 Cases from Golla

Golla of Finland’s motto is that technology is moving fast and fashion even faster. That is why all of their cases and bags dress your gadgets in the latest trends. New for 2007, they are expanding their lineup to Laptop messenger bags, Digital camera and Mp3 player cases.

CES 2007: Plug & Play Mad Libs

Old school fun just got high tech. Kids of all ages grew up laughing over the humor inducing Mad Libs. The premise is simple, fill in nouns, adjectives and verbs to create wacky stories; hilarity will surely ensue. Now it’s easier than ever with Excalibur’s Plug & Play Mad Libs. This handheld device would be great to occupy kids with on long road trips. Runs on two AAA batteries and retails for $19.99.

CES 2007: Poweraser

Errors begone! For those that are really lazy or for some reason make a lot of mistakes, along comes TechKo’s Poweraser to ease your burden. It functions like a regular eraser except it runs via two AAA batteries. The compact automatic eraser runs quietly as to not disrupt the classroom or office. And it comes in a variety of colors, which is always a nice touch. Eraser refills are available as well.

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