Weird, in a Good Way
You Can Never Be Too Clean: Peel the liners off the top and bottom of a "Peel & Clean Pad" and sandwich it between your notebook's keypad and display. Instantly, dirt, hair, and yesterday's lunch is toast, so to speak. A pack of four pads costs $13. --Steve Bass
Right Product, Wrong Show: The HydraBrush Express
cleans your teeth on both sides, and according to the maker's claims, even lovingly massages your gums. Too bad they couldn't hook it up to the Farm Fresh Lightcast Lightshow. It could have made for a teeth-gnashing demo. --Steve Bass
Wake-Up Calls With a Jolt: Worried that you won't wake up in time to make a 7 a.m. meeting? The $30 Sonic Shaker is an alarm clock with a bed vibrator. If that doesn't do it, the 90-decibel alarm will. --Steve Bass
Dance Fever: An entertainingly quirky piece of entertainment at the Intel booth let conventioneers dance on a stage and then have their moves turned into a video with multiple copies of themselves boogying at one time, in emulation of the company's "Multiply" ad campaign. An Intel employee told me that M.C. Hammer was attending CES, but declined to partake in this show unless he could perform to his own music. --Harry McCracken
A Hamster Wheel for Humans: Intel was demonstrating an exercise bike connected to a PC and an LCD monitor (or rather, this sweaty guy was demonstrating it). He was competing against other on-screen cyclists, and when he pedaled harder, the bicyclist on the screen moved faster; when he moved the handlebars, the on-screen cyclist turned. Similar devices have been around for a long time, but this one looked very realistic--maybe realistic enough to get me off the couch every once in a while. --Alan Stafford
For Serious Urban Cowboys (and Cowgirls) Only: On top of the treasure trove of cutting-edge electronic gadgets CES always delivers, the obscure corners of the convention center are always good for a few laughs. Here's my favorite chuckle from CES 2007: the Giddyup Core Exerciser. Now, having never ridden a bucking bronco, I can't testify to its ability to deliver a six-pack stomach, but I can tell you this: I'd rather be caught dead of a thumb cramp with a game controller in my hand than be seen riding this miniature mechanical bull. Its "exercise" is billed as "no impact"--as long as the neighbors don't spy you through the window. The price is expected to be around $600 (Stetson not included). --Eric Butterfield
Ad Choices