Show-Stopping Gear From CES: Slide Show

At a CES event in Las Vegas called ShowStoppers, we saw everything from concept laptops that share resources and virtual-reality race cars to shades that let you watch video while walking down the street. Have a look.

PC World CES Staff

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A DVR Alternative - Moxi HD DVR 1 of 11

The Moxi HD DVR finally will be available directly to consumers. The DVR, which was previously available from cable companies, is now available for purchase from Amazon.com's Electronics Store, the company said during a press conference here at CES.

The Moxi DVR has a custom interface that lets you bring all of your favorite cable TV HD content (scheduled TV or stuff you've already recorded on the DVR) together in one programming guide, along with a growing array of digital content from the Web, like movies, music, pictures, and games.

Boxee: Open-Source Connected TV

Boxee is a free application that allows you to view Internet-based content onto your TV. The current version of Boxee runs on Intel-based Macs, Apple TV and Linux machines; connect one of those devices to your TV, and you're ready to go. A Windows version should be ready soon, according to a Boxee spokesman.

Boxee doesn't seem to restrict where you get content: It will play the music and movies you have on your own hard drive, as well as content from services like Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, Shoutcast, Last.fm, Flickr, Picasa, CNN, and lots more.

In-Car Satellite TV Service

AT&T Cruisecast, slated to launch this spring, promises to deliver satellite TV directly to your car. At launch, it will have 22 channels of satellite TV and 20 more of satellite radio-but will cost serious money: $1299 for the system, and $28 a month for the service.

Asus Laptops That Know How to Share

Asus has shown plenty of new products at CES, but it's also demonstrating a concept: Laptops that can share resources. The concept, which is called "Fold/Unfold," allows to closely-situated laptops to share resources like memory, processing power, and even battery life.

Netbook Uses USB Key for a Hard Drive

Here's a netbook with a twist: Emtec's 10-inch Gdium Liberty has no hard drive. Instead, it will ship with a bootable USB storage stick (dubbed the G-Key) that runs Mandriva G-Linux and has more than 50 open-source applications pre-installed, including OpenOffice, Firefox, Thunderbird, and Spam Assassin.

TV Place-Shifting Becomes a Social Event

Like the Slingbox, the Monsoon HAVA lets you place- and time-shift your TV. Here at CES, Monsoon announced that they taking video place-shifting a step further by adding a social element to it. Not only can you watch your own cable anywhere and anytime, but you can now tune in to what your HAVA-using friends around the world are watching, too, with a new service, called Monsoon SociableTV.

Drum Roll Please...

Want to let your kids learn to drum without the expensive lessons? Roland, an Electronic drum kit company has introduced software for teaching people to play drums the way real musicians do, complete with training in musical annotation for drummers.

Schwinn's Tailwind Electric Bike

Bicycles at a consumer electronics show? You bet. But Schwinn's Tailwind is no ordinary cycle: It's a hybrid bicycle, which can be ridden the old-fashioned way, powered by its pedals, or in motor-assist mode, with assistance from its fast-charging battery.

Simcraft Puts You in the Race Car's Seat

If, like me, you've always dreamed of driving a race car really, really fast, but have been deterred by minor worries like the possibility of smashing headlong into a wall at 175 mph, you'll drool over the Simcraft Apex SC830.

This simulator is a sort of cage built like a race car cockpit, complete with steering wheel and pedals, that's suspended a few feet above the ground. Unfortunately, Simcrafts now costs about $40,000.

Shake, Rattle, and Make E-Music

Imagine a couple of dueling Wii controllers that squawk and beep rhythmically as you and a buddy wave them at each other. Now you have an idea of what you can do with ZooZBeat software on an iPhone, iPod Touch, or Nokia N95/N82/N93i.

The creators at ZooZ Mobile describe ZooZBeat as a "gesture-based mobile music studio," and in their demos they did indeed control tonality and volume by varying the intensity and direction of a waving or shaking motion.

Watch Video Without Getting Mugged

Vuzix says its new Wrap 920AV video glasses (which work with iPods and the iPhone) provide the same effect as looking at a 60-inch monitor from a distance of nine feet. And unlike other models that left you blind on public transport, the sunglass-style Wrap has a "see-thru" lens design that lets you watch a private video display while still being able to see out of the glasses. It also supports prescription lens inserts, and noise-canceling in-ear earbuds are also integrated into the design.

For more pictures from CES, check out our Slide Show From Day 1.