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SALT LAKE CITY — The annual CES gadget show is filled with the wacky and weird, but out of the myriad products sometimes come things we would actually buy, along with some things most of us will only ever dream about.
The gadget show, while missing some tech giants, like Apple, is an opportunity to introduce both products that already exist and products that are only a concept, but that people are hoping will become a reality. Here are five of the more awesome ones this week:
- Samsung's bendable phone screenDo we need it? Probably not. But people have said that about of lot of things that we now can't imagine living without. I'm not saying Samsung's bendable phone screen is going to be out saving any lives, but it is pretty awesome. The phone is not flexible to fold in half like a piece of paper, but it is flexible enough to put into a tube, The Associated Press reports. To create the phone, Samsung used organic light-emiting diodes to produce a bright, colorful light — the same process used for current Samsung phones. But the screen of the bendable phone was made by laying chemicals over thin plastic instead of glass. A bendable phone could allow consumers to fit bigger-than-ever products in their pockets, something we can't seem to get enough of right now. And it would allow designers to make gadgets with curved screens.
The obvious problem would be solving the touchscreen issue, as a phone that bends away from you when you touch it wouldn't be very effective.
Samsung has not said when the phones might be available.
- The Illumiroom displayThis gadget is more or less what it sounds like: something that illuminates the room you are in to stretch your viewing experience beyond the TV screen. The Microsoft research project uses a Kinect for a Windors camera combined with a projector project visuals into the room, so you could make it look like it was snowing in the room while you were playing video games, for example. Engadget explains how it works.
- Vehicle Diagnostics by DelphiThis product is actually going to be available within the next few weeks, and is likely to be a boon to any automobile owner with a Verizon Wireless contract. The service allows users to track their diagnostics, locate their vehicle and even shut down the car's engine if it is stolen. It may also be possible to lock the car's doors and pop the trunk remotely. The price has not been disclosed yet, according to CNET.
- The ZBoardThis gadget makes the list for being the closest we've come to a real hoverboard. The weight-sensing electric skateboard requires no pushing off — riders just lean forward to accelerate and back to brake. The $649 gadgets is currently available for pre-order from the ZBoard shop.
- Horizon 27 by LenovoAnother product turns your coffee table into a gigantic touchscreen.
The Horizon 27 embeds a 27-inch "interpersonal computer" into your coffee table and allows up to four people at once to use it.
It runs Windows 8 and comes with joysticks, air-hockey paddles, and a large die to turn the coffee table into a gaming table. Available this summer, it will cost $1,699. Did you see a gadget from CES you'd rather have? Let us know on the comment board or on Facebook.
