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5 Weird Gadgets That Made News @ CES 2012
The much talked about biggest event of the consumer electronics industry--Consumer Electronics Show 2012--is over. The best of innovations and gadgets
were showcased at the event--right from the world's first television running Android
4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system to Samsung's Super OLED television set
with a 139.7-cm (55-inch) screen to Motorola's 4G LTE smartphone--Droid 4, to a mobile
phone that lasts charge for 15 years and the list is endless.
A lot of
ultrabooks, laptops and tablets powered by quad-core chips and also Intel-powered
Android smartphones, are a few of the best examples of the technology on
display at the show. Apart from the gainers of the show, there were also a few
gadgets which intrigued the audiences a lot, gadgets that caught the eyes of
the consumers because of the weird innovation. We bring you a list of such
gadgets showcased at the CES 2012.
Haier Brain Wave 
It is a wireless mind-reading headset that was showcased by China-based
Haier. The headset can be used to control a television set. One of the sensing pads
is put on the wearer's forehead and the other is clipped on any of the earlobes.
As of now, the mind-reading capability of the headset is in the basic stages.
Currently, it can just sense if a users wants something go up or down. For any
movement in any other direction, a user will have to use the remote. The
company mentioned at the event that it is looking at developing something that
will help a user change TV channels by just thinking about it. At present,
Haier is selling the set only in China and it will not be available in the US market
anytime soon.
Signa
Powertrekk 
Signa
Powertrekk had the world's first portable fuel cell on display. The device can
be used as a portable battery pack as well as a fuel cell. As a portable
battery pack, it can be used as a ready source of power or storage buffer for
the fuel cell. While as a fuel cell it enables instant charging from a depleted
battery state. A user just has to add water to the fuel tray after inserting a
fuel pack. It is powered by small, light 'pucks'. Users can connect devices
like mobile phones, cameras and GPS devices to the PowerTrekk via a USB port. It
is priced at $200, but the pucks cost $12 for three. Each puck is capable of
producing the equivalent of six AA batteries of electricity. An iPhone can be
charged twice with this much battery.
Solowheel
It is a unicycle with just a single wheel and footboards that fold out from
the wheel. A person needs to stand on the footboards and straddle the wheel. The
creator claims that just by leaning forward, the wheel engages a
battery-powered electric motor, which sends the wheel racing at 10 miles per
hour. A gyroscope inbuilt in the wheel helps the rider in maintaining an
upright position. The Solowheel also has a rechargeable battery with a 15 to 20
mile range. Solowheel is compact, weighs 26 pounds and is priced at $1,800.
Eye Asteroids 
A Swedish company named Tobii showcased its eye-controlled arcade game at
the show. It is a game that is controlled by the eyes of the player. The player needs
to stand in front of it and look at a screen, where asteroids hurtle toward the
battle station. Laser beams are shot at asteroids, on which the users focus. It
is the look of a person that destroys the asteroids with the laser beam. The
game cabinet has in-built cameras that track a player's gaze. Tobii is looking
at such gaze tracking cameras in laptops and computers in order to do away with
the mouse. The asteroids game is available for $15,000. Isn't it too much price
for tracking your gaze?
Foam Fighters
With the increasing popularity of smartphones and tablets, toy and gaming
companies are also not ready to be left behind in the race. Most of the
companies these days are creating toys which are a mix of virtual and real. The
foam fighters have been built like World War II fighter planes with just two
sheets of thin foam. They fly like any other paper airplane when tossed in the
air. The unique part is that they can be attached to an iPhone, iPad or any
other Android phone, just next to the camera, with the help of a plastic arm
with a suction cup. The camera captures the airplane on the screen and after
downloading an app from the marketplace users can even make the fighter plane
zoom in and control its movements. The foam fighters will be available in the
markets from April at a price point of $10 for two pieces with a stand.
-- Upasana Rajpal, EFYTimes News Network
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