Grazing Among New Gadgets
The electronics industry is holding its big trade show in Las Vegas this week showcasing the latest in high-tech gadgets.
CBS News Consumer Correspondent Herb Weisbaum was on hand with plenty to play with.
He started out at the Panasonic booth, trying out the Eye-Trek goggles as he watched The Spy Who Shagged Me.
"I wish I could show it to you. It's amazing. For $900, it'd better be amazing," he told Early Show Anchor Bryant Gumbel.
He was able to show the Panasonic Recordable DVD machine. Weisbaum took a camera around, just to see how it works. "It did an amazingly good job," he reported. "You can use this to edit your home movies, put it on disk and set it on your computer."
A number of companies will be putting out such a camera, by the end of this year, they hope. The cameras probably will be priced at $2,000 or more, but will become more affordable in time.
The Sony disk cam, $2,000, due in a number of weeks, is a camcorder that allows users to edit videos in the camera, as it relies on a disk, not a tape.
The Casio Wrist Camera Watch, $200, has a built-in camera, stores 100 still shots and is set up so data can be added. After a photo is taken, it can be augmented with phone numbers and addresses.
(Weisbaum: "I don't know how anybody would use it."
Gumbel: "That's one of those technology things that comes with a question of 'Why?' ")
The Samsung Watch Phone, expected out before the end of this year, is voice activated and can store up to 20 different names that the phone can dial.
Many companies are focusing on digital audio, with units (about $200) small enough to wear on a wrist.
The Casio Wrist Audio Player can store an hour's worth of music. Download it from a computer, then take the music wherever you go, right on the arm.
The new Sony Network Walkman can store up to two hours of music; download an hour's worth of music in 90 seconds.
Panasonic's audio player can be worn on a wrist or around the neck. It records music on computer chips, which can be interchanged in the unit. With this product, have as much music as you want.
The Marilyn Monroe telephone, $100, is due out in May. Recognize the famous movie scene? It's from The Seven Year Itch. Monroe sings "I Wanna Be Loved by You," a fan goes on, her skirt blows up, and that's how you know you have a phone call.
With the Snoopy telephone, $100, due out in July, Snoopy plays the saxophone.
The Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas runs through Jan. 9.
Here is more detailed information about the products featured on The Early Show:
Copyright 2009 CBS. All rights reserved. CBS News Consumer Correspondent Herb Weisbaum was on hand with plenty to play with.
He started out at the Panasonic booth, trying out the Eye-Trek goggles as he watched The Spy Who Shagged Me.
"I wish I could show it to you. It's amazing. For $900, it'd better be amazing," he told Early Show Anchor Bryant Gumbel.
He was able to show the Panasonic Recordable DVD machine. Weisbaum took a camera around, just to see how it works. "It did an amazingly good job," he reported. "You can use this to edit your home movies, put it on disk and set it on your computer."
A number of companies will be putting out such a camera, by the end of this year, they hope. The cameras probably will be priced at $2,000 or more, but will become more affordable in time.
The Sony disk cam, $2,000, due in a number of weeks, is a camcorder that allows users to edit videos in the camera, as it relies on a disk, not a tape.
The Casio Wrist Camera Watch, $200, has a built-in camera, stores 100 still shots and is set up so data can be added. After a photo is taken, it can be augmented with phone numbers and addresses.
(Weisbaum: "I don't know how anybody would use it."
Gumbel: "That's one of those technology things that comes with a question of 'Why?' ")
The Samsung Watch Phone, expected out before the end of this year, is voice activated and can store up to 20 different names that the phone can dial.
Many companies are focusing on digital audio, with units (about $200) small enough to wear on a wrist.
The Casio Wrist Audio Player can store an hour's worth of music. Download it from a computer, then take the music wherever you go, right on the arm.
The new Sony Network Walkman can store up to two hours of music; download an hour's worth of music in 90 seconds.
Panasonic's audio player can be worn on a wrist or around the neck. It records music on computer chips, which can be interchanged in the unit. With this product, have as much music as you want.
The Marilyn Monroe telephone, $100, is due out in May. Recognize the famous movie scene? It's from The Seven Year Itch. Monroe sings "I Wanna Be Loved by You," a fan goes on, her skirt blows up, and that's how you know you have a phone call.
With the Snoopy telephone, $100, due out in July, Snoopy plays the saxophone.
The Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas runs through Jan. 9.
Here is more detailed information about the products featured on The Early Show:
- Olympus Eye-Trek:
This portable, personal television display will do for your eyes what headphones did for your ears. Plug these sleek and lightweight glasses (less than 4 ounces) into a VCR, DVD, camcorder, LD player or TV for that big-screen movie effect.
Because of a see-around design, you still have peripheral vision. Olympus says this unit is not recommended for anyone younger than 16 years old - to avoid any possible effect on a child's developing eyes.
Available: Now.
Approximate retail price: $900. - Panasonic DVD Recorder (model VDR-10000):
With this state-of-the-art machine, you can make your own digital DVD recordings. A single-sided 4.7 gigabyte DVD-RAM optical disc can hold up to two hours of high-quality motion video in the SP mode and up to four hours in the LP mode.
Available: Before the end of the year.
Price: Not set yet.
- Sony DCR-TRV820 Camcorder: This Digital 8 handycam is the first camcorder to have a built-in color printer. Print business card-size color photos on the spot, as with an instant camera, from a favorite video scene or a digital still image.
Available: May.
Approximate retail space: $1,300. - Casio Wrist Camera (Model WQV-1):
Another world's first a wristwatch with a built-in digital camera. This wearable camera lets you record images wherever and whenever you want. Each is automatically date stamped. Add up to 24 characters of memo text. Upload your images via infrared data transfer to your computer or play back shots on the watch's LCD monochrome screen.
Available: This spring.
Approximate retail price: About $200. - Samsung Watch Phone (Model SPH-WP10): This digital watch has a built-in wireless phone. It features voice-activated dialing for up to 20 numbers, a vibration alert for incoming calls and a phone book that can store up to six numbers per person (home, office, fax, pager, etc.). You get 90 minutes of continuous talk time and 60 hours of standby time.
Available: Samsung hopes it will be in the United States by the end of this year.
Price: Not available yet. - Casio Wrist Audio Player:
Casio says this is the world's first MP-3 digital player built into a watch. Download music from the Internet or your CD collection right to your wrist audio player. It can store approximately 33 minutes of high-fidelity music or about 60 minutes of sound in the low-quality mode. You'll get about four hours of continuous playback on a full charge.
Available: Late spring.
Retail price: Less than $300. - Panasonic SD Audio Player: This supercompact music player is so small it can be carried in a pocket, worn like a wristwatch or displayed like a pendant. It uses Panasonic's new SD memory card. These cards are removable and interchangeable, so you can store and carry an unlimited amount of music. Get up to four hours of playback using a single AAA battery.
Available: Sometime this year.
Price: None announced yet. - Sony Network Walkman (model NW-E3):
This tiny new digital music player weighs just 1.6 ounces (including battery) and is mall enough to fit into the change pocket of jeans. It can hold up to two hours of skip-free music on an embedded 64 megabyte flash memory. You'll get about five hours of continuous playback per battery.
Available: April.
Approximate retail price: About $300. - Sony Music Clip: Yet another digital music machine lets you download songs from your PC. This one looks like a big pen.
Available: Soon.
Approximate retail price: Not available. - Marilyn Monroe Telephone from Kash 'N Gold:
Available: May.
Approximate retail price: About $99. - Snoopy Animated Telephone (50th Anniversary Edition) from Kash 'N Gold: When this phone rings, Snoopy plays the saxophone, dances and taps his foot to the original Peanuts theme song. Woodstock's there, dancing along to the music, too.
Available: July.
Approximate retail price: $100.
