February 11, 2009 6:52 PM
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The Electronic Hidden Gems Of 2006
In this image provided by Facebook, Facebook founder, Chairman and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, center, applauds at the opening bell of the Nasdaq stock market on May 18, 2012. (AP Photo/Nasdaq via Facebook, Zef Nikolla)
Not all the interesting gadgets at the Consumer Electronics Show come from big companies. For every Microsoft, Sony or Samsung there are plenty of small companies hoping to make a big splash at the big show.
One of my favorite gadgets was the SkyScout from Celestron. This $399 handheld device can instantly identify and locate any of 6,000 celestial objects in the night sky. The device uses GPS (global positioning system) to know exactly where you are and a compass to know which way you're facing. With a database of heavenly objects, it can figure out what you're looking at, even if you can barely see it with your naked eye. The 16-ounce device is being marketed to serious amateur astronomers, but it strikes me as a great teaching tool for kids.
CBS News technology consultant Larry Magid reports from the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
At $40,000 and up, Atiz Innovation's BookDrive is beyond my budget but it could be a must buy for major libraries, Google and other technology companies that want to digitize the world's printed literature. The machine is an automatic book scanner. Stick in a bound book and it turns the pages as it scans at about 10 seconds per page. Built-in optical character recognition software turns the printed words into computer text which can then be archived and searched. It also keeps a graphic representation of the page.
Have you ever run out of battery power on your cell phone or PDA? Unless you carry an extra battery or have the charger and an outlet handy, you're off the air. But Turbo Charge can come to the rescue. This little $19.95 device from Voxred International can recharge your cell phone with a single AA battery. When you order it, you indicate the type of cell phone you have and they send you a tip for your phone. It works with about 85 percent of the phones on the market according to the company.
As I said in my other CES columns, portable video and audio players are the rage of this show. GPS units are also quite popular and one company offers both in a single product. The Solo from Dream'eo is an 8-ounce handheld device with a 3.5-inch screen that functions as a GPS system, a portable media player and a mobile hard drive.
Copyright 2009 CBS. All rights reserved. One of my favorite gadgets was the SkyScout from Celestron. This $399 handheld device can instantly identify and locate any of 6,000 celestial objects in the night sky. The device uses GPS (global positioning system) to know exactly where you are and a compass to know which way you're facing. With a database of heavenly objects, it can figure out what you're looking at, even if you can barely see it with your naked eye. The 16-ounce device is being marketed to serious amateur astronomers, but it strikes me as a great teaching tool for kids.
CBS News technology consultant Larry Magid reports from the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.At $40,000 and up, Atiz Innovation's BookDrive is beyond my budget but it could be a must buy for major libraries, Google and other technology companies that want to digitize the world's printed literature. The machine is an automatic book scanner. Stick in a bound book and it turns the pages as it scans at about 10 seconds per page. Built-in optical character recognition software turns the printed words into computer text which can then be archived and searched. It also keeps a graphic representation of the page.
Have you ever run out of battery power on your cell phone or PDA? Unless you carry an extra battery or have the charger and an outlet handy, you're off the air. But Turbo Charge can come to the rescue. This little $19.95 device from Voxred International can recharge your cell phone with a single AA battery. When you order it, you indicate the type of cell phone you have and they send you a tip for your phone. It works with about 85 percent of the phones on the market according to the company.
As I said in my other CES columns, portable video and audio players are the rage of this show. GPS units are also quite popular and one company offers both in a single product. The Solo from Dream'eo is an 8-ounce handheld device with a 3.5-inch screen that functions as a GPS system, a portable media player and a mobile hard drive.
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