Gadgets come out and play at CES

Kevin Rademacher

Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2005 | 11:06 a.m.

The first handful of gadgets were trotted out Tuesday afternoon in a preview of the International Consumer Electronics Show, and manufacturers have certainly been hard at work cramming more features into just about everything.

Televisions are smaller and clearer. Cell phones are ridiculously thin. Laptop computers are shedding pounds. That theme of improving on existing products permeated the makeshift exhibit hall at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Motorola Inc. was touting its Ojo Personal Video Phone, an impressive version of the long-talked-about and universally disappointing concept. By using broadband Internet telephone connection, the Ojo can actually transmit full-motion video instead of the jerky series of still images that defined past attempts at video phones.

"Quality is the big factor setting this one apart from the old technology," said Angela Branham-Britt, a spokeswoman for Motorola.

The product could also be another nail in the coffin for traditional copper-wire telephone systems. Britt said the company is in talks with cable companies and Internet providers seeking to use the video phone as a means of selling their competing voice services.

"It's a very complementary platform," she said.

Motorola is planning to launch the Ojo in the spring of 2005. The big kicker for consumers is an $800 price tag. Britt said that number could fall before it is launched.

Also touting a budget-busting price tag was the Nevo universal remote control. Manufactured by Universal Electronics the $799 product is designed to incorporate controls for everything from home theater systems to digital media libraries, including photographs, movies and music.

The device is capitalizing on the move to link home electronics to a home wireless network, putting many device on a single computer-controlled platform.

Universal Electronics promised that its pricey device will be available at high-end electronics retailers by the second quarter.

Also improving on an old concept is Designtech International's 911 Panic Phone. The one-button cell phone is being marketed as a competitor to the "I've fallen and I can't get up" products that connect to a monitoring service.

The new device instead calls 911 directly. The $139 device also doesn't require a monthly service charge.

Games and gaming systems are also jockeying for position at CES.

British-based Gizmondo claims to have found a better way to package hand-held games with its pocket-size device that also includes the ability to play three-hour movies, a GPS navigation system, a digital camera, e-mail access and text messaging.

Barry Taylor, the company's U.S. general manager, said the next version also will include cell phone capabilities and a notepad feature.

Taylor also said that there are about two million orders for the $399 product due out in March.