CES 2006: Picks and Pans

Lost But Not Forgotten:With fingertip-sized tags and a handheld tracker, the $100 loc8tor lets you find those keys or wallets you're always misplacing. I took it for a test run in a crowded CES showroom, and didn't have much trouble homing in on a tag by turning in a circle and then walking in the direction of the strongest signal. The $170 model also has an alert mode that tells you when a particular tag goes more than a certain distance from the handheld. This could be a nice way to keep tabs on my escape-artist dog. Available soon.

Ooh, I Wanna Try It:Perfect for avoiding deadlines--the $80 BladeRunner II radio-controlled helicopter. Also ideal for scaring the heck out of the dog. Watch a video of the helicopter almost bouncing off the head of a dopey PC World Contributing Editor.

Hey, It's More Fun Than Working:Here's yet another digital distraction to help you avoid deadlines. First, you use the radio controller to move around the Vex Robotic robots and scoop up the racquetballs. Then you pop them into the bin and maybe you'll win something. Don't forget to occasionally look around to make sure your boss isn't watching. Check out the video to see how they work!

Digital Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous:As if the gadgets and gizmos weren't enough eye candy, an impressive celebrity corps flitted around the various booths and events at the show. Sightings included NFL football greats at Samsung's booth (I personally saw Boomer Esiason);DaVinci Codestar Tom Hanks, director Ron Howard, and producer Brian Grazer at Sony Chairman Sir Howard Stringer's keynote; Tom Cruise and Ellen DeGeneres at Yahoo CEO Terry Semel's speech; Justin Timberlake joining Bill Gates on stage during the Microsoft exec's keynote; and Robin Williams at Google co-founder Larry Page's talk. Next year I'll have to bring my autograph book.

Oddest Couple:Among the musicians who appeared at XM Radio's booth were Snoop Dogg and, an hour later, Donny Osmond. Wonder if they met--and if so, what they spoke about?

Most Useful Freebie: Vastercable decided to forego the typical big bowl of chocolates at its booth and instead fill it with Velcro cable wraps. The booth was mobbed.

Checkmate!:I can't imagine a less inviting place to sit down to a game of chess than on the floor of a mobbed, noisy show like CES. But Russian chess grandmaster Alexandra Kosteniuk appeared at one booth to promote an electronic chess game that bears her name (and speaks in her voice), and at least one attendee sat down to face off against her.

Smartest Way to Save:Bring your notebook and headset, pay the hotel's $10 daily Internet access fee, and make all your calls using Skype. One marketing guy from Dolby saved $40 on a call to his wife in Australia.

XXX Marks the Spot:As usual, Vegas was hosting both the workaday types attending CES and the rather different conventioneers attending an event for the "adult entertainment" industry. At times, especially at the Sands Expo Center (which hosted CES on one floor and the adult conference on the other), it felt a little as if you were attending the latter show whether you wanted to or not. (And one limo driver complained to me that adult entertainers were coming outside and slowing down traffic outside the Sands.)

A Show We Won't Be Staffing:Networking and convergence took on a whole new meaning this week at the Sands Convention Center, a secondary CES venue, because this year the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo took place in the same building. It probably explains why so many male editors, analysts, ad reps, and marketers had a lot of "last minute" vendor meetings at the Sands.

Free Ride:One of the better freebies at CES this year was a free ride on the Monorail linking the Las Vegas Convention Center and the Strip. The ride was courtesy of Sprint and was given to anyone with a cell phone that supported text messaging. By either sending a text message to a special number or dialing a toll-free number (both helpfully displayed on signs outside the Convention Center station), you got back a text message with a code that you then showed to attendants who gave out free one-way tickets. It was by far the fastest way to get to a hotel near a station.