Digital Gear: Unique Gadgets at CES

A toilet paper-dispensing iPod dock was one of the more unusual gadgets displayed at this year's Consumer Electronics Show.

Home-entertainment devices may have grabbed the spotlight at this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, but other types of products screamed for attention as well.

Philips introduced two slim cordless handsets: the sleek DECT ID9371B, which resembles a cell phone; and the VoIP841, which handles both land-line and Internet calls. Trying to revive the boom-box craze of the 1980s, Lifepop flashed Atom Amp, a series of fashionable bags and cases equipped with built-in speakers. Herman Miller lit up the show floor with its eco-friendly and energy-saving Leaf LED Personal tabletop light. But one gadget topped them all: a toilet paper-dispensing iPod dock from Atech Flash Technology.

Atech's iCarta Stereo Dock for iPod With Bath Tissue Holder is a wall-mounted toilet paper holder with built-in speakers and an iPod dock. This multitasking breakthrough lets you broadcast iPod music throughout your bathroom and draw from a roll of "bath tissue" as needed.

The fixture comes with four water-resistant speakers that, according to the company, "deliver exceptional clarity and high-quality sound," even as the unit's dock recharges the iPod. Presumably the iCarta does an impressive job of dispensing toilet paper, as well. Froogle.com lists it as being available for between $80 and $103 from retailers across the United States.

Many imitators are likely to crib the style and innovative features of Philips's DECT ID9371B, announced at CES. Designed like a cell phone, this slim cordless handset has a 65,000-color screen and stores 250 names and numbers in its phone book. Hidden inside the device is an answering machine that holds 15 minutes of voicemail messages. Users can export phone book entries from a cell phone's SIM card to the cordless handset. The phone is slated to ship with a $180 price tag in the second quarter of the year.

Also notable for its svelte design is Philips's new VoIP841 cordless handset, which can make both land-line and Internet calls via Skype's Voice-over-IP service without requiring a PC. You plug the ethernet cable into the base station at one end and your router at the other, and voila--the device is ready to make Skype calls.

The VoIP841 doesn't support Wi-Fi; instead, it uses DECT (Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications) wireless technology, which cordless phones in Europe commonly use, to communicate with the base station. It stores 500 Skype contacts and supports free Skype-to-Skype calls. Another snazzy feature is the handset's ability to emit different ringtones to signal whether a call is coming from a land line or from Skype. Like the DECT ID9371B, the VoIP841 has a 65,000-color display. Philips says that the phone should become available for $199.

What's better than a boom box? A purse or bag with built-in speakers--for example, one of Lifepop's Atom Amp portable mini speaker bags and cases. Targeting customers with portable audio players and mobile phones that play MP3 audio files, the bags have tiny external speakers that deliver 1400 milliwatts of sound. Plug the MP3 player or mobile phone into the bag's headphone jack port, play a song, and get ready to share the sound with the outside world via the bag's speakers.

The smallest Atom Amp case is the $25 Mini Boom Boom (which looks like a small boom box) for cell phones and portable music players. "It's a great portable thing--it's fun, it's cool," said Jason Entner, founder and CEO of Lifepop.

Atom Amps are also available in the forms of a clutch-style purse ($49), messenger bags ($50 to $75), and a backpack ($40). The line is slated to ship in the United States in April.

Speaking of speakers, G-Tech announced at CES its Secure Sound Laptop Sleeve, a water-resistant laptop bag with virtually invisible embedded speakers. The two 35-watt NXT PLC speakers nestle in the bag's ethylene-vinyl acetate foam cover, which is as effective as a hard-shell cover at protecting a laptop from falls, according to Mark Treger, G-Tech's vice president of sales and marketing.

The speakers can run for up to 8 hours on three AAA batteries, or they can draw power from a laptop connected via a USB port in the battery pack, Treger said. The same hookup recharges batteries.