The Consumer Electronics Show held in Las Vegas every January is always our favorite show, but often the most difficult to select a Best-of List from. Because this show is held only annually now (it used to be held twice per year, once in the summer in Chicago), a good portion of the product announcements are for gadgets that are just prototypes, slated for delivery much later in the year. Therefore, in many cases, we really don't have the opportunity to fully review the technologies before writing about them.
For 2008, however, we did find several items that we considered to be revolutionary, including:
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Logitech Duet - Controlling your computer's audio library through your home entertainment system.
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Bug Labs - An open source platform for creating computer projects and toys.
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EchoStar TR-50 - A DVR for the rabbit-ear over-the-air TV crowd.
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MagicJack - Unlimited phone calls for $20 per year, incuding a phone number and forwarding.
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Dymo DiscPainter - A dedicated printer that "paints" full color CD or DVD discs in under a minute.
- Intermatic Home Settings - Powerful z-wave controllers and modules for controlling lighting.