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LAS VEGAS--Everybody walking by the CTA Digital booth at CES 2013 does a double-take at a colorful plastic object on the ground. They stop and stare. They take pictures. One woman declares it the best thing she's seen at CES. It's the iPotty for iPad, a toilet-training device for digitally connected kids. It's a fairly straightforward potty trainer with a holder designed for the iPad.

The first thing I look for is splash protection for the tablet and, fortunately, it's there in the form of a plastic sheet that fits over the iPad. There's a lid that turns the contraption into a seat. There's also a pee guard for the boys. All of it comes apart for cleaning.… Read more

LAS VEGAS--I've watched a few Bourne movies and read quite a bit of John Le Carre.

If I've learned anything -- a substantial if, of course -- it's that if someone accuses you of being a spy, it's best not to act paranoid.

The best spies are those whom you would never suspect of being anything but cheery, nice, and self-effacing.

It was with a little discomfort, therefore, that I found myself at Huawei's booth both yesterday and today.

It's not that the company's products don't look frightfully interesting. They look remarkably … Read more

LAS VEGAS--When Apple switched from the 30-pin dock connector to the new Lightning connector for the iPhone 5, it threw a pretty big monkey wrench into many aftermarket and OEM car stereos that relied on the old connection method, including Pioneer's AppRadio. At CES 2013, Pioneer has just found a way around the connectivity issue with a kit that adds iPhone 5 app connectivity and video output to its AppRadio receivers.

Interestingly, it was the manufacturer's previous efforts to add Android connectivity to the AppRadio through MHL or HDMI that proved to be the key to solving the … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Locator devices that let parents keep track of their kids are nothing new. Evado Filip decided to do things a little differently with the VivoPlay, a watch geared for the 5- to 12-year-old crowd.

Many parents don't want to cough up a real cell phone for their little dears until they get pretty close to being teenagers. The VivoPlay includes GSM, so parents and kids can get in touch when necessary, but it's not a full-blown cell phone with all the related texting and possible cyberbullying issues. This feature elevates the watch from a location device to a communication device.… Read more

LAS VEGAS--If you need to add more Wi-Fi range to your Windows 8 computer, especially a tablet or an ultrabook, consider the TAN1 adapter from Amped Wireless.

The networking vendor showed off this device at CES 2013, calling it "the first high-power Wi-Fi adapter designed specifically for use with Windows 8."

This is because when connected to a Windows 8 computer, via either standard USB or Micro-USB, the TAN1 works immediately, without any software or driver installation. It's just like you plug a network cable in to a computer's network port. The TAN1 is a wireless … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Wireless audio at CES 2013 has been almost entirely dominated by the idea of streaming music directly from your smartphone, usually via Bluetooth.

Teenage Engineering's newly announced OD-11 is taking a different approach, which it calls the Cloud Speaker. The cubelike speaker actually borrows its design from Swedish audio engineer Stig Carlsson, whose original OD-11 in 1974 featured the same angled tweeter and woofer that directs sound out the the top of the speaker, rather than a more traditional front-facing design. The idea is to throw the sound into a room, without a defined sweet spot that standard … Read more

LAS VEGAS -- Samsung debuted its Youm flexible-display technology at CES' closing keynote, and the tech is nothing short of eye-popping.

The screens, which were shown off here as just a concept, promise to change what kind of form factors are possible for companies that make smartphones and tablets.

Samsung brought out a handful of demo units around 5-inches in size to show press, including a phonelike device with a screen that wraps around the side edges and could therefore display information like text messages and other alerts without a user needing to view the entire screen. A similar design … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Amped Wireless has invested a lot in the new 802.11ac standard.

In addition to its first 802.11ac router, the RTA15, shown here at CES 2013, the company also showed off its first USB 802.11ac adapter and range extender, which may be the first 802.11ac range extender on the market.

The ACA1 High Power Dual Band AC Wi-Fi USB Adapter is designed to add long-range 802.11ac Wi-Fi connectivity to Windows or Mac computers. Amped Wireless says it features two high-gain, dual-band antennas and four total amplifiers to maximize performance. The adapter supports USB 3.0 … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Amped Wireless, maker of extra-long-range, high-power Wi-Fi products, showed off at CES 2013 the upcoming RTA15 High Power Dual Band AC 700mW Wi-Fi Router, the company's first that supports the new 802.11ac Wi-Fi standard.

Like previous routers from Amped Wireless, such as the 600mW Gigabit Dual Band R20000G, the new RTA15 promises to offer incredible Wi-Fi coverage.

According to Amped Wireless, the new router features three high-gain, dual-band antennas and 10 total power amplifiers: four 5GHz 700mW, two-stage amplifiers, two 2.4GHz amplifiers, and four low-noise amplifiers. As the result, Amped Wireless claims it can cover up … Read more