2013

LAS VEGAS--If you ever wanted to know what it would feel like to have Mick Jagger massage the knots in your back muscles while you listen to "Tumbling Dice," then I have the perfect gadget for you. The iMusic BodyRhythm massage vest sits over your shoulders and upper back. Plug it into your iPhone, fire up the app, and enjoy a rubdown to the beat of your favorite song.

I got to try out a fully functioning prototype of the vest at CES 2013. The vest's creator Uwe Diegel hooked me up with some "Gangnam Style" massage action. I could see going for the full-album experience and having an extended session with "Exile on Main Street." It would be a very different way of experiencing the music.… Read more

Editors' note, February 22, 2013: Updated with price and availability date.

LAS VEGAS--The Sigma DP series of cameras, which are based on the Merrill generation of the Foveon sensor -- an effective 14.8-megapixel sensor array with stacked rather than staggered color filters -- are the closest competitors in spirit (and price) to Fujifilm's X100 and now X100S. Unlike Fujifilm, which combines photographic simplicity with high-tech power, Sigma concentrates on the simple and relies on the Foveon sensor to differentiate itself. The past few generations have seen some tweaks but essentially the DP series remains the same from generation … Read more

LAS VEGAS--If you are a fan of wireless storage expanders like the Seagate Satellite, Wireless Plus, or the Kingston Wi-Drive, here's another option.

HP announced today at CES 2013 the HP Pocket Playlist, a 32GB wireless pocket drive that comes with a built-in battery and Wireless-N access point.

The Pocket Playlist can stream unencrypted content, be it movies, music, TV shows, or photos, to up to five mobile devices at the same time.

The device is very compact; in fact it's about the same size but much lighter than the iPhone 4. While 32GB is relatively limited, that'… Read more

LAS VEGAS--Press Day at CES saw 12 solid hours of press conferences from consumer electronics manufacturers of all stripes. Here's the news that mattered most.

TVs TV technology is always one of the most exciting areas at CES, and so far this year is no different. And the hot TV tech of today is 4K, also known as Ultra HD. Sharp showed off two Ultra HD displays, the 60-inch Purios due this summer and the Aquos Ultra HD TV due in the second half of the year. Panasonic introduced its new line of smart TVs, including features like My … Read more

Imagine charging your cell phone with your tablet or vice versa, no cables or cords required. This futuristic idea is inching closer to reality with device-to-device wireless power technology made by Fulton Innovation.

Fulton Innovation, a subsidiary of Alticor that's been in the wireless power business for more than 10 years, announced and demonstrated its fully functional two-way charging technology Monday night at the Digital Experience CES event in Las Vegas.

The device-to-device power transfer works simply by placing two Qi-enabled devices back-to-back, as showcased in the video below. Developed by the Wireless Power Consortium, Qi is the international … Read more

Most people still choose to handle home security the old-fashioned way. They have a big slobbery dog or they pay a security company to monitor their home. For people who are allergic to pups and don't want to deal with security contracts, startup iSmart Alarm is hoping to turn the iPhone into the focal point for home security.

The system is made up of several parts that can be mixed and matched as needed. There are cameras, motion sensors, contact sensors for windows and doors, and a remote tag for tracking kids or pets (or both). The brains of the system is a square device called the CubeOne that plugs into an outlet and connects up to your router.… Read more

LAS VEGAS--Sphero is an oddly playful robotic ball that you control from a smartphone or tablet. It seems packed with personality, which makes it hard not to like. It made a minor splash at CES a couple of years ago, and you can check out CNET's piece about it.

And now the team behind Sphero, from the Boulder, Co.-based startup Orbotix, are upping the ante on how people can play with this $129 ball (which, incidentally, is strong enough to withstand a gunshot). At the Digital Experience show tonight at CES 2013, they showed off some new games … Read more

LAS VEGAS--For kids who aren't into fairy tales printed on paper, Texas Instruments is showing off a gorgeously designed pico projector for videos at bedtime.

At CES 2013, TI demonstrated the Rubik's Cube-style pico projector that works with DLP Pico technology.

Made by Innoio for Korea's SK Telecom, the colorful cube can project kids' shows or movies on a nearby wall or on the ceiling.

It apparently has a small speaker system, but TI staff on the floor of CES could not confirm that.

It's available in South Korea but could come to the U.S. … Read more

LAS VEGAS--If there's one organization that could make the most people's lives easier by accepting digital signatures, it would be the U.S. Internal Revenue Service.

Sadly, the IRS is still a long way from letting all tax filers submit their annual returns via electronic signature. But today, it got one step closer to that when it began accepting signatures on income verification forms via companies like DocuSign, Adobe, eSignSystems, and others.

The IRS' adoption of e-signatures for form 4506-T, formally a "request for transcript of tax return," is the result of the government tax agency … Read more