Celebrity-branded technology abominations (pictures)

Many celebrity-branded gadgets completely bypass any attempt at practicality and leap straight into a big vat of absurdity. Snooki from "Jersey Shore" has probably never been accused of having good taste when it comes to fashion, and her headband headphones are no exception. These celebrity-branded eyesores involve glittering rhinestones and a big bow built onto the top. They would, however, pair quite well with a skin-tight leopard-print dress, if you're into that sort of thing.

Snooki is far from being the only culprit when it comes to over-the-top celebrity-branded gadgets. Music star Will.iam unveiled a line of iPhone cases in late 2012, including some with cameras built in. His intentions were noble. Will.i.am wanted to bring higher-quality photography to the iPhone. Most of the designs were relatively sedate, but the $475 V.4 case ended up looking more like an gold-trimmed 1970s luxury car than a sleek modern gadget.

Back in 1994, basketball star Shaquille O'Neal could do no wrong. His celebrity led to rap albums, movies, and (yes) a video game called Shaq-Fu. Shaq-Fu lives on, thanks to Web site shaqfu.com. The proprietor of the site writes, "Shaq-Fu has to be the worst fighting game in the history of fighting games." If you don't believe that, you can download and play the game. If you dare.

Sometimes celebrity tech is like an onion, and you get layers of branding. Famous Olympic runner Usain Bolt lent his image and style to these SL300JAM Usain Bolt Signature Series headphones by Soul Electronics. Soul is the line of audio products from rapper Ludacris. Unfortunately, the Bolt headphones won't make you run any faster.

This sort of double branding is becoming popular with Soul. It announced a partnership with Korean singing sensation Psy to develop his own branded headphones.

Celebrity-branded apps have become hot commodities, for better or worse. This Alicia Keys Photo Booth app is sliding toward the worse side of the scale. It costs 99 cents and lets you load photos and then slap your choice of Alicia Keys images alongside yourself, without having to deal with Photoshop.

The iOS app is a particularly interesting choice considering Keys' endorsement and work with rival BlackBerry. It also has one of the most hilarious descriptions in the App Store, reading, "Take or choose a picture from your iPhone or iPod Touch, choose one of many Alicia Keys pics, and put him in next to you!" I'm sure Alicia Keys would be surprised to learn she's now a "him."

Teen pop singer Justin Bieber has never been shy about product placement. With these singing toothbrushes, he can tell all his fans to "Bite me!" The brush comes with two buttons. One triggers "Baby," while the other triggers "U Smile." The song plays for two minutes, the dentist-recommended timing for scrubbing your pearly whites. What's extra goofy about the brushes is that they come in both junior and adult sizes.

The marketing people behind boy band One Direction have a pretty good idea who the boy band's audience is. That's why these One Direction-branded headphones are such a screaming shade of pink. The headphones sell for around $30 and are embellished with rhinestones and photos of the band on each ear cover. You won't find these in an audiophile's tool kit, but they can probably be spotted in the wild wherever preteen girls congregate.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is better known for his tough-guy acting roles and stint as California governor than he is for this namesake watch from luxury watchmaker Audemars Piguet. This may well win for longest celebrity-branded product name. It's called the "Royal Oak Offshore Arnold Schwarzenegger the Legacy Chronograph." It's made with pink gold, titanium, and anthracite. The $45,000 watch is limited to 1,500 pieces, just in case you want to get in on the action.

Snooki isn't the only "Jersey Shore" alum with a branded set of headphones. Pauly D teamed with SMS Audio for these pearl white and pink headphones. You might notice a distinct resemblance to the One Direction-branded headphones. As garish as these are, they don't hold a candle to the in-your-face Snooki designs.The Pauly D set also comes in a more sedate black color scheme, in case you want to show your Pauly D love in a more subtle fashion.

Nothing says "martial arts" quite like a Canon dSLR camera, right? That's what Canon China thought when the company got together with movie star Jackie Chan to offer the $1,450 Eye of the Dragon EOS 550D in 2010. What turns this regular dSLR into a drunken master-worthy gadget? Gold accents and a special camera strap and leather case. Unlike most of the other celebrity tech products in our gallery, at least you won't be embarrassed to be seen in public with this one.