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Photos: Best of the CES Innovations 2007 Awards

The warm-up act for CES, the annual Innovations Awards, is a showcase of cool gadgets. A few are available today; others seem more like, well, vaporware. But they are all fun to look at, and we'll bring you more details on these and other great new gadgets from the show in January.

CNET Reviews staff

Nov. 27, 2006 9:41 a.m. PT

1 of 9

CEA

The sort of lamp you'd expect from the company behind the Aeron chair, the Leaf Personal Light uses LEDs rather than bulbs. Touch it to turn it on and off, and slide your finger along the base to adjust the intensity and warmth. The good news: you'll save lots of money on electricity as LEDs use less energy than bulbs and last longer. The bad news: it will set you back $525 for black, white, red, or nickel; or $545 for polished aluminum.

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2 of 9

CEA

Details of Alpine's forthcoming A/V and navigation system are sketchy--it won't be out until next spring and pricing hasn't been announced. What we do know is that the IVA-W205 Mobile Multimedia Station is a combination A/V unit and docking station for the Blackbird 2 (PMD-B200) GPS receiver. The latter can be removed for use in other vehicles. Let's hope the PMD-B200 also addresses some of the issues with the current version of Blackbird, the PMD-B100.

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3 of 9

CEA

Though it is based on the Harmony universal-remote software found in remotes from Logitech and others, the Monster Central Home Theater and Lighting Controller 300 is no me-too product. The Home Theater Lighting Controller 300 comes with both IR and RF, and it controls lights in your home using the optional modules. Currently our top-rated universal remote, it is available now for $600.

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4 of 9

CEA

There's no denying the gadget appeal of Sony Ericsson's stylish Bluetooth watch, which has an OLED display and uses Bluetooth 2.0 to manage calls and music on compatible cell phones. You can view caller ID info and text messages; send calls to voice mail; and play, pause, and skip songs. The MBW-100 is available worldwide in silver or black for about $400; partner Fossil also offers several models with similar features for less.

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5 of 9

CEA

The HP SLC3760N is the first flat-panel TV to integrate a wireless network media player. This 37-inch TV can stream and play back songs, video (including high-def), and photos from any PC or storage device. At about $2,000 (street price) it costs $700 more than the same set without the networking features (the HP LC3760N). But as we found in our review that this integrated solution is elegant, and it just plain works.

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6 of 9

CEA

The mysterious little TAVI portable video player has been around for a while (Wal-Mart offered a version earlier this year). TAVI looks like a clamshell video iPod, but it aims higher. The current TAVI 020's specs include HD video, surround sound, support for a variety of audio formats, a photo viewer and an e-book reader, and an FM radio with recording capability. The company's site states that TAVI 020 is available at CompUSA, but there's no sign of it, which is why we're somewhat skeptical of the TAVI 030, which also promises satellite TV. Still it does sound cool.

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7 of 9

CEA

Let's face it, the CEA had little choice but to award the gaming category to Sony's PlayStation 3. But in this case, the heavily hyped and extremely hard-to-find console is a deserving recipient. The PS3's sleek, piano-black case is crammed with technology, including the new Cell processor, a Blu-ray drive, HDMI video, and integrated Wi-Fi. For more on the PS3, check out our full review.

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8 of 9

CEA

FM transmitters for iPods are a dime a dozen, but Monster's second-generation iCarPlay has some nice touches. The iCarPlay Wireless 200 automatically scans the FM dial to find the clearest signal, displays the frequency and other details on your iPod, and includes a low-profile adapter for charging your iPod while listening to music. If Monster retained the strong signal and sound quality we liked in the previous version, then the iCarPlay Wireless 200 could be a winner. It's available for about $100.

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9 of 9

CEA

To mark its 60th anniversary, loudspeaker leader JBL put together one serious speaker system. How serious? Let's put it this way: the DD66000 is nearly four feet tall, weighs more than 300 pounds, and is rated at 500 watts. If you've got a mountain of cash--about $30,000, in fact--the Project Everest speakers are available now in Japan.

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