The Gadgets Page

• Super sick. I might be out of commission for a while. #

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As useless as Teledynamics was for the normal consumer, they had the foresight to show off these beautiful steampunk phones from Paramount Collections.

This is the Paramount Collections 1892 Eiffel Tower Reproduction Phone

This is the Paramount Collections American Eagle 1911S Reproduction Phone.

If you are looking for an interesting land line phone, Paramount Collections has an entire line of them:

• Paramount Collections Biscuit Barrel 1893 Reproduction Phone Black at Amazon.com
• Paramount Collections Antique Wall 1903 Reproduction Phone at Amazon.com
• Paramount Collections Roman Column 1897 Reproduction Phone at Amazon.com
• Paramount Collections Viscount 1920 Reproduction Phone at Amazon.com
• Paramount Collections Classic Christie 1921A Decorator Phone Black at Amazon.com

I wish I still had a land line just so I could have one of these gorgeous steampunk phones in my home.

I have NO IDEA what Motorola exhibited at CES this year. Seriously. I don’t know what iPhone knockoff they were showing to the amazement of others. When we walked into the Motorola booth, I noticed only ONE thing. Their booth display had large expanses of REAL grass.

To me, it was an amazing feat for them to have live plants in their booths, just for atmosphere. I reached down and let my fingers indulge in the soft and cool of it. I called out to the other Gadgets Page writers to come look at the grass, but they looked at me like I was insane. They urged me to come along.

I expected every person walking by it to reach down and touch it like I did. I filmed a minute of convention goers walking past the grass displays.

For every one person who reached down and enjoyed the touch of the plants, there were ten who didn’t even notice. We live in a world of wonders and we walk right past them on the way to the next Motorola cell phone.

If you would like to see what Motorola exhibited at CES this year, Engadget didn’t get distracted by the grass either.

• Live from Motorola’s CES 2010 press event — Engadget

• Motorola Backflip hands-on — Engadget

Back when the Apple Newton came out, my friend, Chuck, tried on every leather jacket in Burlington Coat Factory until he found the one with an inner pocket big enough to hold the Newton. It was a memory that has stayed with me for over fifteen years.

If you are planning on carrying your Apple iPad with you wherever you go, you won’t have to try on every coat in the store like Chuck did so long ago. All you need is the SCOTTEVEST.

At $100, they cost almost as much as Chuck’s leather jacket, but with 22 pockets, an earbud conduit system and a pocket especially for your iPad, it’s hard to argue with their usability.

I love that you can wear the vest to the airport, take it off for security and just put it back on when you’re done with your cavity probe. It makes the idea of disrobing for security a little less arduous.

They also make the SCOTTEVEST for women. Suddenly, the idea of a purse seems so old fashioned when I could carry everything I need in my jacket. The only problem I can see with that is the 100 degree weather we get in the summer.

Back in the early Nineties, we thought Chuck was crazy to choose his coat based on whether or not it could hold his Apple Newton. Now, the tables have turned and I’m suddenly feeling like Chuck did so long ago. “Does it have a pocket for my iPad?” is now a valid question when choosing a coat, jacket and purse. Clothing and accessory manufacturers, take note!

This year at CES, there were so many companies showing off their new eBook readers. With Amazon, Sony and Barnes and Noble in the eBook race, it seemed silly that these companies were trying to compete. These are only a few of the companies showing off their eBook readers.

iRiver

WiseReader by Hanvon

Bookeen Cybook Opus

Hanlin by Tianjin Jinke

Now that Apple is coming out with the iPad, these all look like toys now.

M-Edge had a small booth at CES, but it had lots of cases for eBook readers. CES was before the Apple iPad announcement, so I just kind of took a few pictures of these cases because I liked their design. Now that I plan on buying an iPad, I’m MUCH more interested in eBook reader cases.

In fact, M-Edge is gearing up to provide you with a case for your iPad soon. You can see what they are planning here:

• M-Edge | Products | Apple iPad

Their booth had many beautiful eBook reader cases to choose from.

I’m so grateful that all of these companies are preparing to make cases for my iPad when it finally becomes available.

Trendy Digital had a small booth at CES, but it had lots of cases for eBook readers. CES was before the Apple iPad announcement, so I just kind of took a few pictures of these cases because I liked their design. Now that I plan on buying an iPad, I’m MUCH more interested in eBook reader cases.

I really like the brown and orange flowery case in the upper left.

I really liked the color of this blue one.

These cases keep your eBook readers safe from water.

Here is a review of the waterproof cases from Digital Product Review:

If you are thinking of buying an iPad when they come out, keep an eye on Trendy Digital. They probably will have a case for you as well. Can’t wait to see them!

We have finally reached the point where we can send a movie in a greeting card. Euri has created ring boxes and LCD greeting cards that can display video and audio.

You can see how they look here:

They have teamed up with American Greetings and Target Stores, so you’ll be able to buy a greeting card with video and audio that you choose yourself soon!

You know it’s a slow year at CES when a company like Cyber Clean can afford a booth on the main floor. Despite the cheesiness of their presentation, it looked like a really cool product.

Cyber Clean is a gooey compound very much like my childhood toy, Slime, except the texture is thicker and less runny. You press it onto your keyboard, cell phone or other difficult to clean gadget and it picks up debris, food and dust. They were demonstrating it with some sand-like material on an older Apple keyboard.

At the show, they were showing this commercial on huge screens to attract your attention.

I prefer this commercial, however, because it makes Cyber Clean look like a tiny little superhero!

They gave us a free sample of Cyber Clean to try out at home. I keep my electronics very clean, so I couldn’t think of a way to test it, but I remembered the old iMac in Kristen’s room. I decided to try it out on her keyboard. Here is what it looked like before I used Cyber Clean.

I really crammed the goo into the keyboard. I figured it’s an old computer and it doesn’t matter if it gets a little gummed up. All the Cyber Clean came out, however, so I didn’t need to worry about hurting the keyboard. If you look closely, you can see a little dirt that came off the keyboard.

In this picture, it’s easier to see how much hair, dirt and even feathers (Where’d the heck those come from?!) it picked up off the keyboard.

In the end, it didn’t really do all that much. The keyboard was still a little dusty after I thoroughly squished it into all the crevices. I could have done just as well with a paper towel dampened by Windex. Here’s how the keyboard looked after the cleaning.

It DOES smell good, which is something I didn’t expect, and when I opened the package, I felt like a little kid playing with Slime all over again. It really had that nostalgic feel to it. I wasn’t impressed with its cleaning abilities enough to forgo my usual paper towel and Windex techniques, but if you have to clean a lot of keyboards, Cyber Clean might be a way to make your day a little brighter.

You can buy Cyber Clean at Amazon:

• Cyber Clean High Tech Cleaning Compound- Single Pack at Amazon.com

• Cyber Clean Home & Office Standard Cup at Amazon.com

I liked the idea of Cyber Clean and it did a pretty good job of cleaning up Kristen’s keyboard, but I think I’ll stick with a paper towel and Windex.