Netshelter Last Gadget Standing CES 2009

As we wound up the show on it's official last day, we attended a micro-awards ceremony. In its 8th annual performance, the Last Gadget Standing hands you off with the top 10 "user" voted gadgets of CES. We decided to attend it, and showcasing and mcing the event was NetShelter - if you haven't heard of them, they are the blogging and technology company that combines over 150 independent review sites and gets them together seamlessly.

And every year, they have the crowd effect that offers the last gadget standing the award out of 25 semi-finalists...and then it's listed and blissed down to the final winner for "Last Gadget Standing". The big case in point for this show is that it's not about the "wow" factor, it's about the "how" factor - real life technology that doesn't necessarily mean blinding, state of the art technology, but something that will prove entertaining, useful, and fill it's role as "gadget". With that in mind - in no particular order, here are the top 10 finalists this year:

1) Eye Fi
Back again from last year, this year Eye Fi is putting the wireless broadcasting to video. The showcase had a "Jackson Cash" (Johnny Cash) performer and wirelessly uploaded it live to youtube.

2) Bug Labs
This little gadget is like the "Lego" version of technology gadgets. It comprises of a mini-Linux running machine and you can add "modules" to the device. It has some pretty cool modules such as a motion detector, digital camera, GPS device, and a few others. The components are coming out all the time along with key software that you can either decided to code yourself, or purchase or download as drag and drop applications.

3) ClickFree
This handy little device features a backup solution that is pretty 'revolutionary' - when you purchase a backup device, you usually have a few options. One, manually make sure you backup your data yourself. Two, purchase software that you carry with you all the time on said storage device, or three, buy an automatic backup solution that stays in one place. Well - those days are gone. Now all you need is the ClickFree backup cable, any hard drive you want (portable or networked) and let the built-in software with the cable take care of the rest.

4) emWave PSR
This portable biofeedback tool from HeartMath helps users reduce stress, balance emotions and increase performance. It works by reading your current evaluated heart rate, and then informs you when to sync your breathing to match the correct method of reducing your stress level. They claim that just 10 minutes a day (5 in the morning, and 5 at night) you can dramatically increase your performance in dealing with stress. Does it completely remove it? No, all it does it help you manage it. I suppose people have paid thousands upon thousands of dollars worth of therapy, but this one is far less in comparison and might help you out.

5) FlipMino HD
The worlds smallest HD quality video camcorder - it has 4GB of internal memory and up to 60 minutes of recording time. This time, there's no need to worry about installing software as it has it's own built-in FlipShare software for easy saving and sharing. The video quality was pretty nice too - seeing things in 720p was a definite improvement over standard definition.

6) LiveScribe Smart Pulse Pen
Now this little gadget is pretty awesome. If you're a student and you don't want to type and would rather do the old school method of 'writing notes' - you should look into this device. You'll never miss a word with this pen-sized computer matched with it's specialty recording paper. See - it records your audio with the text you write, and it is Java platform based, so you can record sounds to each item you take, and then when you want to hear them, it has an audio out function that will play it back when you tap on what you just wrote. It's also bundled with a search function and takes the handwriting recognition to a whole new level - being able to search your documents to your computer after you have 'wrote them' and seamlessly find what you are looking for on your computer screen, and playback and save audio with notes. Look into it, it's pretty intense...

7) MSI Wind
Small laptops...they have been dubbed "Netbooks" and we're going to go on the limb that some huff and puff lawyer is getting his sue-flex skills into place if that term isn't already "TM'd". But regardless, this netbook is one of the first of it's kind to support hybrid storage technology, allowing you to switch between HD and SSD for maximum battery life, and with it's supplied 9-cell battery, you can get up to 15 hours on this baby. Did we mention we liked it on laptoplogic.com as well? Check out our review here:
http://laptoplogic.com/reviews/msi-wind-u100

8) Motorola ZN5
Dubbed the first real camera phone, that started as a camera first, and then continued on with great phone capabilities. It's the first to combine Kodak's powerful imaging technology with Motorola device design. It was pretty impressive to see the pictures it developed - and the panorama mode built it was really really nice. I'm not a fan of Kodak, but combined with this Motorola Phone, I was pretty impressed. Needless to say - if you're a photo nut and don't have an already uber-sweet digital camera and are in the market for a new cell phone as well, you should DEFINATELY take a look into this little device.

9) T-Mobile Android
Populated by the seas of iphones, there was a presentation that struck pains into the hearts of the users who wished their mobile phone had slightly more support for independent, open sourced software when this device was announced on stage. It is the mobile phone that is the first to feature Google's Android operating system, offering free email access to Gmail users, and also Streetview and a whole slew of widgets. It was an impressive entry and marks a truly innovative product...but perhaps a little too late?

10) WowWee
Robots, everyone loves them, nobody sees a real purpose to them until they either do everything for you, or completely entertain you. Which is exactly what the Joebot fills in that ultimate robot category. he's a walking talking, interactive "buddy" and with more personality than robots before him, he provides a riot and a lot of noise to your otherwise lonely, boring, simply quiet life. Guard mode on!

As all events, we now know the outcome for this event, but we'd like to take our own personal survey to see how these fare in your eyes? If you had the chance to vote, which device would you choose? Why not drop us a comment on the form below and we'll tally it up. Hey, who knows - you could be the first to really say "I told you so..."

Whats that? You want to see who the winner really was? Well, you should head on over to the Netshelter site to see just who won...we hate ruining surprises.