2006 CES: Watch This Space

The 2006 International Consumer Electronics Show returns to Las Vegas January 5-8, 2006 and The Paper PC will be there. Check back here for updates on product announcements, photos from the show floor and for technology news as it breaks.

Since the demise of Fall Comdex, once the premier computing and technology showcase, CES has managed to pick up the slack and then some. This year CES spills out of the Las Vegas Convention Center and into the Sands Expo and Convention Center. As usual, the high-end audio exhibits will be at the Alexis Park Resort.

Much of the news at CES will be broken at pre-show press conferences and events. In this photo from the 2005 CES, Sirius Satellite Radio CEO Mel Karmazin makes his pitch to the press.

Do you have tips on what I should look for at the 2006 CES? Let me know at bob@paperpc.com. See you there!

Photo © 2005 Stadium Circle Features

Turbo Charge: Grade AA Cell Phone Savior

If there's one thing you don't want to see in the middle of a long business travel day is the "low battery" warning on your cell phone. With luck--really bad luck--your phone charger will be miles away or packed with your luggage and you won't have a spare battery handy.

The chances that you will find the right battery for your cell phone at an airport newsstand or hotel convenience store are quite slim, but the odds of finding a store selling common AA batteries, even in the dead of the night, are probably quite good.

That's where the Turbo Charge from Voxred International LLC of Fairfield, New Jersey comes in. The silver-bullet-shaped Turbo Charge can bring a dead phone back to life with the aid of just about any type of AA battery. The Turbo Charge was shown at a New York preview event for the upcoming 2006 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas (Jan 5-8).

The key feature of the $19.95 Turbo Charge, according to Voxred, is the unit's patent-pending Dual AlgorChip technology, which detects the power needs of the phone and delivers just the power that it needs, thus protecting the phone from overcharging. Included with the $19.95 unit is an adapter cord of your choice. Additional adapter cords are $2.95 each.

The body of the Turbo Charge isn't much larger than the single AA battery that fits into it. Using the Turbo Charge is simple: You insert an AA battery into one end, replace the end cap, insert the adapter cord into the other and then attach the entire assembly to your phone. A flashing blue light confirms that your phone is charging. If the battery doesn't have enough power left to charge you phone, the blue light goes out.

No, the Turbo Charge sure isn't the first cell phone charger to use AA batteries but it's definitely one of the smaller and more elegant-looking solutions.

Photo © Voxred International LLC