The Tackiest Tech of Vegas

Useless gizmos have a storied history in the wired world. Take singing fish, digital guard dogs and belly-dancing robots. At this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, second-tier techno-marketers are proudly carrying on the tradition, hawking wacky wares that beg the question: do we really need this stuff? Last year, an iPod-Dock/Toilet-Paper Dispenser stunned the crowd. Once gadgeteers had explored the kitchen, living room and bedroom, they rushed to the final frontier: your bathroom. Among the thousands of objects cluttering booths throughout Las Vegas's CES convention halls this time around, here are some of the oddest.

Smartshopper Automated Grocery List

Here's another dubious idea that's gotten plugged in, turned on and marketed as wizardry. Say aloud what you'd like to pick up at the supermarket and this contraption will print out a list for you. Its motto is "Say it. Print it. Go get it!" Hmm. An earlier iteration of grocery-list makers, the pen-paper combo, didn't require batteries or a manual. And it didn't cost $150. Is this progress or regression?

Buttkicker

In case your subwoofer lacks in oomph, this product will literally shake your seat with sound. Forget relaxing on the sofa. Buttkicker's makers want your behind to bounce in synch with a movie's score. Like Smell-o-Vision, this is a solution lacking a problem. If you need vibrations to draw you into a movie, the plot might need some work, not a Buttkicker. And it's not clear what rumbling the gizmo has in store for your garden-variety chick-flick. Does love shake?

Talking, Wireless Oven Thermometer

This device actually won an innovation award at CES, with the following tagline: "Why wait by the grill to find out when dinner is ready?" Apparently there's no need to actually watch what you're cooking. Just buy another widget. The $50 thermometer goes a step beyond other models in reading its findings aloud, wirelessly, far from the grill. So if your dinner is already burning, you can run right over to put out the flames.

Popabrella

In case you fear traveling light, here's a superfluous tchotchke to lug around. It's an umbrella designed to protect your camera. Once you've set up your tripod, this goes up top, above the camera, so that the storm doesn't drench your $1,000 device. In a downpour, setting up and adjusting the umbrella to protect your camera may prove a tricky task. And how often are you desperate to set up a tripod photo when it's raining hard enough to require an umbrella? It'll only cost $25 to find out.

Mopping Robot

This $1,000 widget takes the Roomba one step further. The 18-pound UBot behemoth not only vacuums and sweeps, but it wet mops your floors as well. If you're a diehard robo-fan, you can set up special flooring with invisible barcodes that the UBot reads to determine how best to mop. Future models will clean carpets as well, and might even clean out your wallet.