Gizmos Galore: The 2011 Consumer Electronics Show in Pictures [Slide Show]

Here is a bit of what an estimated 140,000 attendees saw at last week's CES

TOMORROW'S URBAN RIDE: Driver and passenger enter and leave the EN-V through a front panel that can be pushed away from the vehicle or, in the case of the Xiao, lifts up like a hatchback. Once seat-belted, the driver takes hold of a rectangular steering wheel about the size of a small tablet computer with handgrips on either side... LARRY GREENEMEIER/SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN
ELECTRIC NETWORKED VEHICLE: General Motors gave the public a rare glimpse of its two-wheel, two-person Electric Networked Vehicle (EN-V) in a parking lot outside the Las Vegas Convention Center. The prototype EN-Vs come in three different designs... LARRY GREENEMEIER/SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN
IN-HOME CAR CHARGER: The Ford Focus Electric's 23 kilowatt-hour lithium ion battery can be recharged in three to four hours with a 220-volt outlet. The company is selling the home charging systems—which retail for $1,499, not including installation—via Best Buy... LARRY GREENEMEIER/SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN
BABYING THE BATTERY: The Ford Focus Electric's lithium ion battery relies on heated and cooled liquid to help maximize battery life and gas-free driving range. Whereas air-cooling methods work well for smaller battery systems used in gas-powered cars, the larger, more complex lithium ion battery technology found in all-electric vehicles calls for an aggressive thermal management system... LARRY GREENEMEIER/SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN
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BY THE DASHBOARD LIGHT: Electric-powered vehicles (and their drivers) have different needs than their combustion-driven cousins, which typically are within a few miles of one or more gas stations in any given area... LARRY GREENEMEIER/SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN
FORD GOES ELECTRIC: Ford made it official at CES—its Focus Electric car will go into production by the end of the year. The company's first all-electric passenger car (Ford introduced an electric version of its Transit Connect commercial van last year), the Focus Electric features an electric motor (pictured here) performs the conversion between electrical and mechanical power, which goes to the front wheels through a one-speed transmission... LARRY GREENEMEIER/SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN
3-D RELOADED: Samsung's $150 battery-powered 3-D Active Glasses were on display at CES, enabling show-floor wanderers to take in 3-D on the company's monitors and laptops. The glasses work by first blocking the left and then the right lens so rapidly that the eye does not notice, creating what the company refers to as a "staggered" effect that results in 3-D images... LARRY GREENEMEIER/SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN
SLEEK, YET STRONG: Sony Corp. announced at CES that Corning's 0.7-millimeter thin scratch- and break-resistant Gorilla Glass is being designed into the Sony Bravia line of 40-inch and larger LCD televisions... LARRY GREENEMEIER/SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN
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NO CONTROL(LER): Microsoft showed off its Kinect sensor for the Xbox 360 game console. Microsoft says it has sold eight million Kinects since they went on sale in November. The addition of Kinect to the Xbox console enables video game play without the need for a controller, as shown here... LARRY GREENEMEIER/SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN
BALANCING BOTS: Japan's Murata Manufacturing Co. showed off the exploits of Murata Boy and Murata Girl, whose gyroscopic innards enable them to balance on a bicycle and unicycle, respectively. Murata Boy, a 50-centimeter tall bot who the company says "dreams of cycling around the world," rides his two-wheeler along a narrow beam without falling... LARRY GREENEMEIER/SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN

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