Introducing The Last Gadget Standing Finalists

In the last post, I discussed the rules of the game and the also-rans. The 10 products listed here are the products that we'll really haul out to Vegas with us for the final showdown at CES.

They're all winners in their own right, and over the next weeks, Dory, Ben, Chris, and I will be bringing you more in-depth information on each of the finalists. Today, I can only tell you about seven of the 10 and hint at the three new products that will be released at CES.

Eye-Fi is what you get when you combine a specially designed low-power wireless chip with a 2GB memory card. Install it in just about any of today's digital cameras and you've got yourself an automatic way to transfer photos from the camera to your Mac or PC or any of the popular photo-sharing sites and social networks.

For More:

• I wrote about Eye-Fi a few weeks ago and a spirited discussion ensued.
• Wired's review
• Step-by-step review at DPreview

Asus Eee PC 4G could change the PC equation—it's the Crazy Eddie of today's PCs. It costs only $399, has a tiny 7-inch screen, runs Linux, and comes with a suite of great software applications. One Laptop per Child may have put global computing on the radar, but this machine could actually make it happen.

For More:

• Chris Null says the Asus Eee is something to talk about.
• Engadget says the word is traveling fast and that the reviews are impressive.

The LG Voyager with its touch screen is proving to be the iPhone for non-iPhone buyers. The touch screen is great, and beneath the flip is an impressive QWERTY keyboard that you can really type on. It's got EV-DO, but alas no Wi-Fi.

For More:

• Ben Patterson's early hands-on review brought some strong discussion.
• Cellphone Forums
• Gizmodo calls it ambitious but flawed.
• Chris Null gives us the hands-on review.

Dash Express is an Internet-connected GPS device, which means that you can find out real-time traffic conditions based on data transmitted from other Dash users. You'll also get up-to-the minute notifications via Yahoo! Local about everything from movies to gas prices.

For More:

• Robin took an early look at Dash's blending of social networking and GPS.
• Ubergizmo has been Dash-tracking for awhile.

Sansa TakeTV wants you to pack in your TiVos or your Apple TVs and opt for a simpler, less expensive way to move downloaded TV programs around the house. The idea behind TakeTV is a USB memory stick. Using a cradle with standard RCA and S-Video plugs, your TV media is stored on the USB memory stick.

For More:

• Ben Patterson took the Sansa TakeTV around his house for a test-drive and found out he appreciated the no-frills/low-cost way to watch downloads on TV.
• PC Magazine gives points for thinking differently about how to move media, but isn't convinced that moving media files using a memory stick is the way to go.

iRobot's iLooj is a robotic gutter cleaner that will seriously cut the time that you need to spend climbing up and down ladders to remove grunge from your gutter. It'll clean a stretch of gutter (60 feet in 10 minutes). iRobot's Roomba, the vacuum cleaning robot, was crowned Last Gadget Standing in 2003. Can it happen again?

For More:

• Read Engadget's gutter-sniping insights.
• And PC World recognizes both the ingeniousness and the weirdness of this product.

Toshiba's TDP-EW25U is a DLP projector with some impressive flexibility. It can produce an image that casts 41 feet or 1.6 feet, create a 60-inch picture even when it's positioned 2.4 feet away, and accommodate high-definition video. Best? It's wireless—no one is going to be tripping in the audience.

For More:

• Let's Go Digital discusses the remarkable performance of these extreme short projection units.
• ExtremeTech goes into extreme detail about the extreme short projection technology.

The Three We Can't Talk About

Well, we could talk, but you know what we'd have to do to you then. Every Last Gadget challenge needs some mystery and intrigue. We've got three new products that will be announced for the first time ever on the show floor at CES. You're going to have to wait until then to hear the details. Suffice it to say that two of the companies are going for the "good things in small packages" title and the other is all about entertainment. Ssshh…don't tell 'em I told you.

Does one of these strike your fancy? Please let us know.