New Windows Vista SideShow Gadgets

Can I tell you how obsessed I am with Windows SideShow? The nifty new feature for Vista uses the onscreen, widget-like "gadgets" add-in programs to give you access to anything from your email and calendar to RSS feeds and desktop music—without the need for your PC to be on. The result is a multitude of totally new gadgets that make use of this technology. As far as I'm concerned, these are some of the most innovative doodads I've seen at CES. Here are a few of my favorites:

Asus W5Fe3 SideShow-enabled laptop: Chris put this laptop in his list of must-see CES gadgets, and I couldn't agree more. I saw this at the CES Unveiled event on Saturday and was blown away. The 12-inch widescreen notebook has a secondary display on the back panel that you can use to access your email or calendar, for example, or to watch slide shows and/or listen to music—again, all with the computer off. It looks slick, too. For more pictures of the Asus, check out the Yahoo! Tech Flickr photostream.

Various remote controls: New remotes are coming from Interlink, TopSeed, Philips, SMK, Ricavision, and others by this summer. These remotes have little LCD screens, which can be used, naturally, to access your email, pictures, calendar, instant messages, and even TV program guides. They also let you remote control your Windows Media Center PC (you can set a show to record and all that using the program guide).

MIS Credit-card sized companion device: According to the guy I spoke with at the Microsoft booth, this wallet-friendly gizmo is going to be branded Nvidia when it comes out stateside this spring, which sounds weird to me, but whatever (I didn't get the memo that Nvidia was doing actual gadgets, but correct me if I'm wrong). It's cool as heck, letting you access said gadgets—apps like music, email, stocks, and the like from over 30 feet away via Bluetooth!

I-Mate smart phone: Don’t know if this will ever come out in the States, but this is essentially a smart phone that doubles as a SideShow viewing device. The good news is you can get SideShow information from your computer while working in another application on the phone.

Toshiba R400: Toshiba's first Vista-enabled tablet notebook comes in cool white and features a one-line bar on the front that gives you real-time email and calendar updates, even so far as to tell you the subject lines of emails. On a non-Vista note, the R400 is also the first notebook to offer built-in, state-of-the-art  UWB (Ultra Wideband) capability for video and other high-bandwidth applications.

Logitech G-15 Gaming Keyboard: This keyboard has a small screen on the top that will give you all the SideShow info you'd want, not to mention game stats. It's already out, but the SideShow support will activate some time this spring.

CWT 7064 OLED Notebook: Don't know much about this Sideshow-enabled laptop (or even if it's coming out Stateside) that's on display at the Microsoft booth, but it's got an OLED screen, for better or worse. I'll write more when I find out more.

I’ll be posting a bit about some other cool new Vista-related gadgets I saw, including the Sony TP1 Living Room PC Digital Living System and the HP TouchSmart PC (which just won our Last Gadget Standing contest).