Hot gadgets for this year

There were plenty of other interesting ideas on display, too, from 3-D printing to a wireless cell phone tether. Here are some of the gadgets most worth keeping an eye out for this year, and some that best deserve an arched eyebrow of amusement:

TV on the iPhone - Qualcomm Inc’s FLO TV service has been limited by the fact that only a few AT&T Inc and Verizon Wireless cell phones can receive the signals, which carry about 15 news, sports and entertainment channels.

Game-controller glove - Iron Will Innovations demonstrated a futuristic-looking black-and-silver glove that replaces a keyboard and lets users control games by touching their fingers together instead.

Wireless charging Power unveiled the Powerpack, a battery that replaces the one that comes with your cell phone and lets you charge your handset by placing it on the mat - no other attachments needed.

Cameras - Polaroid announced at the show that it will be bringing back instant film cameras.

Cell-phone tether - Losing your cell phone is a drag, and a company called Zomm believes it can make it a thing of the past. It has a small device, also called Zomm, that connects wirelessly with your phone through Bluetooth and sets off an alarm if you walk away from it.

3-D camera - The big push from TV makers this year is for sets that show 3-D in the home. Fujifilm, betting that people will want to shoot their own 3-D movies and photos as well, is also selling a digital camera with two lenses, set apart as if they are human eyes. .

3-D filter - Realview Innovations Ltd has developed a film that can be placed over a set to make it look like the flat surface of the screen bulges inwards. Sort of like 3-D, but the effect doesn’t vary from scene to scene.

3-D color printing - Shapeways has been offering 3-D printing for a few years, taking data files and turning them into sculptures with the help of a machine that lays down successive layers of a plaster-like material. At the show, the Dutch company announced that they’re now offering sculptures in full color.

The dyes are impregnated into the material as it’s being built up. The cost: $16.22 per cubic inch.

Mopping robot - It’s the battle of the cleaning robots! The vacuuming Roomba robots will get competition this September from the Mint, a square robot that has a pad for a dry or wet Swiffer-type cleaning cloth. Guided by a beacon that projects an infrared light on the ceiling , the Mint will methodically sweep one room at a time.