10 weird and wonderful gadgets for 2015

Pacifi Smart Pacifier

In the past the pacifier was something for your baby to suckle on.

But the new Pacifi Smart Pacifier will tell you if your baby is okay, running a temperature or what medication you gave it.

The pacifier will also alert you with an alarm if you leave it behind somewhere, no doubt great news for parents who have lost countless of the plastic bulbs.

Energous Wireless Charging

Charging gadgets is a real pain and even wireless systems are bulky and irritating to use. But Energous can charge any gadget that has Bluetooth. It uses this to locate your device and then streams power to it without any interaction. All you need to do is stand nearby an Energous base station and it does the rest. 

Budgee Helper Robot

Need stuff carried around the house? The Budgee is a cheap (R16 000) robot that can carry over 20 kilograms and will follow you almost anywhere. It has its limitations: no stairs or rough terrain for this bot. But it can move around your house and garden with relative ease and will follow a transmitter you keep in your pocket. Budgee is light and can fold up - you can even fit it into a car boot. 

Mercedes F 015 Luxury in Motion

The real point of a self-driving car is so that we can do other things. Mercedes takes this to the next level with its F 015 concept car. The saloon has four inward-facing seats, screens everywhere, a gesture-recognition system to read body language and even a coffee table. Throw in a bed and this may be the mobile apartment of the future...

Pono

Neil Young believes MP3s are rubbish, so he threw his name behind Pono, a triangular portable music gadget that plays really high-quality songs. The music will be bought from Pono’s own store and Young swears it’s a whole new experience. But do we really want to hear Justin Bieber hit all his notes?

Samsung Galaxy Note Edge

Samsung released the Galaxy Note Edge last year already, but its design is still so fresh that 2015 is all excited about it again. The phone has a thin, separate vertical screen that curves along the edge of the device. It shows you information you can read at a glance without needing to engage with your phone or even flip open the cover. 

IO Hawk

Need to get around in a flash, but don’t feel like walking? The Segway was too geeky for most, but the IO Hawk skateboard could be more popular. Small enough to fit in a backpack, the IO Hawk self-balances and its makers claim anyone from a six-year-old to your granny can ride on it. 

Panasonic Smart Mirror

The trusty mirror is due for an upgrade and Panasonic has decided to do that job. Its smart mirror prototype uses cameras to copy your face and project it onto the mirror. Then you can experiment: ever wondered how you would look with blue eye shade, a handlebar moustache or a mullet? The mirror shows you right there in your reflection, saving you from future bad fashion decisions. 

Gogoro Smartscooter

Scooters are great to get around on and cheap to boot, but they are actually also heavy polluters. The Gogoro Smartscooter aims to change that. Electric scooters are not new, but this specific model will be supported by battery hubs all over. If you are running low, simply pop out your old battery and slot in a new one - all in a matter of seconds. Naturally you’d need a battery hub nearby to do this, but it’s good to see that electric transport is becoming very simple and easy to use. 

Belty

Hands-down the best gadget at CES this year is Belty. And ‘hands down’ is literal: this belt will self-adjust around your waist. So eat a big lunch and it grows bigger, but find your pants a bit loose and it sets itself to be tighter. The model at the show is still a clunky prototype and there is the question of how lazy you need to be to not adjust your own belt. But there are many interesting applications for a self-adjusting belt, such as a backpack that always closes itself. At the very least your pants will never fall down again!