CES 2011 - the best of the rest

Last week we were in Las Vegas, checking out all the news and new products from the Consumer Electronics Show 2011 - you'll find all our news and video reports from the show here. But with thousands of new products either annouced at the show or put on display for the first time there were several other clever hew devices that caught our eye - and here's our pick of them.

First of all, the video above shows the Orbitsound T14 soundbar. It's an interesting concept: the company claims that, by using three speakers instead of two, it's able to produce stereo sound that you'll hear correctly wherever in the room you may be. And, compared to some soundbar speaker sets, it's not too expensive: £400 for the kit, which includes an iPod dock and cables. We'll bring you a full review later in the year once it's available.

We've already written about the many 3D devices on show, but here's one other neat one: Panasonic's was showing its new GF2 camera with a 3D lens attached. As you can see, it's two lenses in one, but in a body not much bigger than the company's standard "pancake" lens. We hope to review both the GF2 and 3D lens soon.

3D technology tends to cost a packet, of course, but here's a clever new product that won't break the bank: Lexar's new Echo MX USB drive. It comes complete with backup software on the drive, so you can simply plug it in, set it up and get a backup made with the minimum of fuss, but we also like the clever capacity meter on the top: this uses e-ink technology of the type found in ebook readers so it can stay visible all the time, giving you a quick way to check how much storage is spare.

And, speaking of backup, here's Iomega's neat new "Superhero" iPod dock. It charges your iPod or iPhone, of course, but if you install a free app it'll also backup your device to an SD card every time it's plugged in - handy if you don't like mucking about with iTunes unless it's absolutely necessary.