Top Ten Finalists: And They’re Off! [UPDATED]

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CES is right around the corner, and it’s time to announce the ten finalists that will compete in the live portion of the Last Gadget Standing competition. All 25 semifinalists are great products with their own merit, but there are only ten slots in the CES SuperSession, so our panel of writers and bloggers burned the midnight oil to whittle the list to the top ten gadgets.

The online competition still rages on, so don’t forget to cast your vote for the online winner. If you want to see the winner of the live competition, make your way to Room N255-257, of the CES North Hall on Saturday January 9 at 10:30 a.m. for the Last Gadget Standing SuperSession. Each product will be introduced by a product representative in a short but entertaining presentation, and audience applause will determine the winner. It’s always a fun time, and there is a good chance you could win one of the products represented or other great prizes. So which products comprise the terrific top ten-some? Read on to find out.

Meet the D-Link Boxee Box: This distinctive, diminutive media center combines media savvy with a cool design. It will play just about anything you throw at it, and it won’t take up much space in your entertainment center. Could this be the winner?

Or could it be the SHOW WX Pico Projector? We’ve all seen portable projectors, but this one takes the cake. It’s as small as a cell phone, so the Pico projector is equally at home in a pants pocket or brief case. Forget about lugging around an extra bag just for your projector. And its small size means that you can literally play a movie or make a presentation anywhere. The traditional elevator pitch can now include PowerPoint.

Or is it the Droid you’re looking for? The Motorola Droid may have flooded the airwaves and billboard space with ubiquitous ads, but that’s because it is a groundbreaker. The newest Android OS (2.0), a huge 3.7-inch screen, 5-megapixel camera, and fast EVDO connectivity make the Droid much more than “just another cell phone.” Watch out, Apple!

And then there’s the Que proReader: Amazon showed us that a consumer eBook could be a runaway hit, and Que wants to take the eBook passion to the corporate masses. Still lighter than your average Wall Street Journal, the proReader can deliver you the Journal, BusinessWeek, the Economist, and much more. It’s wireless, 8.5 x 11 inches, and has a touchscreen — a feature sorely lacking ion the Kindle.

The new year’s here; it’s time to get on those resolutions, and our next contestant is here to help you meet your goals. The Haier Ibiza Trainer combines a slew of workout gizmos in the body of a single slim device. Clip it on your belt, and you get a music player, pedometer, heart rate monitor, stopwatch, and calorie counter, all ready to do your bidding.

Many of the products we’ve seen take a technology that’s out there already and improve upon it. Such is the case with the Neato Vacuum Cleaner. The Neato is a ‘roided-out Roomba — stronger and smarter than its predecessor.  A square jaw makes getting into corners a snap, and a more powerful engine makes mincemeat of dirt and dust. Finally, a mapping system helps it vacuum with a purpose rather than wandering aimlessly.

The recently-released Avatar film has blasted through the box office and shown the world that 3D is as mainstream as high-definition or Ugg boots. Now Acer wants to give 3D to laptop users with the Acer Aspire 3D notebook. Talk about “getting into” computers. Beyond the 3D, the Acer’s also a powerful PC for work or play.

Some of the innovations we see are not just for the mainstream though. Intel has a ton of general products, but it’s latest is geared toward a smaller demographic: those with vision impairments. The Intel Reader is a handheld device that reads text for you. From there, you can choose to blow the text up to a readable size or to have the reader convert the text to voice, so you can listen to it. You can even scan a whole document, magazine, or book to play back at a later time.

UPDATE: Two more products have just been announced.

The Sony dash Personal Internet Viewer brings the internet to you without a PC. Hooking directly into the Web, the dash will bring you news, weather, YouTube, Pandora Internet radio, Epicurious, Crackle, Livestrong, Blip.tv and much more.

And finally there is a gaming gadget for gamers that don’t want a huge hulking PC or back-breaking gaming laptop. The Nvidia Ultra Andriod Tablet packs a gaming PC into the body of a slim, ultraporatble tablet less than an inch thick.

So there are the Top Ten Gadgets in the Last Gadget Standing Competition. Who will win the online vote, and who will take hopme the prize for the live competition? It’s anyone’s guess, but you can participate in both. If you’re at CES, be sure to attend the live event at Room N255-257, of the CES North Hall on Saturday January 9 at 10:30 a.m. If you’re reading this online, go vote for your favorite gadget on our Ballot Box page!