The PSP Multi-shape Cobra Stand Bundle Kit, offered by Brando, is a two-part kit to hold your PSP-2000 or 3000. In one configuration, you get a tube and a suction cup. Boring! But the other configuration, you get a freaking 3-foot, waist and arm loving cobra.

With the cobra, you can wrap your PSP around almost any appendage, turning it from Pip Boy to sensual belt buckle in a matter of seconds. But proceed with caution. You never know when even the most loyal cobra will strike. And this thing's immune to your lute, or whatever. $23. [Brando]

• After Warner's announcement, HD DVD won't be attending CES this week, a fact that only looks worse after they put their logo on the press bags. Adding insult to HD DVD's injury, New Line Cinema also joined the Blu-ray exclusive crew.

• WowWee showed us three robots aiming to attack AIBOs, Robosapiens and autonomous helicopters everywhere. The only thing missing was a robot to bring us beer. Luckily, Inter Active Toy covered that with the RC Cooler.

• Other good finds included the Celestron SkyScout Scope, Cobra's OLED radar detectors, and an in-dash CD player for audiophiles. On the GPS front, Magellan's 5340 with built-in Google local search and Garmin's 880 with voice recognition stood out the most. Finally, Logitech unveiled a whole bunch of stuff, including a networked music player, a sleek set of speakers, and an IR remote with capacitive touch.

So far, so good, CES. We'll be looking forward to the press conferences today, and the floor opening on Monday. Until then, keep up with all of our CES 2008 coverage to date.

New Maximum Performance Detectors—A Dashboard "Must-Have" Cobra Electronics Announces Newly Designed 2008 Line of Maximum Performance, Full-Color Radar Detectors

LAS VEGAS (January 4, 2008) — Chicago-based Cobra Electronics (NASDAQ: COBR) today announced the launch of its new Super-Xtreme Range Superheterodyne™ Maximum Performance 12 Band™ 2008 radar line. Following the success of the wireless remote controlled XRS R9G, the new line once again offers drivers detection of the fastest radar and laser guns—including POP Mode and KU-Band—high-resolution full-color displays and other Cobra radar mainstay features drivers have come to rely on. Cobra's 2008 radar products offer maximum performance at prices that challenge competitors' products with less features and higher prices.

The XRS 9950 and 9940 feature the ExtremeBright DataGrafix™ full-color display with alert screens and icons such as car battery voltage, signal strength and eight-point digital compass. The products feature a 1.5-inch and 1-inch OLED display, respectively, and a sleek new industrial design.

The new XRS 9950 includes the added benefit of an optional GPS locator. The locator, also available in Cobra's XRS R9G, alerts drivers of dangerous speed and red light camera locations in North America.

"In a category that's been around for more than 20 years, Cobra continues to innovate," said Tony Mirabelli, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Cobra. "Whether it's our speed and red light camera alerts, our full-color video displays or our S-XRS™ maximum performance, Cobra has transformed the radar detector from a 'nice-to-have' to a 'must have' in today's car."

In addition to the products' enhanced performance and added benefits, the 9950 and 9940 offer Cobra firsts such as Voice Alert™, which clearly annunciates signals and alerts being detected; IntelliMute®, a programmable speed sensing auto mute system that reduces false alerts; SmartPower™ to automatically shut off the unit when the vehicle's ignition is turned off; and Safety Alert® and Strobe Alert®, which alert the driver of approaching emergency vehicles and select road hazards.
The XRS 9950 has an MRSP of $259.95 and the XRS 9940 has an MSRP of $229.95. Both will be available at major retailers starting in April 2008.

Beyond the flagship XRS 9950 and 9940, Cobra is also introducing upgrades to its existing line of detectors with price points ranging from $209.95 to $99.95 to suit every driver's need.
Along with its maximum performance XRS radar line, Cobra's 2008 mobile navigation, two-way radio, citizens band and marine products will be on display at this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, January 7-10 in the Central Hall, booth # 9841, at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Cobra's radar, mobile navigation and two-way radio products will also be on display at CES Unveiled, January 5 in the Sands Expo and Convention Center.

What, that's not enough to warrant a couple grand? Okay, it's also made with titanium, leather and sapphire crystals. Along with that is Vertu's 24-hour concierge service, automatic backups of your contacts and calendar to a network that is housed in an ex-military bunker, and three ringtones created by David Arnold (the composer from Casino Royale). Just a note—if you complained about the iPhone being too expensive, stay away from Vertu as it only gets worse from here (Cobra Signature) [Crave]

As a guy who drives like a complete A-hole, I have to say, I've got mixed feelings about this device. No matter how rushed I am, I don't run red lights — Did you know that T-boning, along with spins, lead to the most fatalities on the road. Well, next to my friggin road rage that is.

Anyhow, the radar detector also uses the GPS to detect the car's speed, and mute the alarms if you happen to be driving the speed limit.

–Brian Lam

Cobra Website [gizmodo]

Bling! Bling! [CNN via SlashPhone.com]

GPS Gang Bang [Giz]

Cobra NavOne GPSM 4500
The NavOne has a relatively huge 5-inch 320x240 display, an easy-to-use interface and offers clear and accurate directions. It also gives you real-time traffic reports and lots of configurability. Type in those addresses with a QWERTY virtual keyboard, and it's off and running, telling you where to go with a sexy female voice. She doesn't know street names, but gives you plenty of warning when it's time to turn, rerouting you around traffic and telling you about 7 million points of interest. But the NavOne was cheap-looking with its plastic chrome trim, and bulky, too, at 1.3 pounds—certainly not one you'd want to carry around in your pocket. Even so, we liked it anyway. Don't be scared away by its $1000 list price, you can find one for $580 on the street, or spend about $80 less for the model 4000 without those handy real-time traffic reports.

Cobra NavOne Product Page

Mio C710 DigiWalker
This Mio GPS unit is the most versatile of the bunch we tested here. It not only gives you clear directions on its 3.5-inch screen but it's a respectable movie and MP3 player, too. Its GPS unit is highly capable, loaded with 5 million points of interest and a sensitive touchscreen that gives you a choice of four dynamic data sets at the bottom. It was the only unit in our test group that showed us our altitude, nice to know we were climbing some of the big mountains out West. In addition to its GPS capabilities, it also works well with Bluetooth cellphones as a caller ID device, and it has an unusually responsive dual-duplex speakerphone as well. It can also give you live traffic reports, but too bad its GPS unit doesn't work when you're using it with your cellphone. We also wish it had a QWERTY keyboard—it's Alpha all the way, which we find rather awkward. Even so, everything this DigiWalker attempts to do, it does well, plus it's highly portable and will fit easily in your pocket. It's $600 on the street.

Mio C710 Product Page

Honda Civic Hybrid Factory-installed GPS Navigation System
This one's built-in to the Honda Civic hybrid, and offers your choice of male or female voices, a huge 6.25-inch screen, and near-perfect interoperability with the Civic Hybrid's highly capable sound system which even has XM Satellite readiness. Its maps are upgradeable once a year, but the 2006 model has shown us a few blind spots on roads it should know about. A neat trick is its voice recognition, where you can push a button on the steering wheel and yell, "Go home!" to the dashboard, and its voice will politely ask you if you'd like to go home. It has a QWERTY keyboard and tells you how long until you get to your destination. Too bad it doesn't give you a choice of 2D or 3D maps, staying with 2D and popping up a close-up when it's time to turn. It's an option that'll cost you nearly $2000; see if you can haggle a lower price with that car salesperson.

Garmin StreetPilot c550
This was the easiest unit of the bunch to use, and although its voice was somewhat robotic, it actually made attempts at speaking the street names. Sometimes this was rather comical, but it came in handy. Besides giving you the most accurate and complete directions we've seen, it can also play MP3 files and sync up with your Bluetooth telephone as well. Its 3.5-inch LCD display hits the sweet spot between portability and large-enough size, and its touchscreen gives you just the right information, and it's plenty sharp, too. Its live traffic information antenna is integrated into its cigarette lighter adapter, and it smartly reroutes you around any traffic slowdowns or accidents. Too bad it also has just an alpha keyboard—no QWERTY here—but that was about the only flaw we found. Best of all, this Garmin StreetPilot c550 passed the ultimate test: I handed it over to my lovely but non-gadgety wife for an evening, and she and all her friends were able to use all of its features without instruction on a ladies night out, finding their way home without incident even through the fog of questionable sobriety. Bravo, Garmin. It's a pricey $700, but if you're looking for a cheaper unit with similar capabilities, consider the StreetPilot c320, a similar unit without traffic data, MP3 player and Bluetooth capabilities.

Garmin StreetPilot c550 Product Page

Take a look at this video, where you can hear the voices of all four of these units. The smooth-sounding male voice is that of the Honda Civic Hybrid's built-in GPS unit, the robotic male voice is the Garmin, the smooth and sexy-sounding female voice is the Cobra NavOne, and the other female voice is the Mio. – Charlie White

Breaker-Breaker, Got Me a Deal

Okay, look—I know I promised in last week's column that I'd be talking about cheapo headphones on this go-around. But something came up, and I find myself whiling away mid-March on the outskirts of Carlisle, Penn. I'm actually staying at a HoJo about 300 yards from big-rig weigh station, so the low-end electronics pickings are pretty slim—there's an Arby's and a "Mature Fantasy" store within spitting distance, but no Radio Shack. That means the headphones riff is gonna have to wait until I make my way back home.

The upside is that, surrounded as I am by the gruff spiritual kinfolk of BJ (of BJ and the Bear fame), I've fallen in love once again with a category of gadgets too often ignored: CB radios. Lemme tell you, when I was about yeah high to a grasshopper, I wanted a CB set more than any Transformer or Go-Bot you can think of. My friend Jake's dad had one in his Caddy, and I spent many a sleepless night wishing that he was my dad, too—despite the fact that he smelled like three-day-old Arthur Treachers. Back before cellphones, CB radios were the way to go person-to-person wireless, and to break out some pretty crusty slang, too—gotta love a subculture that coined the phrase "duck plucker" as an obscenity.

Imagine my overwhelming joy, then, upon discovering that CB radios have now descended into low-end territory. After the jump, some tasty sub-$40 (okay, sub-$43) deals on sets that'll help you get your Lincoln Hawk on.

Let's start with the ubiquitous Midland 1001Z, from a brand which I gather is sorta the Coby or jWin of the CB realm. That said, many of the specs on this bad-boy actually seem right in line with units costing twice as much—I mean, hey, with 40 channels, a 4-watt transmitter, and the all-important squelch control, what more could you want? Seems like a serious bargain at $30.99, though I'm open to hearing critiques from readers more knowledgeable than I about the workings of CB radios. If there's a good reason to spend significantly more, if your only intention is to talk smack with some long-hauler coming off a meth binge, I'm open to what you've got to say.

The Midland brand, though widely available, probably isn't too familiar to those of us unaccustomed to the low-end gadgetry of the trucking set. If you'd rather go with a more celebrated manufacturer, try the Pro510XL from Uniden. That's right, the same company that brought us the glory that is RocketDial is also a player in the CB game. The specs seem to be more-or-less identical to those of the Midland unit; the major difference is the hype-sheet chatter about the Uniden model being a "sophisticated, Euro-styled" option. Um, okay. Can somebody please tell me what a Euro-styled radio is, and how the Pro510XL fits into that definition? True, I'm an uncouth Yank, but this CB looks like the standard black box that generations of my countrymen have known and loved.

Gotta wrap up the CB parade with yet another gem, the Cobra 19 DX IV. The appeal here&madsh;and a reason to pay an extra Hamilton or so more than for the Midland—is the brighter LCD display, RF gain, and (per the hype sheet) "sculpted design and muted graphics." Can't vouch for that last bit, but I do have a natural affinity for ferocious corporate mascots, so score one for the Cobra brand.

You can't really get CBing on the highway until you have a solid antenna, of course, though serviceable models can be had for under $30. You'll also need full command of the slang, which can be gleaned from a thorough investigation of this indispensable site. Wow, had no idea there were so many trucker euphemisms for "prostitute," including "concrete blonde." Hey, I get it now, guys, thanks; very clever, though I still think your music is abysmal.

Okay, gotta get back to twiddling my thumbs at the Carlisle HoJo; back next week with the promised headphones column. In the meantime, if anyone can shed some light on why you can't buy beer in gas stations in Cumberland County, Penn., I'd be much obliged. Is this a Pennsylvania-wide law? If so, has anyone ever considered the fact that noted beer lover and Pennsylvanian Benjamin Franklin must surely be spinning in his grave? Please advise, thank you.

Brendan I. Koerner is a contributing editor at Wired and a columnist for both The New York Times and Slate. His Low End Theory column appears every Thursday on Gizmodo.

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