New smartphone case stuns CES visitors - literally!

This year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, one of the biggest of its kind in the world, has attracted more than 3,000 exhibitors and some 150,000 visitors.

Among the more unusual items on display was a new, improved version of the Yellow Jacket stun-gun case.

As its name indicates, this controversial mobile phone case has a built-in 650K volt stun gun, designed not only to protect the phone but also its user. The battery that supplies the stun gun can also provide your iPhone with an additional 20 hours of battery life. But users might want to check first whether the device is legal in their country.

Ford unveiled its solar-powered hybrid, the C-Max Solar Energi, the big brother of the plug-in C-Max Energi – available only in the US. It harnesses the sun’s rays by using a special contractor, which acts like a magnifying glass directing light onto the solar panel. If needed, the car can also be charged via a standard plug.

“We are taking this a step further by saying that now we can take the car off the grid entirely. So you can power the entire lithium battery by pure, free sunlight over the course of a day in the sun, underneath our low cost infrastructure,” said Dan McReadie, an engineer at the Ford Motor Company.

Something between a golf cart and a minibus, the Navia is a zero-emissions electric vehicle that can carry up to eight people. Designed specially for pedestrian areas or campuses, it travels at a speed of just over 12 kilometres an hour, using laser-based sensors to get around.

A showcase for inventions of all kind, the Las Vegas event features a plethora of electronic devices for the smart home of the future. Whether these will truly make our lives easier remains to be seen…