Earlier this month at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, I set out to track down some of the more unusual of the latest devices on offer. These included several gadgets that could turn out to be genuinely useful, others (like the Hello Kitty pink keyboard) that should never have seen the light of day, and a few really zany items, such as the $599 battery-powered iShoes (www.theishoes.com) that promise to zip users along at 13.5mph for up to three hours.

In the interesting/useful category I would put several innovative devices that use the GPS satellite navigation system, including the Spot Satellite Messenger (www.findmespot.com). This pocket-sized device, which weighs just over 200g and costs $170, is designed for mountaineers, skiers or anyone else who likes to get “off the beaten track” but who wants the comfort of knowing that in an emergency help is always within reach. It uses the GPS satellite network to acquire its co-ordinates, and then sends its location (with a link to Google Maps) via a commercial satellite network.