Car gadgets we're looking for at CES

The auto industry might be driving off a cliff, but the Consumer Electronics Show that opens Thursday in Las Vegas will be featuring many new (and often expensive) gadgets for your car. Here’s a sampling:

One of the most ambitious items is the Dreevo 2, a GPS unit that will not only provide directions but weather updates, local fuel prices, the location of speed cameras and -- here’s the best -- open parking spots. If it works, sign us up (unless it puts us in receivership).

MiRoamer is billed as the first Internet radio for cars, capable of receiving thousands of online stations from around the world. It will work only on Blaupunkt radios, at least at first.

HD radio, which offers improved sound, has not caught on widely so far, but it will soon be enhanced with real-time traffic info.

We'll have updates from Sin City.

-- David Colker

Photo: Workers set up the Samsung booth at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas today. Credit: Jae C. Hong / Associated Press

Your excuse to play with toys at work -- Road Mice

For every boy (or girl) who has grown up and wishes he (or she) could still push a model car around, here's an offering from Road Mice.

Yep, this is a wireless computer mouse that comes in a number of guises, such as Camaro, Charger, Corvette and Mustang. There's an especially cool police version of the Charger. Employing radio frequency and optical technologies, they work on Macs and PCs. The headlights illuminate, and there are right- and left-click buttons on the hood, on either side of the scroll wheel.

The products are the brainchild of Four Door Media Inc. Chief Executive Dan Cwieka and company President James Markey, who came up with the idea after first considering a car-shaped computer. The products were engineered and designed in Laguna Beach and manufactured in China.

Cwieka says the Road Mice have heft and feel good under the user's hand (and isn't this usually the problem with toy computer mice?). Still, procuring the licenses to re-create these popular models in mouse form was a challenge, Cwieka said. When asked why only American companies were currently represented, he said, "Many of the imports are too concerned about quality and are harder to convince."