Later in the day, Lebanon's New TV broadcast a short interview of a man it identified as a Turkish appliance-company worker being held by the clansmen, who said he had been kidnapped after he left the airport in Beirut earlier in the day.

WSJ: Syria Sends Shocks Through Lebanon, Mideast

We saw a number of Electric Imp demos and appliance ideas at the booth including a simple hand-held "detonator" toggle switch with LED, seven-segment counter, water level sensor, servo-controlled gauge, RGB light, power socket, Christmas light, power monitor, toy washing machine, 16x16 LED display and receipt printer (the latter two being combined to show the avatars and tweets of anyone mentioning the Electric Imp) -- all Internet aware.

ENGADGET: Hands-on with the Electric Imp at Maker Faire (video)

ViewSonic, a privately held manufacturer of flat-screen displays, is getting into the information appliance market.

FORBES: ViewSonic: Information Appliances Are Luxury Items

Local online retailers like home appliance company Suning Appliance (SHE: 2024) is one of the most popular sites for shoppers followed by the privately held 360buy.com.

FORBES: Where The Chinese Are Shopping