There are also nodes that turn the device into a flashlight and game controller -- modularity is the key here.
With Bluetooth capability, you can use a discreet remote control to change volume, turn the device on and off, toggle between electronic devices, answer hands-free phone calls and stream music, sort of like having a miniature wireless headset in your ear.
Some YouTube exec demonstrating how you can turn your mobile device into a remote control for YouTube.
FORBES: CES: Panasonic Unveils 2013 TVs; New Smart TV Interface
This is a bit of a problem, because he was brought in just two years ago to turn the struggling device maker around.
FORBES: Boston Scientific Turnaround Expert Quits Before The Turnaround
For instance, if you see that your kid is playing Scribblenauts while he or she is at school, you can remotely turn off the device.
When crisis hits, the phone is the device people turn to first for help.
The Wave Glider is the first autonomous device to turn ocean waves into energy: a robot for the sea.
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) has struggled to turn its video streaming device, Apple TV, into anything more than a hobby.
It's important to remember that people now enjoy a dizzying array of options for which device to turn on when considering their entertainment needs.
In April, a failed cooling device in turn caused a break-down in a mechanism that cleans the air in Mir's cabin of carbon dioxide.
Our Reader Comments of the Week come from a story about actor Alec Baldwin, who apparently freaked out on an American Airlines flight when an attendant asked him to turn off his mobile device.
CNN: Tech Check: The Apple Store's secrets, the Web goes .XXX
With WeMo SMART functionality added, the NetCam HD is viewable from the WeMo app and acts as an additional motion sensor on a WeMo network to trigger another device to turn on or off when it senses motion.
ENGADGET: Belkin unveils the NetCam HD WiFi camera, WeMo SMART functionality in tow for $150
These include shared play where two people are using the device simultaneously and turn-based play where the tablet is passed around.
FORBES: King.com CEO Riccardo Zacconi Explains Why The Future Of Social Gaming Is Multi-Screen
Even with the pick up in tablet usage at home, smartphones remain the No. 1 device that people turn to during the day.
You may be visually assaulted by Amazon branding at every turn once you switch the device on, but the exterior at least is reasonably clean.
The scientists turned lithium-ion battery materials, such as copper, into a sprayable liquid form, which can be applied to any surface and turn it into an energy storage device.
FORBES: Soon We Might Spray-Paint Batteries Onto Any Surface
Like its predecessors, the newest PalmPilot, the Palm III, is one of the best-designed bits of consumer electronics ever made. 3Com's proprietary operating system, the Palm OS, is amazingly intuitive and perfectly adapted to a device that most users turn on for mere seconds at a time.
The device seemed to have to turn on its radio and establish a new connection each time.
There was the London primary school with a plan to recycle old computer components to turn the Raspberry Pi into a communications device for schools in developing countries.
It flickers to life on-screen and appears to turn on and off when you shake the device it's on.
The chip, in turn, wirelessly powered a radio-wave device that was located a meter away and measured energy from the ear.
And wireless apps will turn the smartphone into a remote-access device.
With consumer demands always rising (for Retina Displays, faster processors, more memory, etc.), it may be impossible to turn the iPad Mini into an equally profitable device.
Now though, the new Facebook Home - in effect a skin you can install to turn an Android phone into a social networking device - seems to be right at the centre of the mobile strategy.
Nokia Drive delivers a full-fledged personal navigation device (PND) with free, turn-by-turn navigation and dedicated in-car-user-interface.
ENGADGET: Nokia Lumia 710 now shipping, global rollout slated for 'coming weeks'
The device also allows business users to instantly turn a display into a flexible, securely managed, communications-enabled thin client for work, demos or presentations.
ENGADGET: Dell's Project Ophelia: an Android 4.0 stick that turns any display into a PC
Some customers want to bring Ubi into schools, where it could be used to turn the standard chalkboard into a 21st century multimedia device.
Simple Start enables one-click access to the router dashboard, making it easy to configure a media server, turn on parental controls or troubleshoot from a mobile device.
ENGADGET: Belkin outs AC1800 and AC750 dual-band routers, USB WiFi adapter at CES 2013
Ironically, this long heralded digital entertainment hub may turn out to be not a PC or dedicated device, but one of the new generation of games consoles.
On Nov. 5 the Mountain View, Calif. search giant announced that it had cobbled together an alliance of 34 companies seeking to turn the mobile phone into a freely open computing device.
应用推荐