At first glance, Ili looks like a white Apple TV remote tied around a string. It's actually much more useful (and hopefully, about a million times more convenient). The thin, white device is a mobile translator: You speak into one side, pressing Ili's single button, and there's a speaker on the other that delivers your message into the desired language. The tiny gadget also has no need for Wi-Fi or any connection to work—it relies on Ili's in-home built database to deliver translations. The room where we got a look at Ili was far too loud to test it in (so FYI, business travelers, CES and other conferences are not a friendly environment for the sleek, on-the-go translator), but the idea is that you could get everything inside that unwieldy phrase book packed in this tiny thing.

It's a nice-looking device, but the convenience of it remains to be seen. Also, aren't there a lot of voice dictation translations apps out there now? There are a few, but Ili touts its language database (which currently includes English, Chinese, and Japanese—version two will have French, Thai, and Korean) and direct voice delivery as a better experience. Also, there's that whole not needing Internet thing.