CES 2012 Overview (Over 250 Products Listed)

Consumer Electronics Show is one of the biggest technology shows on the planet. It is like christmas after christmas for techies as they get to see and try the latest and greatest gadgets, some of which could be months before their actual release to market. On top of that the show happens in Las Vegas providing attendees with an opportunity for a great post-show nightlife.

In a nutshell CES 2012 was mainly about ultrabooks, yet more tablets, yet more smartphones, and the emergence of incredibly thin 55-inch (or bigger) OLED TVs with a 4K resolution and glasses-free 3D capability. The hot chips of this year’s CES are Intel’s latest Ivy Bridge, and Nvidia Tegra 3. And the hot operating systems are Android 4.0, and the upcoming Windows 8 which should enter beta this year.

I’ve compiled a categorized overview of almost all of the items that were shown on CES this year. Not all of them are entirely new and never seen before, but they were shown on CES. Also, not all of them are coming very soon. Some are even prototypes of products that are in the pipeline for as far as next year.

Perhaps having it all on this one page might help those looking for a quick overview of everything that came out, and everything CES 2012 was about. So let’s get to it.

Ultrabooks

Intel started something big last year with the Ultrabook brand, and the millions they put into encouraging their development. No, scratch that. Apple started something big last year with the release of the new MacBook Air, which served as a role model for the Intel’s “ultrabook”, and a slew of devices vying to be worthy of that name. Needless to say, and as expected, a number of ultrabooks were shown at CES, including:

• HP Envy 14 Spectre
• IdeaPad U310 / U410
• Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga – running Windows 8, convertible to a tablet.
• Lenovo ThinkPad T430u
• Lenovo ThinkPad Edge S430
• Toshiba Portege M930
• Toshiba Satellite 14″
• LG Z330, Z430
• Dell XPS 13
• Samsung Series 5 Ultra
• Samsung Series 9
• Intel Nikiski
• Acer Aspire S5
• Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra

Acer also unveiled AcerCloud, an iCloud-like service that many are seeing as a blatant iCloud rip off. In any case it should offer Acer users the ability to sync all their data between their Acer devices.

Notebooks

Of course, good old notebooks are still being made, but it would appear they come in smaller numbers. I believe the ultrabooks will quickly cannibalize the notebook category, albeit the line between a standard notebook and an ultrabook may be quite blurry.

• Vizio Vizio 15.6-inch
• Lenovo ThinkPad Edge S430 is the first Windows laptop with Intel’s Thunderbolt
• Lenovo Edge E430
• Lenovo Edge E530
• Lenovo IdeaPad S200
• Lenovo S206 with new Atom CPU
• Toshiba Qosmio F755 gaming laptop with glasses-free 3D

Desktops

Desktop PCs are perhaps the biggest victim of the insurgence of tablets, and ultrabooks. It’s not that they are disappearing or that they will disappear any time soon, but they are becoming more of a niche. The line up of desktops on offer is dominated by all-in-one PCs.

• ExoPC EXOdesk – this one stands out for its huge multi-touch desk surface which reminds of Microsoft Surface. Judging from the physical keyboard and mouse being placed on top I assume this is strong and sturdy enough to be used as a normal desk. It just happens to double as a large touch screen that you can use to run applications or manipulate standard Windows applications on a normal computer monitor.
• Lenovo K430 (tower)
• Lenovo H520s (tower)
• Lenovo IdeaCentre B340 All-In-One
• Lenovo IdeaCentre B540 All-In-One
• Vizio 24-inch All-in-One
• Vizio 27-inch All-in-One
• Acer Aspire Z7871 All-In-One

Tablets

I’m not quite sure if any of these really match up to the iPad 2, let alone the iPad 3 which is bound to be further improved, but we’re given plenty of cool additional options including Quad Core tablets powered by the new Nvidia Tegra 3 chip, and some cheap tablets for no more than $100 bucks. Of course, Android 4.0 is making its appearance on many of these.

• Coby series of Android 4.0 tablets covering all sizes: MID7042 (7-inch), MID8042 (8-inch), MID9042 (9-inch), MID9742 (9.7-inch), MID1042 (10-inch), MID1045 (10-inch with better resolution, 1024×800). Cheapest one is $179, and the top one is $299.
• Acer Iconia Tab A200
• Acer Iconia Tab A700
• Novo7 Basic – $99 7-inch tablet
• Lenovo IdeaTab S2: a 10.1-inch, dual-core Android 4.0 tablet with keyboard dock attachment
• OLPC XO 3.0
• Toshiba Excite X10
• Qooq culinary tablet
• Toshiba Portege M930 (with a keyboard, convertible)
• Panasonic Toughpad A1
• Archos G9
• Gadmei T863 and E8-3D glasses-free 3D Android 4.0 tablets
• WikiPad
• Intel Windows 8 tablet
• Razer Project Fiona gaming tablet
• Lenovo IdeaPad K2110
• Viewsonic ViewPad E70
• Texas Instruments Blaze tablet
• Asus Eee Pad MeMO ME370T with quad-core Tegra 3, for $249
• Pantech Element
• Asus Padfone
• Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 announced for Verizon
• Samsung Galaxy Note
• Vizio M-Series
• LePan tablet
• Gigabyte T1006M convertible tablet and S1081 slate
• Velocity Micro Cruz T507 and T510
• Toshiba 21:9 phone and tablet prototypes
• Bambook Sunflower and Kyobo e-readers
• MasterImage glasses-free 3D tablet (and smartphone)
• Pantech Element (waterproof)
• Playbook 2.0 OS release for RIM’s Playbook tablet
• ASUS Tablet powered by ARM and Windows 8 later in the year.
• ASUS Transformer Prime 3G
• Toshiba 21:9 aspect ration tablet prototype

Smartphones

The name of the smartphone game this year is Android 4.0, but the most praised new smartphone appears to be the new Nokia Lumia 900, which is running Windows Phone 7.

• Motorola Defy Mini
• Motorola Motolux
• Motorola Droid 4
• Motorola Droid RAZR Maxx
• ViewPhone 3
• Lenovo K800
• LG Revolution – Android 4.0 smartphone with vmware virtualization. More LG Android phones coming.
• Porsche Design BlackBerry P’9981
• LG Viper
• LG Spectrum
• Toshiba 21:9 aspect ratio smartphone prototype
• Lenovo K800
• Nokia Lumia 900
• Sony Ericsson Xperia
• Sony Xperia Ion
• Sony Xperia S
• HTC Titan II
• Pantech Burst
• Samsung Exhilarate
• Samsung Skyrocket HD
• SpareOne (lasts 15 years on a single AA battery)
• Huawei Ascend P1 S
• Lenovo LePhone S2
• Samsung Galaxy Note
• Fujitsu Toshiba IS12t (Windows Phone 7, waterproof)
• BlackBerry P’9981 (Porche design..)
• Kyocera speaker-less smartphone prototype, the phone itself vibrates which can be heard when it’s pressed against the ear

TVs

TVs are getting truly amazing this year. We are seeing TVs as thin as 4mm (looking at the LG prototype), with a bezel as thin as 1mm, screens as big as 55-inch to 84-inch with 4K resolutions (that would be approximately 4000 pixels horizontally) and 21:9 cinema-style aspect ratio, crystal clear high contrast OLED screen technology, and glasses free 3D capability.

Then there is all the smart TV stuff, with TVs running Android, Google TV or custom software, and supporting a variety of apps. The typical remote control is getting some competition as well, in form of gesture control, voice control, or touch screen remotes. AirPlay is making its debut on many of these as well, allowing wireless streaming of audio from the TV to AirPlay enabled speakers.

Of course, to get all these features you have to be prepared to pay a mighty premium, but we’re talking about the leading edge here, and prices usually fall in time. This is the future of television, although we hear Apple might have something to say on that later this year or in 2013.

• LG Smart TV with Google TV, polarized 3D, QWERTY remote
• LG 55” EM9600 OLED TV 4mm thin with a 1mm bezel, and 4K resolution
• LG Nano LM9600 84″ OLED TV with a 1mm-bezel , and a 4K resolution (prototype)
• Lenovo K91 Smart TV with Android 4.0, most advanced 55″ TV
• Toshiba Regza QFHD glasses-free QFHD 3DTV
• Toshiba L7200 3D smart TV
• Toshiba L6200 3D smart TV
• Vizio to have 4K TVs, shows off prototypes, and new Vizio models of passive 3D (allegedely no headaches) HDTVs 32″, 42″ and 47″, and CinemaWide HDTV 21:9 aspect ratio series.
• Samsung Series 8 75-inch LED and 55-inch Super OLED, 4K prototype, Smart TV with voice controls and hand gesture control
• Sony CrystalLED to be developed along with OLED displays
• Panasonic Smart Viera plasma HDTVs
• Haier Transparent OLED TV
• Ubuntu TV operating system debut

Cameras

Notable trends in the cameras department, in addition to further improvements in quality, is the capability to stream camera output live to the internet over a wireless connection. The camera world also has to contend with the increasing quality of cameras on smartphones such as the one on the iPhone, by putting in features which you couldn’t yet find on a smartphone. Of course, true professionals may always be a solid niche for professional cameras.

Another notable innovation in this area is Lytro, although we’ve seen it last year. It is a special camera that takes in all of the surrounding light, and as a result allows taking photos which can switch focus between foreground and background objects (or those closer and those farther in the field of view).

• Cerevo Live Shell – has Contour+ to stream live video from a camera via HDMI to the net (Ustream)
• Tamaggo 360-imager camera prototype (panoramic photography)
• Lytro – there was also talk of possible video Lytro
• Sony NEX-FS100 and NEX-VG20
• Fujifilm X-S1
• Fujifilm limited edition black X100
• Panasonic concept lenses with better focus and video performance
• JVC’s 2012 Everio video cameras with Live Monitoring on the iPad
• Nikon D4 – can be controlled wirelessly over the network
• 18 Fujifilm FinePix cameras. Listed here.
• Sony HDR-PJ760V and HDR-CX760V with built in projectors and balanced SteadyShot
• New Panasonic Lumix cameras with improved lenses, greater speed, and bigger zoom
• Samsung cameras with Wi-Fi: WB850F (incl. 21x zoom), DV300F, WB150F, ST200F, QF20, Q20, W300
• Samsung ST76 and ST66 point-and-shoot cameras
• Fujifilm X-Pro1
• GE X600, X550, G100, E1410SW, C1440W inexpensive but full featured point-and-shoot cameras
• Canon Elph 520 HS and 110
• Canon Vixia M52, M50, R32, and R30
• Canon Powershot G1
• Toshiba Camileo Air10 with Wi-Fi streaming to Ustream.com
• Toshiba Camileo Z100 can record glasses-free 3D
• Four new Micro Four Thirds lens converters from Panasonic
• Sony A77 and NEX-7
• Canon PowerShot G1 X
• Olympus Point-and-Shoot line update: SZ-12, SP-620, TG-320, VR-340, and VG-160
• Sony Bloggie Live with Wi-Fi, live streaming, and sharing.

Gaming

• Qualcomm GameCommand for Android
• Wii U
• Wii U might allow 2 touch Screen controllers
• Wii U will launch with Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge
• AMD Radeon HD 7970 and HD 7950
• AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Unit
• Project Fiona (Razer), controller attached to a Windows gaming tablet
• SoftKinetic new DepthSense 311 firmware alpha demonstrated via a 10 finger virtual puppet show
• Shogun Bros. Ballista MK-1 gaming mouse
• Game Genie for Nintendo 3DS (for loading cheats)
• PlayStation Vita Augmented Reality games (table soccer demonstrated)
• ‘Skyrim’ on Eee Pad Transformer Prime, streaming the game from a PC over the internet and controlling through a controller connected to the tablet, using a Splashtop app.
• PlayStation Vita 3G for AT&T
• Nyko expands into licensed and non-gaming accessories
• Cyborg Freq 5 gaming headset
• SteelSeries Ion gamepad for iOS and Android
• SteelSeries Flux and Siberia v2 headsets
• SteelSeries Kana, Kinzu v2, and Kinzu v2 Pro gaming mice
• Samsung Series 7 Gamer notebook
• Microsoft Flight simulation game
• Razer Naga Hex gaming mouse
• Razer Blade gaming laptop
• Razer’s touchscreen ‘Star Wars: The Old Republic’ keyboard
• Ion’s new iCades: Mobile, Core, and Jr.
• LG’s 2012 3D Cinema TVs to have Gaikai cloud game streaming built-in
• Kinect for Windows coming February 1st with ‘near mode’
• Netflix coming to PlayStation Vita
• Sensics Smart Goggles VR headset
• CTA Digital’s US Army branded gaming accessories (bluetooth headsets for PS3, PC and Xbox, PlayStation Move rifles, and backpacks for carrying consoles).
• Chameleon X-1 Assassin’s Creed themed gamepad mouse

Peripherals & Other

What can definitely be gauged from the offerings in this category is the emphasis on wireless interconnectedness between all of our devices via wireless streaming, AirPlay speakers, remote control, and so on. On the wired front, we also see a clear emergence of thunderbolt as a new connectivity standard for peripherals. Then there is a number of docks, devices that turn “dumb” TVs into smart TVs, routers that turn external hard drives into streamable file servers, and a lot of miscellaneous stuff.

Networking

Perhaps the most interesting item in this category is the “I’m Core” system. It represents a wearable dongle that has in it all the processing power needed by any device such as a smartphone, tablet, and even a TV. These devices simply become clients to this core. They do the displaying and input and the “I’m Core” does the processing. In a nutshell it creates and maintains your personal cloud, from a device you can literally hang off your neck.

• I’m Core personal processing unit concept (could do processing for all of your devices)
• Samsung Optical SmartHub can stream media through Samsung’s AllShare Play
• JetStreamHD Live TV tuner – can be plugged into the JetStreamHD box so it can stream TV channels from the box to other devices on the network (in addition to data on a hard drive that can be connected to the JetStreamHD box).
• Boxee Live TV for the Boxxee box, adds local TV channels to the Boxxee box
• WarpiaTV – wirelessly streams video from a PC via the USB port to a TV via the HDMI port.
• D-Link DIR-505 All-in-One Mobile Companion, a compact mobile router that can be plugged in to a power outlet, and can turn a wired connection via its ethernet port into a wireless connection. The USB port allows connecting a hard drive to share over the network, or to charge the device.
• Netgear Media Storage Router
• SMILE Plug, generates a private Wi-Fi cloud for 60 people
• Wi-Ex zBoost cellular signal boosters
• 802.11ac routers from Trendnet, Buffalo and Broadcom allow fastest Wi-Fi (up to 450Mbps)
• Motorola Connected Home Gateway, to act as a router for a number of home-based Wi-Fi enabled devices, of which there should be a growing number
• Kivic One, a device that can stream video and audio to AirPlay and DLNA enabled devices

Projectors

• LightPad pico projector and laptop like dock in one, for smartphones
• Velocity Micro’s Shine small projector
• Casio Slim DLP projectors: XJ-A141, XJ-A146, XJ-A241, XJ-A246, XJ-A251, and XJ-A256

Docks

• iHome iW4 AirPlay alarm clock and dock for iPhone, iPad and iPod
• Sony’s RDH-GTK33iP iPod dock
• iHome iW4 AirPlay alarm clock and dock for iPhone, iPad and iPod
• Belkin Express Dock, thunderbolt enabled
• Philips SoundBar, and Sound Hub with DLNA
• Behringer Soundscape Air iPod dock
• Phillips clock radios for iOS with iPod docks (AJ5300D, AJ5350D, and AJ7035D)
• Toshiba Dynadock U3.0 universal docking station
• LG Powerful Sound iPod Docking Speaker with a cube-like design
• iHome iDM5 dock with a bluetooth keyboard, speaker, and speakerphone
• The Pill iPod nano speaker dock
• Behringer iNuke Book, a giant iPhone dock
• Mophie Juicepack Powerstation Pro external charger for various phones and tablets.

Cams

• Dropcam HD surveillance camera now with 720p video recording and two-way audio
• Samsung Wi-Fi enabled IP SmartCam
• Samsung Wi-Fi video baby monitor
• Warpia ConnectHD wireless monitor, webcam and microphone for TVs
• Tely Labs TelyHD web cam with a remote, works with Skype and uses Android

External Drives

External storage this year is all about thunderbolt support and easy wireless streaming of content from the external hard drive to PCs, tablets, and smartphones.

• ioSafe tested their drive by subjecting it to a thunderbolt, and managed to recover data
• Western Digital My Book Thunderbolt Duo external drives
• VMUltra, a hard drive, card reader, and a DVD-ROM in one, meant for ultrabooks.
• OCZ Lightfoot Thunderbolt external SSD drive
• Seagate thunderbolt adapters for their GoFlex external drives
• Victorinox SSD, a super secure allegedly worlds smallest external USB SSD drive within a Swiss Army knife
• Elgato thunderbolt SSD drive
• G-Technology G-Raid storage array with Thunderbolt support
• Sanho CloudFTP connects external drives to Wi-Fi
• LaCie 2Big thunderbolt enabled RAID arrays, and eSATA Hub Thunderbolt Series (for connecting dual eSATA drives to thunderbolt enabled devices
• Seagate Satellite 4G external hard drive with LTE and Wi-Fi support, acts as an access point and allows access to data from the hard drive across the network.

Audio

• Turtle Shell wireless speakers from Outdoor Tech
• Etymotic GunSport Pro electronic earplugs
• OT Rocks wireless earbuds from Outdoor Tech
• Klipsch Stadium, RoomGroove Air and Console AirPlay speakers
• SuperTooth Disco 2 bluetooth speakers
• Parrot Zik headphones with bluetooth, NFC, and accelerometer, which can, when connected to a smartphone, be used to control music with gestures over the headphones, and pause music when taken off.
• AKG K 490 NC, and K 495 NC noise canceling headphones
• Soundfreaq Sound Kick mobile bluetooth speaker
• Tiki, Mikey Digital, and Spark Digital portable microphones by Blue
• Sennheiser HD 25 Amperior and HD 700 premium headphones
• Sony RDP-200iP and XF300iP wireless speaker docks
• Phillips Shoqbox portable speakers
• Eton Rukus solar powered sound system
• Behringer Splash 100 wireless speaker, and a Tuff Tunes boombox
• Griffin Twenty amp adapter uses Apple’s AirPort extreme to enable AirPlay for old speaker
• Parrot Zikmu Solo wireless speaker by Philippe Starck
• Pure Contour 200i AirPlay speakers
• Iqua Beat fitness headset
• Soundmatters FoxLO miniature subwoofer
• Phillips Fidelio L1 and Citiscape headphones

Add-Ons & Dongles

• Kogeto iCONIC camera add-on for Galaxy Nexus and other smartphones that enables panoramic video recording
• Samsung inTouch adds apps, web browsing, and HD Skype to HDTVs without an internet connection, and with HDMI ports.
• j5 JUC600 microUSB cable that can mirror what’s on Android smartphone screen to the PC screen, in addition to charging the phone and allowing data transfer.
• I’m Watch Android power watch
• BiKN RF-tagged objects locator for iPhone
• Always Innovating HDMI Dongle is an alternative to a set top box like Roku or Boxxee, with an Android interface and support for Google TV and Ubuntu TV. It can stream video from Wi-Fi or play from a microSD card.
• Roku Streaming Stick for TVs
• Tinker heart monitor for the iPhone by Zensorium

Other

There is a number of miscellaneous items, but the most notable ones from here would be the new Makerbot and Cube 3D printers bringing 3D printing closer to mass appeal, and the improved new AR.Drone 2 with HD video recording capability.

• Lexar 1000x CF cards with 150MB/s read speeds
• Lumus HD transparent video glasses
• Vuzix Smart Glasses with transparent displays
• Sony Smart Watch that interfaces with Android phones
• Basis B1 health band health monitoring wristband, with a web interface
• Philips Dual-Screen In-Car Display, 7-inch and 9-inch, with an iOS device dock and charger
• Pure Sensia 200D internet radio
• Toshiba USB 3.0 15.6-inch extra mobile monitor for laptops
• SolarKindle solar-powered Kindle battery
• Mobee Power Bar enables wired charging for Apple’s Magic Trackpad
• MakerBot Replicator new 3D printer
• Cubify Cube 3D printer along with an online service for creating and printing objects
• TAND3M Xi3 software allows 2 people to use one small computer independently
• 3M 46-inch multitouch table
• 4moms Origami high tech stroller for babies
• LG Styler Clothes Manager, can steam, dry, and freshen up clothes with various aromas
• CTX MIseeTX, a tiny all-in-one computer including a keyboard and a mouse
• GPD’s Glass Multitouch Keyboard
• Logitech Cube, a small touch mouse, and a presentation remote in one
• BodyMedia disposable body monitor
• Chaotic Moon “Board of Awesomeness”, an electric skateboard controlled via Kinect
• New improved AR.Drone 2 with 720p video recording