The recently concluded 2012 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) which was held from January 10 to January 13 was the largest in the show’s 44-year history, with 1.861 million net square feet of exhibit space drawing more than 153,000 attendees to witness 20,000+ gadgets and technological innovations from more than 31,000 companies.
Manufacturers and developers showed several cutting-edge products like smartphones, ultrabooks, concept cars and home theater systems, as well as technologies like gesture-based software.
I was not able to attend this annual event but I am following the development on the web. And here are the technologies / innovations that got my interest:
OLED television
OLED (organic light-emitting diode) television. LG showed off their OLED TV offering in the 55EM9600, a 55-inch OLED TV that is a mere 4mm thick. Samsung will also offer their own 55-inch OLED TV. Some of the features include Smart TV with streaming and social media, the new Magic Motion remote with “four modes,” including a built-in mic, and passive 3D.
Ultrabooks
The new line of notebooks called Ultrabooks is a combination of power and portability in one. Computer manufacturers paraded their ultrabook offerings to the delightment of the attendees.
Acer has its three-pound Acer S5 ultrabook, Dell has its XPS 13, Samsung Series 5 Ultra and Samsung Series 5, HP with its HP’s Envy 14 Spectre, LG Z330/Z430, Toshiba Satellite ultrabook, and Lenovo’s ThinkPad T430u Ultrabook, IdeaPad S2 and the IdeaPad Yoga – a flip-over device that can be used as a laptop, tablet or kickstand-tablet. Toshiba also showed its prototype is a waterproof tablet displayed in a filled fish tank.
Tablets like the Asus’ Memo , Fujitsu Arrows and Toshiba Excite X10 were also paraded during the event.
Smartphones like the new Sony Xperia S, Xperia Ion, Xperia acro HD and Xperia NX were also introduced during the event. Most of the attendees were also excited about the Windows powered Nokia Lumia 900, then there is the Lenovo K800, Huawei Ascend P1 S, HTC Titan II, ASUS Padfone, Motorola Droid 4, Droid Razr Maxx, Samsung Galaxy Nexus and more.
Phones bearing Ice Cream Sandwich, the latest version of the Android operating system, phone supporting 4G LTE also elicited interest among the attendees.
Point and shoots cameras also took centerstage like the Fujifilm X-Pro1, the Nikon D4, and the Canon PowerShot G1 X–all of which were nominated for the Best of CES Awards. The new Canon’s Vixia camcorders that comes with social sharing functionality also paved the way for a different social network experience. Video is immediately available to be uploaded to social networking sites like YouTube and Facebook.
The products shown during the CES event simply proves that the technology world will be more exciting in the coming years. Connectivity and portability are written all over the innovations. Ease of use and efficiency is the priority. I can’t wait for these products to become available here in the Philippines with one wish in mind – I hope they will be affordable or at least reasonably priced so that more Filipinos can own one and experience the power of technology.
I am logging off. Stay cool and God Bless us all!
(Article written by Jerry Liao)
