CES, the Consumer Electronics Show held each year in Las Vegas, is the technology industry’s largest trade show which this year ran from January 10th – 13th. Constituting 2,700 exhibitors, four days of exhibits and innumerable informal meet-ups and events, it’s a place for tech companies to advertise, announce, impress, and generally try to outdo the competition. Rather than cover everything, we have instead chosen our top 10 products to talk about: these are the coolest, wackiest or just most impressive items we saw demonstrated at the show.
In some cases, the products we’ve chosen are indicative of the direction the technology industry is headed. CES is no longer known for huge product launches, since companies prefer to announce their new gadgets at times when the press’ attention isn’t so split (indeed, this year was the last time Microsoft will be appearing at the show), but it is still possible to get an overall sense of the future. Check out our top 10 new products, and what they tell us, below.
10 – 1TB Swiss Army USB drive by Victorinox
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Victorinox is pretty keen on putting USB drives into Swiss Army knives. In 2008 it demoed a penknife at CES with a 1GB stick inside; now, four years later, you can get 1,000 times the capacity. This is a classic example of a product built for CES given the four-figure price, but it’s still pretty impressive. Different models are available depending on whether you actually want a knife included or not, and the case comes in either black or red. The USB stick itself is compatible with USB 2.0 and 3.0 and contains a 48 x 96 dot screen to use as a label. You also have a choice of capacities, from 640GB up to 1TB, and the drives includes AES 256-bit encryption.
Price: $470 for 640GB; $2,000 for 1TB
Availability: from April
9 – Project Fiona by Razer
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Here’s an interesting one. Razer is a company usually known for its high-end gaming accessories, but in 2012 it has decided to branch out into something slightly different. Project Fiona has the form factor of a tablet with GameBoy controls on either side (actually, it’s uncomfortably reminiscent of Nintendo’s upcoming Wii U) but the innards of a PC, with a Core i7 processor and a skinned version of Windows 8 as an operating system. The 10-inch screen is fully multitouch capable, there’s an accelerometer, and you’ll be able to connect to your Steam or OnLive account. Razer says Fiona’s architecture means all existing PC games will be immediately playable without any modification and that you’ll be able to hook up a mouse and keyboard if you wish, though that would seem to defeat the purpose. Ultimately, it’s unlikely you’d want to try mapping all your Skyrim key-bindings to a few buttons and two joysticks, but the idea of an ultra-portable gaming ‘PC’ is intriguing.
Price: sub-$1000 (projected)
Availability: end of 2012 (projected)
8 – ioSafe drive by ioSafe
In 2009, ioSafe ran over the SSD it was demoing with a steamroller. Last year it got journalists to fire at their portable hard drives with shotguns and assault rifles. It’s safe to say the company isn’t afraid to show just how durable its products are, and this year was no exception as it proceeded to introduce its drives to a million-volt Tesla coil. ioSafe finds its way onto this list for its sheer showmanship – and for the fact that, although the drive’s circuitry was fried in around a third of the demos, the actual data survived every single time.
ioSafe’s drive was one of many at CES to feature Thunderbolt, the Intel technology we first saw introduced into Apple’s MacBook Pro line. Capable of 10Gbps throughput and faster than either USB 2.0 or 3.0, adoption has been slow in computers due to the manufacturing costs (a Thunderbolt port allegedly costs around $10 whereas a USB 3.0 port costs only around $1). However, there was a definite push at CES for Thunderbolt-enabled peripherals such as external drives and the occasional monitor, so hopefully the PC market will come round to the idea.
Price: tba
Availability: from Q2 2012
7 – 55-inch OLED TV by LG
At 7.5kg, 4mm thick at its thinnest point and with a near-invisible bezel to match, LG claims this is not only the world’s largest OLED TV but also the thinnest and lightest. As well as handling 3D and working with existing 3D glasses, you can view the screen at pretty much any angle without losing sight of the picture. The colours are rich, the blacks are deep, and the resolution is crystal clear. It has to be seen to be believed, but believe us, we want one. At least it’s light enough to steal easily if it turns out to be extremely expensive.
Price: tba
Availability: Q4 2012
6 – IdeaPad Yoga by Lenovo
Some companies just won’t settle for the idea that laptops and tablets are two different kettles of fish. Trying to mix them together usually results in a hideous mash-up of tablet, keyboard and case, but occasionally something nice does come out of the union. Lenovo’s IdeaPad Yoga is one such something. At 0.67 inches, 3.1 pounds and with a 13.1-inch screen, it’s comparable in size to most other ultrabooks on the market. It’ll take 8GB of RAM, 256GB of SSD storage, and there’s an Intel processor in there too. The palm rest is suave leather, and the keys are Lenovo’s usual chiclet. And the best part? A nifty hinge which lets you fold the screen all the way over, turning your ultrabook into a powerful 13.1-inch multitouch tablet. The Yoga runs Windows 8, so you’ll be able to take full advantage of the Metro interface in tablet mode even if you prefer the traditional desktop interface when you’re using the device as an ultrabook. It’s still unclear whether tablet-laptop crossovers will ever take off, but the IdeaPad Yoga is a strong contender.
Price: from $1,200
Availability: as soon as Windows 8 is available
5 – Gorilla Glass 2 by Corning
Gorilla Glass is the super-strong glass used in most modern smartphones and tablets. It’s resistant to pretty much everything, including serious pressure, and this year at CES the manufacturer, Corning, demonstrated how its second iteration can withstand even tougher trials. This means that products made with Gorilla Glass 2 can be thinner and lighter but retain their strength, or just even tougher. Expect to see this new and improved Gorilla Glass in many future products.
Price: n/a
Availability: available
4 – Dragon TV by Nuance
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Integrating motion control into televisions hasn’t particularly taken off yet, but here’s something that might: voice control. And who better to bring it to market than Nuance, the market leader in natural language speech recognition which also powers Apple’s Siri? The company used CES 2012 to launch its Dragon TV platform, which manufacturers and service operators will be able to integrate into sets. As well as being able to watch and search for television programs by speaking, Nuance also promises that the voice control will work with social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Skype, all from within the TV. Combine this with your 55-inch OLED from LG, and you’ll be laughing.
Price: n/a
Availability: available
3 – Replicator by Makerbot
3D printing is the latest fascination for many technology enthusiasts – and with good reason. Just imagine: you design a model on a computer, and the next thing you know you’re printing out your design as a solid plastic model right in front of your eyes. It’s like Star Trek come true. It’s understandable then that the Makerbot booth was pretty crowded as the company showed off the Replicator, its latest 3D printer for your home which can print items up to 8.9 x 5.7 x 5.9 inches and in two different colours at once. It has to be seen to be believed – check out the video and start imagining.
3D printing is still expensive, and it’s also very slow. There are companies you can send your designs to who will do the printing for you and send you the model back, but hopefully we’ll see home printing solutions decrease in price in the next few years. The technology is already proving useful in a wide variety of fields, including biology (after all, you don’t just have to print with plastic; why not print with living cells?) and archaeology, so don’t expect this to disappear any time soon.
Price: from $1,749
Availability: available
2 – Smart Window by Samsung
At the risk of sounding clichéd, we truly are one step closer to the Minority Report with this latest piece of technology from Samsung. The Smart Window comprises a transparent sheet of glass which would be installed as a window – except it’s also a fully functional touchscreen. That means you can look at weather information, your Twitter feed, the news and anything else you might look at on a regular tablet. It’s all one-way so people on the other side can’t see what you’re looking at, and it even includes virtual blinds so you can ‘close’ the window. Too cool.
Price: n/a
Availability: still experimental technology
1 – iNuke Boom by Behringer
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This wouldn’t be a CES top ten without at least one ridiculously extravagant product, and this one is so extravagant that it’s been awarded first place. For a price as loud as its speakers, this iPod dock contains two 18-inch subwoofers, two 12-inch subwoofers, and two high frequency drivers which are apparently – and quite believably – capable of shattering glass. It outputs 10,000 watts and it’s eight feet wide. Truly, this is a ‘gadget’ representative of CES.
Price: $29,999
Availability: tba
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Joshua Topolsky of The Verge poses with the iNuke Boom.