The New Hotness at CES 2012

The mood at the 2012 International CES (Consumer Electronics Show) is a bit subdued in comparison to past years, but the big brands still came out to bring a fantastic show!

There is plenty of excitement, colorful screens, and new gadgets to be seen and experienced. 

It was “Go big or go mobile” in the Central Hall.

Here were the most buzzed about innovations of the day:

3D and Smart TV

At last year’s CES, 3D TV was all the rage, but it didn’t really take in the consumer market. There are several reason’s for this. For one, there is not yet enough 3D content directly available to consumer to justify price point.

Consumers are also not compelled to watch what is currently available on TV and video in 3D. This entertainment industry is surely catching up, but very slowly in comparison to the technology.

Another issue is that 20% of general population cannot resolve 3D. Meaning, their eyes have trouble seeing the 3D images even with the glasses. Glasses-less screens and front-mounted cameras meant to track eye movement are hoping to compensate for these differences.

3D is not going away. It’s just being reconfigured to meet mass appeal. 

In the meantime, the top TV manufacturers, including LG, Panasonic, Samsung, Sony, and Vizio, are noticeably touting innovations to their 2D products at this year’s CES.

Screens have gone bigger, but thinner. The focus is more of “smart” TV. With Wi-fi integrated directly into the sets, there is no need for an additional device. It is all meant to work together seamlessly and in the cloud.

CES 2012 is all about apps and streaming content. Samsung and LG have TVs with games, hubs for health and fitness, family entertainment, and education, and services like Netflix. Lenovo featured TVs running Android 4.0 with natural speech recognition technology.

Imagine a world were you can talk to your TV and it will actually listen!

Tablets

2011 was supposed to be the “Year of the Tablets”, but with the Apple iPad still dominating the market by 70% it’s a tight race for its competitors. So the battle for 2012 has become about price and size.

Lenovo revealed a interesting concept in the IdeaPad Yoga, a laptop/tablet hybrid features a 360-degree flip-and-fold design that allows you to use the device in four different positions.

Sony introduced the Tablet P . “The P is for portable,” they say. It is a dual screen, fold-able Android tablet that sacrificed nothing in usability, quality, and  performance.

Samsung announced two new tablet competitors, the Samsung Galaxy Note and Galaxy Tab 7.7 LTE. Samsung claims that these are the thinnest, lightest tablets available on the market.

Integration

More than ever, technology is being shaped around our lives rather than the other way around. This is a trend that we have seen more and more, particularly with the growth of social media and the smartphone.

The idea that we can take technology with us wherever we go may not be new, but this idea of convergance has become more innovative.

You can now stream a movie directly through your TV and watch it from your sofa. You can get up, go to the kitchen, and continue watching it on your tablet, which can also double as a universal remote. You can take games from your console and play them on your smartphone. You can manage your household appliances through an app and live stream videos from your camera directly to the web.

I am looking forward to what Day 2 of CES will behold!

Stay tuned. You can follow the updates and new products from the the show floor by following #TypeACES and at the main Type-A Parent CES coverage page.

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1. Live from CES 2012
2. 2012 International CES Day 1 in Pictures
3. 12 Great Weight Loss and Fitness Apps for 2012
4. Type-A Parent Conference 2012 Get Social Contest
5. Blogger Resolutions – Setting Blog Goals for 2012