More
- Classifieds
- Cars
- Deals
- Real Estate
- Rentals
- Photos
- Find&Save
- Obituaries
- Archives
- Topics
- Blogs
- WP Wine Club

CES 2012:

The best gadgets and products from this year s show

January 13, 2012

There may not have been a breakout hit device at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, but plenty of gadgets still made tech geeks take note. Hayley Tsukayama highlights some of those products:

1) 3D Systems Cube printer: 3D printing is one of those areas of tech that really does seem like it could change our lives...if only it could catch on. For those unfamiliar with the idea, a 3D printer spits out plastic instead of ink to make small, functional items for the home such as cookie cutters, chess pieces and even shoes. The Cube 3D printer is one of the first to flirt with a somewhat consumer-friendly price range, starting at $1,299. While they’re unlikely to be in every home any time soon, this is a step toward making 3D printing more commonplace.

2) HP Envy 14 Spectre: This stunning Gorilla Glass-covered ultrabook is HP’s first ultrabook for non-business consumers. It weighs in at just 3.9 pounds and measures just under 0.8 inches thick. With a good display and Beats-brand speakers, the ultrabook is sure to be popular with the fashion-forward — just watch out for fingerprints.

3) Sharp Aquos Smart Board: White boards are yesterday’s news, if Sharp has anything to say about it. The idea of a smart classroom is another idea that’s failed to really catch on, though there are smatterings of smartboards in colleges and universities across the country. With the Sharp Aquos Smart Board, business executives and professors can really take the point home with 80-, 70- or 60-inch screens.

4) Dell XPS 13: While not as visually stunning as HP’s latest ultrabook, the Dell XPS 13 has been getting high praise from tech watchers for its i5- (or i7-) powered insides and its edge-to-edge display. Starting at $999, this super-slim computer is competitive with the MacBook Air in form and price.

The Associated Press reports that “cheaper tablets, thinner laptops and an array of sleeker TVs” were the standouts of this year’s convention:

Cheaper tablets — The industry’s enthusiasm for tablets was considerably tempered this year compared to last, when more than a hundred manufacturers thought they could capitalize on the iPad’s success with their own models based on Google Inc.’ Android software. Sales were disappointing, in large part because Apple prices the iPad relatively low compared to the cost of making it. Then, late last year, Amazon.com Inc. demonstrated that you can take on Apple by selling a smaller, barebones tablet for $199. Analysts believe Amazon sold millions of Kindle Fires in little more than a month.

Now, Asian manufacturers are hoping to jump on Amazon’s bandwagon. One of those companies, Taiwan’s AsusTek Computer Inc., showed off a tablet with a Fire-sized screen and said it would sell it for $249. It’s considerably more powerful than the Fire, sporting a premium “quadcore” processor. Still, one of the things that made the Fire a success — Amazon’s library of e-books, music and movies — will be missing.

Nokia Lumia 900 — In recent years, the world’s largest phone maker, Finland’s Nokia Corp., has practically been a no-show in the U.S. market. That’s hurt the company badly. Now, it hopes to come back with smartphones that run Microsoft Corp.’s Windows Phone software. The Lumia 900 is its first such phone for the AT&T network, and the first Nokia phone to use AT&T’s faster wireless “LTE” network. In a sign of how much is riding on these phones, both the Microsoft and Nokia CEOs showed up for Monday’s announcement. The companies didn’t announce price or availability. T-Mobile USA, a smaller carrier, started selling a more modest Lumia this week.

Lenovo K800 — While Nokia’s been shut out of the U.S. phone market, Intel Corp., the world’s largest chipmaker, has been shut out of phones entirely. Its PC chips use too much power to go into a smartphone: they’d drain the battery in no time. That’s a big problem for the company, since PC sales are flat in the developed world, while smartphone sales are exploding. Now, Intel says a new line of chips is ready for smartphone use, and Lenovo Corp. of China is the first to take them up on it, with a smartphone to be sold in China in the second quarter. Outwardly, it’s indistinguishable from any other touchscreen phone, and it runs Android.

Brian Lam of Venture Beat also offers up his picks for the show’s most noteworthy gadgets:

A HOBO PHONE: The most important phone at CES is the SpareOne, a simple phone that can run off of an AA battery—perfect for stashing as an emergency phone along with a prepaid SIM card.