CES 2010: More for the CIO's

The Consumer Electronic Show 2010 witnessed over 2,500 companies introducing

over 20,000 products within the span of a week. This year at the last CES 2010

expo in Las Vegas (next year it is going to Chicago), there were quite a few

things across categories that seem to have been adopted across manufacturers and

aimed at the CIO community. We provide you with some of the most interesting

products that would have a major impact on the coming year for the CEO/CIO's.

Business Notebooks — There were quite a few business notebooks on

display by various manufacturers. Asus showcased its 1005PE netbook, which comes

with the new Intel Atom 450 processor and claims to have a 14hrs battery life.

MSI launched its ultra thin X620 notebook and also launched the X360 notebooks

which claims to be the first notebook to feature Intel Arrendale ULV processor.

One of the most interesting products was on display by Intel that had a 10.1”

display screen, which can be converted into 2 x 10.1” display by just pulling

the display screen.

Smartphone — Android was the buzzword at CES this time. Other than

Nokia and Microsoft, everyone else showcased their Android phones. Saygus had

its V phone, Sony Ericsson had the Xperia X10 on display, Motorola Droid and

Google's Nexus one was also showed at an event. Nokia showcased its N900 and N97

mini smart phones whereas Sony Ericsson showed its Xperia X2 windows mobile

phone.

Projectors — Full HD and handheld projectors were the main attractions

in this category. Optoma, 3M and Samsung showcased their Pico projectors that

displayed unbelievably clear and bright picture for their size and would be

perfect to carry around for presentations. Samsung, LG and few others also

showcased their Full High Definition projectors at the expo.

Bluetooth headsets — Plantronics, BluAnt and a few other manufacturers

showcased a variety of Bluetooth headsets at CES. Three of the Plantronics

headsets - Voyager Pro, Discovery 975, Backbeat 903, even won CES Innovations

Design and Engineering Awards in four competitive categories. Jabra unveiled new

EXTREME headset that comes with a Noise Blackout feature that reduces background

noise.

Touchscreen Notebook/Slates — Touchscreen continues to grow base and

at CES we got to witness some very interesting products. There was the Asus

Waveface series of touchscreen devices that generated a lot of excitement. The

Asus Waveface Ultra is a wearable smartphone with a touch screen that unfolds to

a flat screen, Wavefave Light resembles a notebook, but when you fold it flat it

turns into a large touch screen. Other things include a 10” dual color

touchscreen notebook from MSI as well as Asus. Sony's Dash personal Internet

viewer was also launched which had a 7” touchscreen with vertical horizontal

shifting.

Teleconferencing — Teleconferencing, though not the centre of

attraction did had its share of gadgets at the Expo. India's own VU was there

showcasing their HD teleconferencing solution. With their new solution that

costs about 3lakh INR, you can teleconference in 720p HD clarity! Thanks to

integration of Skype into various TV sets by Panasonic and LG among others,

teleconferencing would be reaching straight into CIO's cabin walls.

E-Book readers — Last but not the least, e-book readers were a big hit

at CES. There were numerous new readers launched in all shapes, sizes and loaded

with features. Samsung launched its reader partnering with Google for content,

Pixelogic showcased its slim “Que” reader, the 11.5” reader Skiff, Alex e-reader

with a color touchscreen running android along with an e-ink screen for reading,

the reader from Entourage with A 9.7” e-Ink reader and a 10.1” touchscreen color

display in a book form factor. Most of these would be coming in the second

quarter of 2010 and should prove to be a good travel mate for anyone.

The author was hosted by the Consumer Electronics Association at the CES 2010

in Las Vegas. We would also like to thank HCL and Asus for providing laptops to

assist in the coverage.