CES report – it’s all about the tablet !
January each year brings with it the customary glimpse into the future of consumer electronics at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. As in recent years, the focus at CES2011 was on handheld devices, connectivity and the high performance visual experience. The most striking trend was the dominance of the tablet , with many PC and monitor brands now offering the handheld devices intended to rival the iPad. In fact you might even consider this year’s CES as the event about a product (the iPad) that wasn’t even there!
One brand entering this new space is Viewsonic– known for its high performance monitors and projectors – who launched the Viewsonic Viewpad at this year’s event. The Viewpad gained a lot of attention, especially in the smaller form factors that are proving particularly popular in Asia. Operating on the Android system, the Viewpad was one of several similar solutions intended to capture some of the growing tablet space. All in one PCs were also a strong category this year, with Lenovo showcasing it’s latest AIO offerings which are proving a success in education and finance markets in particular.
Attendees were also curious about 3D, especially considering the technology offerings haven’t come as far as expected in the past couple of years. Toshiba was one company who showed the possible future of glasses-free 3D at CES. The experience is great at a number of “sweet spots” in certain angles in front of the TV. If you move too much out of your viewing position you notice a shadow in the image known as “cross talk” and then, if you continue the move, you arrive in another “sweet spot” with good 3D picture. At the moment this is still very expensive products but it is the future of 3D and we can expect to see these products on the market during next year. Glasses-free 3D is necessary if this technology is to be used for digital signage.