Back in October 2009, TechRadar put on its felt-edged predicto-hat and tried to guess what would be grabbing the headlines at CES 2010. We called it: New Year gear to get you excited.
Our thoughts naturally turned to Microsoft's Project Natal, the Courier Tablet, legions of new Kindle-rivalling e-readers and Full HD 3D TVs. And, as this year's CES has unfolded, we've not been entirely disappointed.
There's been no Courier Tablet (sadly) — Microsoft has undoubtedly blown its chance of stealing a march on Apple. But here's are some of the gadgets that have caught our beady TechRadar eyes so far and set the global newswires buzzing…
1. Project Natal
Steve Ballmer's lack of charisma on stage still can't dull the excitement surrounding Microsoft's motion capture gaming hardware. Windows 7? Don't care any more. Windows Mobile? Microsoft doesn't seem to have any revolutionary ideas for this at all.
But give us the prospect of gesture-based, controller-free gaming by Christmas and we're already sold. Mr Ballmer? Mr Bach? Where do we sign up?
2. Samsung transparent OLED laptop
We love a good prototype and Samsung has delivered the goods again with a 14-inch transparent OLED laptop screen. Watch the video here to see the technology in action.
3. Sony Bravia LX900
The minimalist 'Monolithic' design of Sony's new LX900 Bravia is only the first thing to catch the eye. It isn't just the company's flagship HD TV, it's a showcase for some of the new technologies that are vying to become standard issue telly-features in the coming decade.
So the LX900 can also cope with 3D TV, boasts integrated Wi-Fi (802.11n) and all manner of TV widgetry from onscreen Twitter apps to streaming catch-up TV services.
4. The HP Slate
Steve Ballmer described HP's new 'Slate PC' as "almost as portable as a phone and as powerful as a PC running Windows 7″. Yes, we agree that it looks lovely. And yes, it's a triumph of micro-engineering. But despite its high-profile showing at CES, what are the odds that people will actually remember it once Apple has unleashed its own tablet device?
5. The world's fastest 3D TV
What happens when you put a variant of the PlayStation 3's Cell chip into a Toshiba HD TV? You get a TV that can convert 2D content into 3D in real-time. How about that for the ultimate HD TV experience?
6. The world's biggest 3D TV
3D TV was always going to dominate this year's show. So what better way to show off the technology than by super-sizing it into a 152-inch 4K x 2K 3D plasma display? Panasonic's giant TV set is the world's biggest 3D TV. It uses the full HD x 2 frame sequential method to alternately reproduce full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels) images for the left and right eyes on the display frame by frame. Active shutter glasses required.
7. MSI dual-screen e-reader
It doesn't matter that the intriguing Courier tablet was a no-show at this year's CES. Because MSI has come up with a thin, dual-screen tablet/e-reader/slate of its own.
Featuring two 10-inch multi-touch displays and a full-size virtual keyboard, the Atom Z530-powered device was spotted on the show floor running Windows 7. It's early days — so no official name, no price and no release date.
8. Powermat wireless charger
While Powermat was one of the highlights of CES 2009, the fututistic wireless charging technology is now available to buy. New for 2010, Powermat is working to integrate its technology into batteries so that devices will work with the charger without messing around with add-on sleeves or backplates.
9. LBO Light Touch
Not only are slates, tablets and e-readers out to get the traditional keyboard, now pico projectors have started to taunt them too.
Light Blue Optics has been using CES 2010 to show off its Light Touch system – "an interactive projector that turns any flat surface into a 10-inch touch screen."
Using proprietary holographic laser projection technology, the Light Touch can project a screen onto any flat surface. An infra-red sensing system then enables you to interact with the projected display just like a touch screen.
10. The Parrot AR.Drone
Finally, what tech enthusiast wouldn't want a remote controlled Wi-Fi helicopter with two onboard cameras. And you you can pilot it using an iPhone. Genius. Take a look at our pictures.
