One of the show’s sponsors, LAPTOP Magazine, has produced this list of the best products from 11 different categories in its traditional Best of CES Awards for the 2011 show.

The awards show us that mobile and wireless technology is the big winner this year and here are the full details of the awards.

1. Best Notebook. The Alienware 17x.
2. Best Tablet. The Motorola Xoom. See our earlier story on this ground breaking tablet which uses the very latest of the Android Honeycomb operating system.  
3. Best Ultraportable. The Samsung 9 Series.
4. Best Smartphone. The Motorola Atrix 4G.
5. Best App or Software. The Splashtop remote for Android.
6. Best Storage. Seagate The Tiniest Goflex USB 3.0 Hard Drive.
7. Best Camera or Camcorder. The Sony HDR-TD10.
8. Best Wireless Networking or Home Entertainment. The Monsoon Vulkano Flow.
9. Best Accessory. The Plantronics Voyager PRO UC Version 2.
10. Best Car Tech. The Parrot Asteroid Card Receiver. See our story from the other day about Parrot’s innovations at the CES 2011.
11. Best Enabling Technology. The Nvidia Tegra 2.

It is clear not just from the list but from the general opinion at the show that the connected car and mobile and wireless technology have been the big winners this year, and given the amount of products on show in these fields that was to be expected.

The question is whether the people agree with what the journalists think, and for this we will need to wait until tomorrow as the reader’s choice awards will be announced on Monday. Which ones of the above awards do you agree with and which would you choose to leave out?

The CES 2011 Best of Show Awards is a post from: Gadgets and gizmos

The Last Gadget Standing competition is always a popular CES event and this year it promises to be as exciting as ever.

Saturday morning in Las Vegas will see 10 top new gadgets being put through their paces in a live demonstration which will see one of them crowned the king of this year’s CES machines. Which one will win it? Here are the ten which remain in contention.

Acer Iconia Two Screen Notebook. An incredible laptop which has two 14 inch touch screens and one of them can double up a keyboard. It has a lot of clever ideas built into and could just be the future of laptops.

Looxcie Wearable Camcorder. A compact Bluetooth headset that can be used as a camera, it offers continuous buffers and the files can be easily transferred to your iPhone or Android device.

Fujitsu ScanSnap S1100 Scanner. On the face of it a compact and light scanner isn’t the most exciting gadget in the world. However, this USB connected device has really good software attached and is simple to use.

Barnes & Noble Nook Colour E-Reader. This is an Android driven e-reader and is the first of its kind to offer a colour screen. It comes with a whole lot of features and nice touches.

Samsung Nexus S Smartphone. This is the first phone to showcase the new Android 2.3 release and it has a dazzling array of features.

Sonomax Soundcage Earphones. Your headphones never fit right? Well with these customizable ones you put them on and then inject silicon into them to mould them perfectly to your ears.

Fujifilm Real 3D W3 Digital Camera. We have been looking forward to getting a really good, practical 3D filming system for quite some time now, and this little beauty might be the one to make it happen for us.

Intel 2^nd Generation Core Platform. This platform is built around the i3, i5 and i7 processors. It promises the Holy Grail for laptop users; fast performance and great battery life.

Nike+ Sportswatch. The mixture of a stylish watch and a GPS device means that runners can tracks their routes more accurately than ever.

Sifteo Cubes Digital Blocks. These intelligent blocks can provide a whole new level of digital game playing for kids.

I imagine you probably agree that they are all top gadgets. Which one do you hope wins? Which one would you take home if you could choose just one?

CES 2011 – Which will be the Last Gadget Standing? is a post from: Gadgets and gizmos

The machine has a 3.2 inch colour screen, is powered by Android and includes several USB ports. With these ports you can add on a 3G internet connection, a GPS dongle and your different iDevices all at the same time if you want. You can also plug in additional storage space using the SD slot under the faceplate.

Standard Bluetooth connectivity is of course included and it has AM/FM and RDS capabilities as you would expect. The additional music features are what a lot people will be attracted to and here you can control the music player using your voice and search online for the music you want. Thanks to the great connectivity options you can play music from your iPod, MP3. USB drive or SD card. Bluetooth music streaming and internet radio stations are also options for you.

When you use the GPS facility you have access to Parrot maps and updates and live traffic alerts. With the maps service you can locate and call local businesses as you drive. The Parrot Asteroid can also be used to gain hands free connectivity when you have your phone with you and when you receive a call you just have to say “accept” or “reject”.

There will be a dedicated SDK and a marketplace where you can look for applications. This device is going to hit Europe first later on this year before being released in the US, so you will have the chance to be one of the first people to try out this great modern approach to the traditional car stereo.

The price hasn’t yet been made available but how much do you think a revolution in the way we listen to music as we drive is worth?  

The Parrot Asteroid Car Stereo Powered By Android is a post from: Gadgets and gizmos

His display, which was streamed live on Facebook and on the Microsoft site, was largely based around how in the near future we will be able to control all our gadgets and computers through our voice and even our gestures in a simple, streamlined process which lets us link together all of our technology for a unified control.

For many the most interesting part of his speech would have been the section around the upcoming appearance of Avatar Kinect, a stunning upgrade for Live Gold users of the Xbox which will ensure that the figure on the screen has a facial expression copied from the gamer’s own current expression. This will also be useful for people who want to give a more personalised experience in their video conferences. Other advances which are due soon will include ESPN, HuluPlus and Netflix.

Continues after the video…

Kinect Avatar Trailer

In a boost for British industry Mr Ballmer then stated that the Windows chips will now be all sourced from the UK company Arm Holdings. Another interesting part of his demonstration was when he showed us the wonderful two screen laptop which Toshiba are setting high hopes on and which drew a great reaction from the gathered crowd.

With the fast pace at which the technology market moves it is no wonder that sometimes we take long established companies like Microsoft for granted and expect ground breaking innovations to come from newer, hungrier firms. However, are these latest displays of progress and fresh ideas enough to convince you that no one will be taking over their mantle anytime soon?

Microsoft Launch Avatar Kinect and Toshiba Dual Screens is a post from: Gadgets and gizmos

Speakal, the guys behind the iconic iPig docking station have teamed up to create some authentic designed speakers in collaboration with the BBC. Both the Top Gear (featuring the Stig) and Doctor Who speaker are said to feature ‘amazing sound’ combined with ‘outlandish’ style. From these pictures we’d have to agree with the aesthetics side but will have to wait for a full review on the sound.

If past models are anything to go by the sound will be excellent, in fact the iPig (a similar sized dock) delivers quite a punchy base line with crisp highs and deep lows, quite impressive when a gadget looks good and performs well. We just hope these two new docks sound as good as they look.

Speakal informed us that the T.A.R.D.I.S speaker produces powerful bass and incorporates Bluetooth playback so you can hook it up to your Smartphone or compatible mp3 player.

Speakal CEO, David Solomon said “Top Gear and Doctor Who have some of the most die hard fans of any program in the world”. “We’re proud to offer their fan base these unique and lifelike replicas of their favorite BBC icons” added Solomon.

What do you make of the two new additions to the Speakal range?

Doctor Who and Top Gear Speaker Docks as CES 2011 is a post from: Gadgets and gizmos

The video starts off with tablets of stone working through time until 2010 when it picks at the ‘weak’ points of the Galaxy Tablet and iPad. The video says the iPad is ‘like a giant iPhone’ and that the Samsung Galaxy Tab only has Android but only ‘Android OS for a phone’ dropping a big hint that their tablet will include the brand new Android Honeycomb – suited for a tablet as well as a phone.

Continued after the video…

Other rumours surrounding the Moto Droid Xoom suggest that it will include dual cameras, a 2 megapixel front facing snapper and a 5 Mega Pixel camera on the back of the device. It is also said to include a micro-SD slot, will be powered by a dual-core processor and 32GB of internal storage. The device will not include LTE out of the box and will require an external modem to go 4G.

For full details we will have to wait for CES to begin in 3 days time, we are certain that Moto will have a few tricks up their sleeve and we can’t wait for the cloak to come off their flagship tab.

Do you think the specs will be enough to challenge the other tabs launching in 2011? Will Moto regret not going 4G as standard or is the tech surplus to requirements at the moment?

Motorola Xoom Tablet Without LTE to Launch at CES 2011 is a post from: Gadgets and gizmos

The device will be a mere 9.9mm thick, be powered by a 1GHz Hummingbird Processor, include a 4-inch touch screen, a DVB Tuner, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Dual-camera, GPS support, HD video player, Micro SD slot for memory expansion and a removable battery. So the Galaxy Player includes plenty of things that the iPod doesn’t currently have.

Whether the interface and its integration with Google’s Android market will work better than the iOS app store remains to be seen. Samsung is currently doing well in the tablet market and will be hoping that their new media player will be able to compete with the might of the iPod, which to be honest has been king for many years.

What do you think of the new Samsung Galaxy Player? Does it have what it takes to beat the Apple iPod?

Via: Phone News

Samsung Galaxy Player set to Take on Apple’s iPod is a post from: Gadgets and gizmos

However, the mobile communications giant recently included a web link in some pre-launch advertising that actually suggested the phone would be called the ‘Thunderbolt 4G’. Sadly the link turned out to be a dud and didn’t function; it was on the HTC website though so goes some way into revealing the official name of the new 4G Smartphone.

HTC 4G intro page

It’s no secret that HTC are set to unveil their 4G offerings at CES in January and their website now actually includes a sign up page featuring the January 6^th start date of CES, interested consumers can sign up to be the ‘first’ people to learn about the phone.

We know that the phone will include a 4.3 inch screen, 8 mega pixel camera featuring dual-LED flash so the front facing camera can also take pictures in poor light and we know have a slightly better idea on what it will be called – for clearer details we will just have to wait for the announcement at the consumer electronics show.

Via: Gaj-It

HTC Incredible 4G actually named HTC Thunderbolt 4G is a post from: Gadgets and gizmos

Parrot’s AR.Drone is going to hit the UK on the 18th of August this year, which is good news as it was only at the 2010 CES event a few months ago that Parrot showcased a prototype quadricopter that blew away many visitors to the conference.

The AR.Drone will be controllable from a distance of up to 50 metres and it takes full advantage of the iPhone’s integrated accelerometer to allow for natural controls which respond to tilting the smartphone.

The most exciting aspect of the AR.Drone’s functionality is its augmented reality software. Basically there are two cameras hidden in the ‘copter and live feeds of the video are fed back to the iPhone, complete with an overlaid assault course, thanks to some clever programming, turning it into the ultimate gaming experience.

The AR.Drone will communicate with the iPhone or iPod Touch using a Wi-Fi connection and the gadget will have transferrable shells which allow you to put on a bulkier, more protective layer whilst you get to grips with the controls and then give you the option to switch to a lighter, more aerodynamic option to speed things up when you are more of an expert.

Parrot says that it will sell the AR.Drone for around £300 when it launches in August and it is looking for developers to work on an Android version of the control app.

iPhone-controlled hover drone gets UK launch date is a post from: Gadgets and gizmos

The 19 inch screen is an advancement on the 14 inch version of the technology that it showcased during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) at the start of 2010, with transparency levels on the latest model now reaching 30 per cent.

Any sci-fi fan will know that movies have been portraying transparent advertising hoardings on shop fronts for years and this is precisely the kind of application that Samsung is planning to target once it has developed a screen large enough for commercial use.

Other potential applications of the technology could be in motor vehicles, with information such as speed and fuel levels displayed on the windscreen itself. Particularly imaginative people might envision the display creating sat-nav augmented reality in cars for a completely revolutionary driving experience in the next few years.

It is clear that Samsung’s experiments with OLED technology are creating more exciting possibilities by the day and although it is unlikely that people will want a see-through TV in their living rooms, the idea of having every window in a shop doubling up as a display is perhaps just a one idea as to what the technology will be able to achieve given enough time and investment.

Adding the displays to glasses, helmets and other portable devices could open up new markets and Samsung’s competitors will need to catch up if they want to take a slice of this action for themselves.

Samsung creates see-through AMOLED screen is a post from: Gadgets and gizmos