The International Consumer Electronics Show officially opens its doors on
Tuesday at the Las Vegas Convention Center, but as tends to happen with major
trade expos, the entertainment kicks off well before the starting gun fires.
Companies have been teasing their big products for the show for weeks, often
strategically leaking details to keep themselves in the news. Meanwhile,
industry analysts and Wall Street commentators alike have made predictions about
who will debut what new device and how it will perform in the market. At CES
2011, the big story was tablet PCs. Apple s (NASDAQ: AAPL ) iPad had been on the
market for just over eight months, during which time it had set the PC industry
on fire. It seemed like every player in electronics showed off its own tablet at
CES last year, and that trend foreshadowed how the year would play out.
Once-mighty companies were brought low as they spent big on poorly received
tablet PCs. Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ ), Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM ),
and Motorola (NYSE: MMI ), just to name a few, were among the casualties. So
whos rolling out what at CES this year? Here are four devices, trends, and
companies to keep an eye on at this weeks show. Nokia, Microsoft, and the Next
Smartphone Battle Nokia (NYSE: NOK ) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT ) announced
their surprising partnership in February 2011, after much of the CES hype had
already died down. The world has been waiting to see what their union will bear
and whether those products will save both the Finnish phone maker from
dissolution as well as make Windows a competitor in the race against Apple and
Android. While the first Windows-powered Nokia Lumia phones were released in
select countries last fall, a press conference scheduled for Monday will lay out
the Lumias future in the U.S. market. Rumors say the 4G Lumia will release on
Mar. 18 on AT&T s (NYSE: T ) network backed by a $100 million marketing push.
Microsoft claims this will be its last CES, so expect its smartphone plans (as
well as its Windows 8 and tablet plans) to be an ongoing topic of discussion.
Google, Apple, and the Connected TV Race Consumers made it clear in 2011 that
they werent interested in spending on high-end 3D TVs. If they were going to
spend anything on television, it was going to be on content. Connected
TVInternet-enabled television sets, set-top boxes, and new web-based streaming
servicesis the new focus for a number of companies. Google (NASDAQ: GOOG ) is
using CES as a second coming out party for its Google TV, with a host of new
manufacturing partners. Marvell (NASDAQ: MRVL ) is showing off a new set-top
box, LG and Samsung (PINK: SSNLF ) are showing off new Google TV-powered HDTVs,
as are Sony (NYSE: SNE ) and Vizio. These companies are all hoping to provide a
Connected TV experience compelling enough to hook consumers before Apple
delivers its much-rumored HDTV later this year. Lenovo and the New Portable-PC
Market The PC market is on shaky ground. Research firm Gartner reported that PC
shipmentsnot including tablets like Apples wunderkindgrew only 3% year-over-year
in the third quarter of 2011, significantly less than expected. While numbers
havent hit the press yet, its suspected the industry didnt fare better in the
fourth quarter. The No. 2 leading PC manufacturer, Lenovo (PINK: LNVGY ), isnt
taking it lying down. The company is rolling out a fleet of new PCs at CES to
try and cater to every possible consumer. This includes new tablets like the
IdeaTab K2 and the IdeaPad S2, which can be docked in a keyboard attachment to
make it more like a laptop, as well as new IdeaPad ultrabook laptops that will
retail for around $700, looking to undercut Apples popular ultra-thin MacBook
Air line. Tobii Gaze and Other Oddities While its phones, PCs, and televisions
that are carrying the weight of investor hopes for CES, its easy to overlook
some of the more forward-thinking small projects that will be presented there.
There are plenty of quirky items that could offer a glimpse of future market
trends. Eye-tracking technology maker Tobii is showing off the Gaze , an
interface that lets you control Windows computers by simply moving your peepers
over the screen. Then theres Xpal Powers SpareOne , an emergency cellphone that
can run for 15 years on a single AA battery. For anyone looking to spot the
trends that will dominate CES 2013 and beyond, dont forget to pay attention to
the weird small stuff. As of this writing, Anthony John Agnello did not own a
position in any of the stocks named here. Follow him on Twitter at
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