Ultra HD TVs, Smart forks, phablets and the computer that doubles as a coffee table - Manufacturers reveal the gadgets they hope we will buy in 2013
- Manufacturers revealing their 2013 gadgets at vast trade show in Las Vegas
- Ultra thin TVs, smartphones and other gadgets set to be revealed - with many manufacturers opting to reveal gadgets before the sow has even opened
- Comes as analysts predict we will spend $1.1 TRILLION on gadgets in 2013
The gadgets we are set to want (and some we aren't) are being unveiled at the electronics worlds biggest exhibition.
The Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas sees almost every manufacturer (apart from Apple) unveiling their 2013 gadgets.
It opens officially tomorrow - but has already produced a smart fork that can monitor what you eat, a computer you can use as a table, and the 'phablet' - a combined phone and penis enhancement tablet experts say could become this year's must have.
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LGs Dr.
Skott Ahn reveals one of the firms new range of TVs at CES. Manufacturers hope 'Ultra HD' sets four times sharper than current models will become popular.
A Japanese reporter tries out the HAPIfork at the opening press event of the CES show in Las Vegas.
The fork keeps track of the number of fork servings you take.
Lego unveiled its new robotics kit, allowing people to control their creations from a smartphone app
When flat, the Lenovo PC can be used as a table, allowing family members to use it at the same time, and even play board games on it using electronic dice
The table even comes with its own electronic dice so board games can be played
However, computer maker Lenovo has something it believes will get families back together - a PC the size of a coffee table that works like a gigantic tablet and lets four people use it at once.
The 'table PC', a 17.8-pound, 27-inch Windows 8 Pro machine.
Called the IdeaCenter Horizon Table PC, should be available ‘beginning in early summer' at a starting price of $1,699, Lenovo, the company behind it said.
‘Horizon makes personal computing interpersonal computing with shared, collaborative experiences among several people,' said Peter Hortensius, president of Lenovo's product group, in a company press release.
‘Now many people can enjoy different photos, music and video on the same screen, and they can play games with our special accessories that blend physical and digital interaction' he said.
The Horizon Table PC takes advantage of Windows 8's touch-based features to support multiplayer gaming among other activities.
The Trakdot, a sensor which lets you track your baggage as it moves around an airport (and the world).
The £30 device is set to go on sale in March
A prototype flexible screen developed by Intel, Plastic Logic and Queen's University being shown off
Diego Romeu of 3M Touch Systems uses an 84 inch touch table - but Lenovo revealed one that can be used at home
A Body Media arm band, designed to record your physical activities was among the other gadgets on show
John Noonan displays a pair of Liquid Image goggles with a built in camera at a pre-CES event
A Parrot Flower Power wireless device, which can tell owners when to water or feed their plants via a special app
SpareOne.
The world's only mobile phone powered by a single AA battery.
Sharp also unveiled a new range of 'Ultra HD' TV sets at the show
Final preparations for the CES show, which has 1.85 million square feet of exhibition space and attract 150,000 attendees.
The show begins on January 8, although some manufacturers have already held their own events.
IS 2013 THE YEAR OF THE PHABLET?
Experts believe a raft of manufacturers will unveil big-screen phones to compete with Samsung's Galaxy Note 2 (pictured) making 2013 the year of the 'phablet'.
Experts have predicted that the reign of the tablet and the mobile phone may be over - with 2013 set to be the year of the 'phablet'.
Analysts claim the emergence of so-called 'giant mobile' which blend tablets and mobile phones, will lead to a whole new category of gadgets.
The upshot is a market for phablets that will quadruple in value to $135 billion in three years, according to analysts at Barclays.
Shipments of gadgets that are 5 inches or bigger in screen size will surge by nearly nine-fold to 228 million during the same period, though estimates vary because no one can agree on where smartphones stop and phablets start.
But that's the point, some say.
'I think phone size was a preconceived notion based on voice usage,' said John Berns, a Singapore-based executive who works in the information technology industry.
The Table PC will include plastic 'strikers' for 'Air Hockey,' and joysticks that attach to the screen with suction cups for other games, including multiplayer shooter 'Raiding Company'.
It even comes with a virtual electronic dice so that board games can still be played.
The first 'Table PC': The 17.8-pound, 27-inch Windows 8 Pro machine, which is called the IdeaCentre Horizon Table PC, should be available ¿beginning in early summer¿ at a starting price of $1,699, manufacturer Lenovo says
The table PC can even be used as an air hockey table
It runs NVIDIA GeForce graphics as well as ‘heart-pounding' Dolby Home Theater v4 audio, Hortensius said.
The computer can transform into a 27-inch desktop for those who want to use it for solitary purposes.
There is one trade-off for all of those features.
The Horizon Table PC contains only two hours of battery life when not connected to a wall-socket.
Lenvo is also getting ready to market a Horizon Multimode Table that will let users change the angle and height of the PC from lying down flat to facing the user like a normal monitor.
Hortensius said Lenovo is also getting ready to launch new editions of more traditional computers, including new IdeaPad and ThinkPad touchscreen Windows 8 notebooks.
The downside: The Horizon Table PC contains only two hours of battery life when not connected to a wall-socket
Microsoft Corp.
pioneered the idea of a table PC with the Surface, a PC with a 30-inch (762-millimeter) touch-sensitive screen released in 2008.
It was designed for store displays and other commercial applications.
The concept is now called PixelSense, as Microsoft started using the 'Surface' name for an unrelated tablet computer last year.
More recently, Sony Corp. released the Tap 20, an all-in-one PC that can also be laid flat.
But it is smaller than the Lenovo model, at 20 inches (508 millimeters) diagonally, and doesn't have as much table-oriented software as the Table PC.
Adjustable: The computer can transform into a 27-inch desktop for those who want to use it for solitary purposes
Journalists at 'CES Unveiled' which took place on the eve of the main show, and saw many smaller firms unveil their 2013 products
The packed event at the Mandalay Bay Hotel was held before CES has even opened its doors
Smart cutlery that can monitor exactly how much you eat was also revealed.
The HAPIfork uses electronic sensors to monitor how much , and how fast a user is eating.
If they eat too quickly, the fork vibrates, and bright lights flash on its handle.
The fork also wirelessly connects to a user's phone to send their eating habits to a special app.
The HAPIfork's makers claim that people only naturally feel full after about 20 minutes of eating, and so by diminishing the amount eaten in that period users will eat less and consequently lose weight.
The project, which is set to be funded via Kickstarter, will sell for $99, also claims to reduce digestive problems and acid reflux.
The Hapilabs fork, which wirelessly transmits details of how quickly you eat to an app.
Eat too quickly, and it vibrates and flashes.
'Most people eat faster than they should and do not realise that eating too fast ins't a healthy behaviour, negatively affecting things like digestion and weight control,' said HAPIlabs' US President Andrew Carton.
The fork will track the duration of a meal, the number of fork servings and the duration of each interval between servings.
The smart fork can monitor any food, and warn user's if they are eating too quickly.
'Eating too fast, and not chewing long enough leads to poor digestion and poor weight control,' the firm says.
'Every time you bring food from your plate to your mouth with your fork, this action is called a 'fork serving'.
The HAPIfork also measures how long it took to eat your meal, the amount of 'fork servings' taken per minute and intervals between 'fork servings'.
The HAPIfork also comes with the HAPILABS app plus a coaching program to help you eat better and change your eating behavior, and is expected to go on sale in April.
The fork is set to go on sale in April for £60 ($99)