iRobot

by Frank Tobe, Editor, The Robot Report

CES 2012 was a mammoth display of the trend toward smart, connected devices for every form of consumer activity: toys, appliances, entertainment, health, mobility, etc. More than 20,000 new products were launched at this year’s CES and a large portion of them could be considered "smart."

"Smart" (robotic-like) products profess to add value, assure safety, and provide convenience through connectivity... claims that in many cases are true, particularly with in-car infotainment systems.

3,100 exhibitors, 1.86 million sq ft of exhibition space, 153,000 attendees of which 34,000 were international and only one good food stand (Nathan's hot dogs – you can't ruin a Nathan's hot dog). Massive crowding, slow moving, loud, extravagant and wonderful. Thin TVs – so thin they looked like they couldn't stand up by themselves without bending – 3D with and without glasses, projectors, smart appliances, and apps for everything from TVs to refrigerators to scales.Read more

The day before the show officially opens is among other thing press conference day and Steve Ballmer keynote night, neither of which yielded any major surprises. One of the big events of the show is the press only event called Digital Experience or Pepcom where it seemed like close to 100 exhibitors including big companies like HP along with startups. Here are some products that caught our attention for one reason or another.

Lenovo Yoga is Very Flexible
Lenovo announced a new product they call Yoga. It's so flexible the display flips around and the whole thing turns into a tablet. It has a touchscreen display and was running Windows 8 whose Metro UI works well with touch commands.