The Consumer Electronics Show is the world’s largest technology conference and trade show. Each year, the event gathers companies promoting the latest innovations in segments such as audio, computer hardware & software, digital imaging, electronic gaming, lifestyle electronics, etc.

Colin and friend with $2000 Audio-Technica headphones

Windows Phone booth at CES

View of the show

Show view from above

Rapper 50 Cent

Massive LG Displays

Gibson self tuning guitars

Amidst the tablet wars, Android vs. Windows, and battle for connected TV supremacy we were able to establish the overarching theme of the show to be “Connectivity: How to link and sync all aspects of your digital life into as few gadgets as possible.” Here are the five gadgets, gizmos, and pieces of technology (in no particular order) we found to be the most impressive.

1. The Blackberry Playbook:

Okay, so we know we’re initially stirring the pot here with this pick. The lion’s share of votes went out the Motorola Xoom for being the best tablet at CES, and we even overheard someone calling it the “iPad killer” (a little harsh in our book), but coming from a group of guys who have officially joined the Apple congregation, the Playbook is the only tablet that came close to wowing us. The OS was built by QNX, the company that builds the OS for the FAA’s computer systems (yes the one that is controlling where your plane flies) in order to create a no-crash-no-glitch tablet that would allow you to simultaneously surf the web, listen to movies, watch videos, and email your long-lost relatives, and it does exactly that. The screen was responsive, the applications were fast, and it even syncs with your blackberry so any text or email you send from the Playbook shows up in your phones history. Oh, and it has Flash (time to get with it Apple).

2. Fulton Innovation’s eCoupled Wireless Power:

This concept isn’t all that new to the tech world, as you can find it readily in use with your Powermat charging device. What Fulton Innovation was able to do, though, was show the next-generation of practical integrations for a technology such as this. In the future (we hope sooner than later), you’ll be charging your Tesla electric car, cooking your soup, running your blender, and using your laptop all at once, without the existence of one wire or plug. Oh, and if you’re so into your streaming episode of Big Bang Theory that you forget about your soup, your iPhone (or iPad) will automatically let you know when it’s ready to be eaten.

3. The Sony Internet TV with Google TV:

This, again, is a technology that is currently on the market today, but since the theme of the whole show (in our eyes) was connectivity, we couldn’t leave this out. Think about how many times you’ve sat on your couch surfing the web on your laptop, tweeting from your iPhone, and watching your favorite movie live streaming from Netflix on your Xbox. The Sony Internet TV puts an end to that. Seamlessly linking your cable, DVR, internet apps, and a live Google search, the Sony Internet TV allows you to compress the rest of your tech life into a compact (and rather sleek) remote, complete with a QWERTY keyboard. The next time you feel like watching 30 Rock simply enter a search and you’ll be shown where to see streaming internet videos, where it’s located on your DVR, which channels are playing it and when, and who’s recently tweeted about the show. This device is the definition of “connectivity.”

4. LG’s INFINIA Line of LED TVs:

With dozens of television manufacturers all over the show, it was hard to determine which the “best” was and what made one TV stand out ahead of another. In our opinion, the INFINIA line grabs your attention right off the bat. At just over one inch thick, a vivid and utterly stunning display, and 3D ready (with the use of realD glasses that retail for somewhere around 10 USD) this was a winner. In a world of 240HZ 1080p and 3D technology it’s very hard to be taken aback by one television over another, but LG easily did that and may have even converted us into 3D believers!

5. The Windows Phone:

As mention before, alaTest’s New York City office has fully jumped on the Apple bandwagon, so any Windows product is going to be a hard sell. This phone, though, quickly grabbed our attention, and seemed to wow anyone who got their hands on it. In a show full of phones that all seemed to be playing the iPhone catch up game, Windows successfully differentiated itself by creating a phone with a home screen that appears to be alive and moving, applications that tie together your work and personal life, a vivid, highly responsive display (mostly due to their partnerships with Samsung and LG), and a user-friendly OS that completely out-performed any Android currently on market (we’ve heard great things about the new Android OS set to come out, though). For someone who isn’t quite ready to commit themselves to Steve Jobs, the Windows phone is a fine option, although we still think you’d have more fun playing Angry Birds on your iPhone 4.

For those that didn’t have such a great opportunity to experience the International CES in person, we hope that you get there next year. It truly is an amazing show, with the greatest brands and manufacturers really “flexing” their tech muscles on a global stage. It’s an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that we hope to share for years to come!

Making lists like ‘top ten products of the year’, ‘best digital camera of 2010′, ‘Netbook of the year’ is hard and perhaps using a broader brush than essentially necessary.

Narrowing it down would probably make more sense. For example something like ‘Best entry level SLR digital camera of 2010’ would get closer to the need of a certain target user’s needs and wants. Still one would have to argue that lists like that are not very dynamic and only reflects a snapshot of that moment in time. What about next week? Or next month? And what are the criteria to “make it” to these lists? Most sold, most advertised, biggest hype, strongest brand, etc?

Here’s an example: a quick search online for greatest products tech gave me this PC World page. Only problem here is that this article was published in 2007 and if you read the comments it leaves out some pretty interesting products (like the optical mouse and the USB functionality found in most devices today). This of course is due to the preferences and bias of the author, and it should be. It’s an opinionated world we live in, no question about that. And at alaTest we love opinions. The list does also not include the iPhone which was released early 2007 and must be considered a major breakthrough in the mobile communications industry.

However, lists like this one is very popular and attracts a lot of readers. Here’s another one also from PC World. In this one they are trying to get people to nominate (through the Facebook App) the top 5 products of 2010 and also volunteers a top 100 products 2010 list. Quite a few thought logging in and leaving information about themselves in order to vote was a little bit too invasive. But let’s not open up that can of worms. People also commented on things missing but again lists can never be complete in terms of every individual’s opinion. Products like the Apple iPad and the Samsung Galaxy Tab are competing to be the best this year and sure they are in the race, but perhaps not if all you need is a new toaster.

A couple of other examples are “30 best products for men” (Techlust from Men’s Health) and “Top 100 tech products of the year” (Computer Shopper, 2008) that showed up early on the radar when searching.

The challenge is that if you want to use this information as some sort of buying advice or research of products you need to get or perhaps just support before opening up your wallet you may need to read several lists and articles and even then it might not feel like solid advice. The reason is that it is difficult to make sense of these opinions and to put each one into the proper context or the right perspective. Does your research, as an individual, include all the necessary pieces of information? What conclusions can you draw? Who are the people saying all of this? And what is their level of expertise? As an individual reader that is bordering on impossible.

Instead may we suggest an easier route to wisdom? At alaTest we make those lists every day, all year round in hundreds of specific categories for millions of products. We eat, sleep and breathe PRODUCT QUALITY. Our objective, global rating from 0-100 (Poor to Excellent) is an index guiding users, buyers, visitors, people that want to quench their information thirst to better understanding what quality the product they are looking for actually has.

And the lists are dynamic, meaning that any new product or new review – god or bad – that is added (we add about 30.000 reviews daily) affects the ratings of the other products in that category making sure the “the list” is always updated. We follow the development in each category closely by putting our big ear against the ground and listening to what experts, professionals, editors, users, buyers, product videos are saying about a specific product. We don’t leave any products out! Instead we try to evaluate them all – new or old, good or bad, pros and cons, verdict and rating… you get the idea.

Our idea is that more sources of information (sometimes several hundred or thousand of opinions) saying the same thing is probably closer to “the truth” than a single list or review. And since the information technology surrounding us 24/7 also makes the commercial messages being communication almost blinding in its sheer strength the opinions of others has once again become a trustworthy currency. And perhaps reviews are the way forward ensuring companies with the biggest marketing budget don’t get to dictate what we should be interested in or buy.

We at alaTest like to think so. If you ask us – we’ll say that it’s all about reviews.

On top of product reviews and ratings, we have the possibility to use our homegrown data. We are then able to see what the major trends of the year are in terms of products and brands. This is precisely what this post is about. This time, we decided to focus on cell phones.

Throughout the year, the top rated cell phones were:

(results based on 1050 expert reviews from Nov 30^th 2009 through Nov 30^th 2010)

• #1: HTC Desire

The HTC Desire features a sleek design with a sharp and responsive touch screen. The 1GHz Snapdragon processor keeps things running smoothly, and call quality is good

HTC Desire Reviews

• #2: Motorola Droid X

The Motorola Droid X makes another fine addition to Verizon’s Android family, bringing with it a rich multimedia experience and more connectivity features.

Motorola Droid X Reviews

• #3: HTC Desire HD

Powered by the latest Android 2.2 Froyo hand in hand with the latest HTC Sense. HTC might just have a natural bestseller on their hands

HTC Desire HD Reviews

• #4: Apple iPhone 4

Apple shows again with their new iPhone 4 that they are undoubtly a top player in the smartphone game

Apple iPhone 4 Reviews

• #5: Samsung Galaxy S GT-I9000

The Galaxy S is a pleasure to use thanks to the smooth, bright and colourful screen. Packed with tons of features, it’s the best Android hardware we’ve seen so far.

Samsung Galaxy S GT-I9000 Reviews

Throughout the year, the top rated phone brands were:

(results based on 616 expert reviews from Nov 30^th 2009 through Nov 30^th 2010)

• #1: Apple

Apple released one of the top-rated phone of the year in June with the iPhone 4.

• #2: Samsung

Samsung released seven of the 50 best-rated cell phones of the year, including the Samsung Galaxy S GT-I9000 or the Samsung Epic 4G.

• #3: HTC

HTC released eight of the top 50 cell phones of 2010, including the HTC Desire, HTC Desire HD or HTC Legend.

• #4: Motorola

Motorola released five of the top 50 cell phones of 2010, including the Motorola Droid X, Motorola Droid 2 or the Motorola Milestone.

• #5: Sony Ericsson

Sony Ericsson released seven of the top 50 cell phones of 2010, including the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10, X10 Mini and X10 Mini Pro.

Competing products are just now emerging – most of them are cheaper than the iPad, and some offer greater flexibility and performance. Apple will be responding soon to these challengers with a new generation of iPads that promise even better performance. Here’s a brief introduction to the world of tablet computers:

Apple

The Apple iPad needs no introduction. Of course, this is the product that might launch a thousand ships… and a whole new product segment in the personal electronics category. The iPad is the current king of the mountain when it comes to tablet computers, and with aggressive marketing and a rabid built-in fanbase, it could remain there for years to come. It lets you surf the Web, listen to music, watch movies, read e-books, and much more. The downside is the price – an iPad will cost you at least $500 (but usually more), and that’s if you can even find one!

Archos

Archos has two models – the Archos 7 and the Archos 9. The A7 is a bare-bones model, little more than a digital A/V player… perfect for the consumer that simply wants to access entertainment on the go. The A9 is much more robust, and offers true competition for the iPad, and includes a 22.6cm screen, Windows 7, a 60GB hard drive, and more. These models typically cost $300-500.

VILIV

These tablets are also called ‘WiFi Hand-Helds’, and they allow virtually unlimited Web browsing. Windows Home XP comes installed, and allows word processing, gaming, and other options. Screen size is relatively small at 4.8 inches, although newer models offer larger screens. Price is around $500.

Lenovo

The line of IdeaPad tablets from Lenovo offer a lot of options, all for around $500. Windows 7, a Web browser, and a large hard drive are all standard – the more expensive models feature a larger screen, increased memory, and faster processors.

Expect a number of competing tablets to arrive soon, most priced much lower than the iPad. Dell is launching the Streak, which is expected to cost $100-200. Smaller companies like G-Link, Bluesky, and Eken are all introducing new, low-priced models in the near future.

The bottom line: if you are already an Apple fan, you won’t be satisfied with anything less than an iPad. Other consumers can save some money by choosing a competing brand, and they might see some better performance as well. The introduction of newer models will push prices down across the board, and soon tablets will challenge the power and versatility of their larger netbook and laptop cousins.

HTC (visit manufacturer’s website)

• HTC Aria – Personalization is the name of the game with HTC’s Aria.  Organize emails, texts, Facebook messages, & tweets by who sent them, choose from a menu of widgets for your main display, post directly, to Facebook and Twitter, and much more.  Includes Bluetooth, touchscreen, and 5.0 megapixel LED camera.  The battery under performs, delivering only 144 minutes of usage time.

• HTC Nexus One – Created in partnership with Google, the HTC Nexus One delivers optimized online and Google app functionality with a large display.  Includes Bluetooth, touchscreen, and 5.0 megapixel flash camera.  Battery is great at 420 minutes of usage time.

LG (visit manufacturer’s website)

• LG Ally – The LG Ally provides social media junkies with all the tools they need to stay connected.  Organize messages, access Facebook and Twitter instantly, and much more. Includes QWERTY keyboard, Bluetooth, touchscreen, and 3.2 megapixel camera.  Battery delivers a stunning 450 minutes of usage time.

Sony Ericsson (visit manufacturer’s website)

• Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 – With a big screen and lots of memory, the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 is a great phone for media & gaming enthusiasts.  Includes Bluetooth, touchscreen, and 8.0 megapixel LED camera.  Top-notch 480 minutes of usage time from the battery lets you go days between recharges.

Motorola (visit manufacturer’s website)

• Droid – It’s got the catchiest name, and great functionality!  A blazing fast processor coupled with Verizon’s 3G network promises some of the best performance around.  Like apps?  Motorola’s Droid lets you toggle between up to six at a time.  Includes Bluetooth, touchscreen, and 5.0 megapixel LED camera.  Good battery life at 385 minutes of usage time.

T-Mobile (visit manufacturer’s website)

• myTouch 3G Slide – Another platform that caters to social media enthusiasts, the myTouch 3G Slide separates and prioritizes incoming messages from family & friends, via the built-in “Faves Gallery”.  The Slide also allows you to toggle between work and home modes: each can be programed with different wallpapers, widgets, alert tones, and apps.  Includes Bluetooth, touchscreen, and 5.0 megapixel flash camera.  Battery is outstanding at up to 400 minutes of usage time.

• Garminfone – Co-branded with Garmin, this T-Mobile platform is designed for those who need robust direction finding, location-based applications, and spot-on GPS support.  Also provides limited personalization of social media.  Includes Bluetooth, touchscreen, and 3.0 megapixel camera.  Battery is solid at 244 minutes of usage time.

The next update of the Android OS is scheduled for 4^th quarter 2010, and several improvements have already been announced:

• Lossless Audio Codec playback support
• WebM video playback support
• Android Market music store
• Media streaming from PC library
• a totally new user interface

You can count on alaTest to have reviews of the latest mobile phones that will be running the updated OS.

3D television is in the early stages of roll-out, but the television manufacturers are counting on two content streams: 3D films on DVD and Blu-ray, and original television content meant specifically for 3D televisions.  Having multiple content streams ensures that 3D television is more than just a novelty…
it’s here to stay!

3D Television Models

3D television technology is still in its infancy, and the number of models to choose from is very limited.  Currently, there are two manufacturers to choose from: Samsung with its 7000-9000 series of LCD/LED televisions, and Philips with its 56PFL9954H 56-inch LCD television.  More models are promised by manufacturers like Sony, Panasonic, and Mitsubishi, but right now if you want 3D in your home, Samsung and Philips are where the action is at.

3D Television Features

3D TVs are high-end items, so you can be certain that these models will have all of the bells & whistles.  All three models feature 1080p vertical resolution, 240Hz refresh rate, four HDMI inputs, and direct Internet connectivity.  Additionally, all three save you money on electric bills by being Energy Star-rated.

There are some differences between these models.  The Samsung models feature the usual 16:9 aspect ratio, while the Philips uses the so-called “full cinematic” 21:9 aspect ratio for a true home theater experience.  The Philips model is also the largest at 56-inches, while the Samsung models tip the scales anywhere from 40-55 inches.

3D Television Pricing

Because the technology is new, the prices of 3D televisions are still quite a bit higher than normal TVs.  At one end, the Samsung models cost anywhere from $1900 to $6700.  The Philips model is around $3000.  It’s a lot of money no matter which one you choose, but you have to consider what you are getting for that price: access to a truly unique display technology that promises the ultimate in an immersive viewing experience.  For true home theater aficionados, the cost will be no object.

The future holds additional bargains for consumers excited by the prospect of bringing 3D technology home.  As the number of new models grows and the technology matures, prices will begin to come down.  Some retailers are offering free Blu-ray players as an enticement to purchase a new 3D television, and there seems to be an even better deal around every corner.  Cheaper 3D televisions are on the way… but if you want the acclaim of being the first one on your block to bring 3D home, now is the time to jump in!

In case you weren’t there, here are the four consoles & accessories that made the biggest splash…

Nintendo 3DS

It was a real return to the spotlight for Nintendo this year, as their forthcoming Nintendo 3DS handheld stole the show.  There’s no definitive release date yet, but when it comes, you can expect the 3DS to cause the same long lines and longer back-order lists that the Wii created a few years ago:

• 3D effects without the need for glasses.
• One camera facing the player for use in head-to-head and online gaming.
• Two cameras on the outside let you take 3D pictures.
• The bottom display panel is touch sensitive.
• A motion sensor & gyroscope are built in, for use in game play.
• Graphics are improved over current DS technology.
• The device will actively search for WiFi hotspots, as well as other 3DS’s that are nearby.
• Remakes of popular Nintendo titles highlight the current list of games being developed, including Star Fox 64, The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time, and an unrevealed Mario title.

Sony has already tried to poke holes in Nintendo’s party balloons by claiming that glasses-free 3D for handhelds results in an image that is not particularly deep or dramatic, but early response to the 3DS has been overwhelmingly enthusiastic.

Xbox 360 Kinect Controller

Microsoft re-unveiled its Kinect motion controller for the Xbox 360.  Formerly known as ‘Project Natal’, the Kinect is designed to provide direct competition for the beloved Nintendo Wii.  The controller launches in November 2010:

• Use full body motion to control play, as well as voice-activated commands.
• Microsoft is promising that fifteen games will be available at launch, with dozens more in the pipeline.
• Kinect-compatible game Dance Central, which does for dancing & choreography what the Rock Band series does for music, was one of the biggest hits of the show.
• Older titles will not be backwards-compatible with the Kinect.

There is some confusion about what types of games Microsoft will be developing for the Kinect.  The early batch appear to be very similar to the initial Wii offerings: party games, bowling, and novelty titles.  Gamers are clamoring for compatibility with controller-based shooters like the upcoming Halo: Reach, Gears of War 3, and Call of Duty: Black Ops, but Microsoft has sent mixed messages about broad support for games of this type.

Xbox 360 Slim

The smaller, sleeker, quieter next generation Xbox 360 console is already on sale.  It offers substantial (some say overdue) improvements on the previous Xbox 360 design, including:

• 250GB hard drive
• built-in WiFi
• no more ‘red-ring-of-death’ system crashes

Xbox fans are already excited, but the built-in WiFi is earning crossover fans from Sony and Nintendo.  Combined with the excitement for the Kinect, this was a very good show for Microsoft.

PlayStation Move Controller

Sony’s entry into the full-motion controller market is still a work in progress, and the official demonstration highlighted developer tools rather than finished titles.  The only buzzworthy reveal was the Move Shooting Attachment, a gun device with an appealing old-school, Star Trek look.  A lot of PlayStation fans were disappointed that development was not further along, and it looks like E3 2011 will be the big reveal for this hotly anticipated controller.