PREVIEW: Tech world going soft at the Consumer Electronics Show

By Andy Goldberg Jan 5, 2012, 13:01 GMT

Las Vegas - One of the biggest events in the technology world's annual cycle is set to kick off early next week in Las Vegas when 140,000 people and 2,700 exhibitors descend on the gambling mecca for the Consumer Electronics Show.

The internet age and the globalization of the technology market has put a dent in the importance of such confabs, and many of the world's most prominent companies no longer regard their official attendance as essential.

Apple Inc has long shunned the show, while even Consumer Electronics Show (CES) mainstay Microsoft Corp is pulling the plug after this year's extravaganza.

Nevertheless the world's largest tech show still remains a great periscope for spotting the trends and gadgets that will make headlines, and holes in your bank accounts, in the coming year.

The roster of attendees is the largest since 2007, and while they will be subjected to all the razzle, dazzle and hype that marketing departments can dream up, they are unlikely to witness any ground-shaking product innovations that will rock their world.

That's because the show will be less about shiny new toys than the discreet software that's inside them, says Andrew Nusca, the editor of tech site ZDNet.com. 'Make no mistake, there will be newer, thinner, brighter televisions; higher-powered laptops and digital cameras. But that's not really where the action is,' he said.

'The real action can be found around the interoperability of these products. The real innovation will only be seen when the device is turned on and used. It can't be touched, only experienced.'

Microsoft will, as usual, hold the opening keynote speech, where chief executive Steve Ballmer will likely reveal more details about Windows 8 and his plans to claw back domination of the tech world from Apple, Facebook Inc and Google Inc.

While Microsoft may never be sexy, it's still enormously influential, and is well poised to build on the advances it made with Windows 7, Windows Phone and its Kinect interface for the Xbox, for instance with a line of tablet computers based on Windows 8.

Watch out too for plenty of Android-powered tablets, including several hybrid models that are designed with detachable keyboards to entice users looking for the feel of tablets and the power of laptops.

Ultrabooks, the superslim, long-running and powerful laptops inspired by the Macbook Air, will also be on prominent display as PC manufacturers Dell Inc, Hewlett-Packard Co, Samsung Electronics Co and Lenovo Group Ltd tell the world that Apple is not the only company capable of creating a computer to lust after.

Much of the pre-conference hype has also focused on the drool-inducing new super-thin OLED TV by LG Electronics Inc. Its 1.4-metre screen is the largest ever to use organic light emitting diodes, or OLEDs, which use less energy, offer brighter colours and allow televisions to be made with almost no bezel, or frame.

It's also only 4 millimetres thin, and weighs just 7.5 kilograms. Like any leading-edge technology it won't come cheap, with a price tag of 10,000 dollars expected for its launch this year.

Another expected LG announcement about its new implementation of Google TV may be of more interest to television geeks. With Apple also hotly rumoured to be preparing for a relaunch of a new and vastly improved Apple TV, 2012 may yet prove to be the year when televisions get the brains to match their beauty.

The same might be said for cars, which have become an increasingly important part of the show. Last year, Ford Motor Co chose CES to roll out its electric Ford Focus.

This year Mercedes-Benz, owned by German carmaker Daimler AG, is to give a keynote presentation in which the luxury brand is expected to outline its plans to outfit its cars with the latest applications and telematics.