CES 2010: Top Products, Trends from the Show Floor Frontline

By all measures, the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show that took place in Las Vegas earlier this month was a success, despite the dark clouds of a recession/recovery and relatively conservative attendee numbers as compared with previous pre-recession shows.

More than 2,500 technology companies introduced more than 20,000 new products at this year's CES 2010, according to event management. These products ranged from widgets and wires to some serious 3D computers and handheld systems. Some of the hottest areas included netbooks, eReaders, tablet PCs and smartphones. Nearly every major manufacturer also had a "green strategy" to save the planet and energy costs for consumers - although you had to wonder how these strategies will be impacted by energy-sapping 3D televisions and displays. ces show floor

As the final tallies were taken, the books showed about 120,000 industry professionals attending the multi-day event, which is up from last year (roughly 113,000). More than 5,000 reporters, editors and bloggers also made the trek to CES, including the entire staff of TechnologyGuide.com

The following is a roundup of key product introductions and announcements from CES 2010. Also, keep an eye out for reviews and in-depth evaluations of these new products in future postings across all of our technologyGuide.com Web sites.

NotebookReview.com

One hit of this year's CES is Lenovo's Skylight, a thin and light 'smartbook' that bridges the gap between a smartphone and a larger netbook. Such devices are expected to be a major force from several manufacturers in 2010, as users go for lighter and more mobile systems

The Lenovo Skylight was the first of these smartbooks to go public. Yes, it is small and very stylish, but it also has a great keyboard and screen. It even has the smartphone-like ability to almost instantly wake from sleep mode (a huge time saver compared to netbooks and ultraportable notebooks).

Learn more about the Skylight and other CES notebook/netbook debuts here:

- CES 2010: The Best And Worst Laptops

- HP Announces New TouchSmart tm2 and Mini Netbooks

- Dell Unveils Powerful 11-inch Alienware M11x Gaming Laptop

- eReaders Abound at CES 2010

- NVIDIA Launches Tegra 2

DesktopReview.com

Notebooks and netbooks may have attracted a lot of attention at CES 2010 this month, but desktops still rule when it comes to flexibility, expandability and in many cases performance. Lenovo brought that point home by unveiling a trio of new products, including two new all-in-ones and a 24-inch capacitive multi-touch display. The company also showed the low-end and low-cost IdeaCentre C310. Be sure to check out Editor J.R. Nelson's hands-on video peek at this system.

Dell chimed in with it's own entry, the Studio XPS 8100, which is an update to the previous incarnation in the series, the Studio XPS 8000. Chief among the updates is the processor. Dell added new options from Intel's Core i3 and i5 CPUs.

More on CES 2010 desktops via the following links:

- Lenovo Unveils New Multitouch LCD, Desktops

- Dell Releases Updated Studio XPS 8100 and Inspiron Desktops

- MSI Shows Off Concept PCs, Including All-in-One Projector

- New HP Desktops Out Ahead of CES

Manufactures are seeing glitz and green at CES, with companies announcing environmental initiatives and stressing decreased printer power consumption in Vegas, while others are turning to big-named celebrities to promote their wares.

While Polaroid may have overshadowed others with its Lady Gaga booth appearance, Canon and Dell went the greener route, stressing an inkjet cartridge recycling program and printer energy efficiency, respectively. Kodak also brought in the celebrities, with television's Punky Brewster and others promoting the company's new wireless printing applications.

Also of note was the Analyzing Dollars and Watts information session in which industry leaders, politicians, and environmental advocates discussed the current state of device energy consumption.