Ultrabooks, Chromebooks, Nokia Windows Phones Create CES Buzz

The Consumer Electronics Show often features a variety of manufacturers pushing their own version of that year's "hot"product, and the 2012 edition was no different. Everyone from Samsung and Hewlett-Packard to Acer and Toshiba was pushing some variation on the "ultrabook,"or super-thin laptops with high-end specs. Whether these devices break out of CES and prove blockbusters remains to be seen, although the standout devices of past shows& including tablets and non-Kindle e-readers& have been known to crash and burn once they reach store shelves. Ultrabooks aside, thin and mobile seemed to be the guiding principles for hardware and software at this year's CES. Tablets still proved a popular offering by companies big and small, and one of the biggest of them all& Microsoft& used the show to promote the upcoming Windows 8, which will run on touch screens in addition to traditional PCs. Still other manufacturers remain determined to make a dent in the market with Android tablets, although those seemed less of a presence on the show floor than in 2011. Smartphones also proved a popular staple of companies' lineups; among them, Nokia stood out with its refreshed device line utilizing Microsoft's Windows Phone operating system. Both Windows Phone and Google Android& the latter also running on a number of new smartphones set to hit the market& will spend 2012 battling Apple's popular iPhone for consumer dollars. Indeed, if this year's CES is any indication, 2012 is going to prove a very busy year for tech.� - ...

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