Since I will not be attending CES this year (can’t say that enough) I will still scour the interwebs to feed my hunger for the latest and greatest the show has to offer. But there are several technologies that I will really be on the lookout for. Here is my list and why

The Lowdown:

3D TV
Over the holidays, I (and a ba-jillion other people) dropped some serious dough to watch the movie “Avatar”…and it didn’t disappoint either! I specifically searched out an IMAX 3D Experience just to see how good the movie would look in 3D…and it didn’t disappoint either! But my question is? Can TV’s and other components reproduce that same 3D experience at home? And how much will the average consumer have to shell out to take advantage? There are already some TV’s on the market that claim to be “3D Ready”…but are they really? Hopefully CES can shed some light on my skepticism curiosity.

TV over the internet or IPTV
I am almost positive more and more people are thinking about calling their cable/satellite provider and telling them to “kick rocks”. But they feel that in order to get decent programming, they are trapped under the thumb of these TV giants. I predict that the battle between Cable/Satellite TV and IPTV will be the next “format war” of this decade (I know they are not formats – I just couldn’t come up with anything clever). What I want to find out from CES is are the current and upcoming players in IPTV serious enough to take it to the TV gods.

Home Automation
I just love this technology. The mere idea that my house can shoot me an email when my wife gets home; I can monitor my security cameras, turn my heat up or down, or set my DVR to record Oprah on my smartphone; control ALL of my electronics (including my oven, fridge, security, and HVAC) with one remote unit gets me going. I want to know how simple in cheap, or how difficult and costly it will be for the average consumer to convert their house into a “Smart Home”

So there are my questions CES MUST answer. What are yours?

One of the major things to cross off my ‘Bucket List’ is to attend the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Vegas. Unfortunately for this year, the show will have to do without my on-site delightful, insightful, and witty commentary, news, and reviews of the hottest consumer electronics on the market and on the horizon that will be on display at the show. So I will just have to play ‘arm chair quarterback’ and blog about the show from the sidelines.

The Lowdown:

Since I won’t be able to make it, THE LEAST I can do is bless all those who are attending with some tech that will make their matriculation of the show a little easier.

CES has developed the Follow Me App for smartphones that will enable attendees to- Organize and schedule your tradeshow information on the fly or download it to your phone.
- Simply download exhibitor information rather than carrying marketing materials and brochures around the show.
- Navigate using interactive show floor maps.
- Enjoy complimentary coupons from local merchants for discounts and free offers.

What the above says to me is this app will “allow attendees to easily navigate and NOT HAVE TO CARRY ALL THE CRAP THAT GOES ALONG WITH ATTENDING A LARGE TRADE SHOW” That’s a win in my book.

Here is a demo of the app in action:

For more “official” information and to download go to 2010 CES: Follow Me

P.S., They need to hurry up on that BlackBerry app!