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Photos: The gadgets of CES 2011

Tablets, smartphones and Microsoft Surface 2.0
By Tim Ferguson, Contributor
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1 of 16 Bonnie Cha/CNET

Tablets, smartphones and Microsoft Surface 2.0

Now that the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) has drawn to a close in Las Vegas, silicon.com looks back at the tablets, mobiles and green technology unveiled at the show.

Unsurprisingly, tablet PCs dominated proceedings. Samsung launched a 4G-enabled version of its Galaxy Tab, which can run on the Verizon Wireless LTE network in the US.

Like the first version of the Galaxy Tab, the new device runs Android 2.2 but adds a 1.2GHz Cortex A8 Hummingbird application processor, a rubberised finish and a five-megapixel digital camera.

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2 of 16 Donald Bell/CNET

RIM showed off its BlackBerry PlayBook tablet PC, which has a seven-inch capacitive touchscreen, stereo speakers and a front-facing three-megapixel camera that can record 1080p video.

The touch control goes beyond the screen onto the frame, meaning swipe gestures can be initiated off the screen to pull up tools such as a keyboard.

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3 of 16 Josh P. Miller/CNET

Motorola unveiled its Xoom, which runs Google's tablet-optimised Honeycomb version of Android. The Xoom is due to be available in the first quarter of the year.

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4 of 16 James Martin/CNET

Dell's Streak 7 uses a dual-core 1GHz Nvidia processor and is able to work on T-Mobile's 4G network.

The tablet device runs Android 2.2 - which can be upgraded to Honeycomb (Android 3.0), has a five-megapixel rear-facing camera and a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera for use with video calls.

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5 of 16 Scott Stein/CNET

Laptop maker Lenovo also made sure it got in on the tablet PC action with its 10-inch Windows-powered tablet, provisionally called the IdeaPad Slate.

The device is similar to the company's Android-powered LePad device in terms of hardware but it has a more modern Intel Atom CPU, instead of the LePad's Qualcomm Snapdragon chip. The IdeaPad Slate also has multitouch functionality with the addition of a stylus for pen input.

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6 of 16 Asus

Asus had a couple of new takes on the tablet, including its Eee Transformer device, which features a keyboard that can be removed, leaving the tablet device to work on its own.

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7 of 16 Asus

The Asus Eee Slider takes another approach with the tablet PC sliding up to reveal a Qwerty keyboard.

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8 of 16 Josh P. Miller/CNET

CES also played host to the launch of numerous smartphones, including the Motorola Droid Bionic. The device has two 1GHz dual-core processors and a 4.3-inch display.

The Droid Bionic also features an HDMI jack so users can connect it to their television to view videos. The phone can also be used while it plays out the video on the big screen using HDMI mirroring technology.

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9 of 16 Kent German/CNET

As well as the 4G version of the Galaxy Tab, Samsung also announced the 4G LTE smartphone, which runs on Android.

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10 of 16 Tim Ferguson/ZDNET

LG revealed its ultra-thin phone, the Optimus Black, which is just 6mm deep at its thinnest point while still having a four-inch display.

Photo credit: LG

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11 of 16 Microsoft

Microsoft revealed the second version of its Surface touchscreen technology - first shown in 2007 - at CES 2011.

Microsoft worked with Samsung to develop the SUR40 40-inch, high-definition, LCD multitouch screen. As the device is much thinner than its predecessor, it can be installed horizontally or vertically.

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12 of 16 James Martin/CNET

Stepping away from the device launches, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced that the next version of Windows will be designed to support system-on-a-chip architectures such as the ARM-based systems from Nvidia, Qualcomm and Texas Instruments.

The main benefit is that Windows can be integrated onto more portable devices such as tablets and smartphones.

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13 of 16 James Martin/CNET

Chip giant Intel discussed its Sandy Bridge processors, which are designed to boost performance by combining the graphics processor and CPU.

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14 of 16 Martin LaMonica

Using technology to promote more efficient energy use was another theme at CES in 2011.

General Electric (GE) demonstrated how the energy display shown above can be connected to a smart meter to show how much energy households are using. The energy display is due to be available from the third quarter of 2011.

The display is able to provide real-time and historic data, and will provide a means for utility companies to alert consumers of peak-time energy periods when electricity will be more expensive.

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15 of 16 Martin LaMonica/CNET

ThinkEco's modlet is designed to be plugged into a PC USB key to track, using a Zigbee low-frequency radio, how much energy is being used by elecrical items.

The device - due to be launched in the spring - can also schedule different electrical items to switch off, reducing the amount of energy wasted when things are left on unnecessarily.

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16 of 16 Ford

Another interesting technology demonstrated at CES was this app from car manufacturer Ford.

Called MyFord Mobile, the app is designed to help owners of Ford's Focus electric car to receive various telematics functions on their phone. These include remote door unlocking and journey-planning software that takes into account the car's battery range.

Shown above is a screen highlighting factors that could affect the range of the car - such as outside temperature - and advice about how to improve it, such as pre-heating the car while the vehicle is plugged into the electricity supply.

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