What CES developments should marketers be looking for?Each and every year in early January, media companies, technology experts, and gadget geeks gather in the halls of the Las Vegas Convention Center. The event that brings them all together – the International Consumer Electronics Show. 2012’s gathering may be in the books, but that has not stopped attendees and observers from talking about the sights and sounds of the event. In this article, we will take a look at a few of the CES developments marketers should keep an eye on.

Android Evolution

2011 was a huge year for Google’s Android operating system, and if CES was any indication, 2012 will be an even bigger one. Android was on display in numerous devices, but only a few were lucky enough to be graced with Ice Cream Sandwich, the latest version of the platform. Android Ice Cream Sandwich was found on Samsung’s Galaxy S and Nexus tablet devices, and actually made its television debut on Lenovo’s K91 – more on that coming up. CES gave us more proof of Android’s widespread prevalence, and why it has become so important for marketers to think beyond the iPhone, iPad, and other popular Apple products.

Smart TV Technology

This year’s CES was full of booths showcasing television sets specifically designed with the digital savvy consumer in mind. However, it was the so-called “smart TVs” that stole the show in this category. Up to this point, Google has pretty much been the force leading the smart TV charge, but at CES we learned that several well known consumer electronics makers have lined up to lend a helping hand. Guests were treated to a nice collection of smart TVs, including those made by Samsung, Sony, and Lenovo, which debated its K91. These particular devices are powered by Google TV, but the rich web features of smart TV technology in general gives it the potential to create some powerful experiences. This is definitely one to track for marketers with a physical establishment.

Ultrabooks

Another hot item category at the 2012 CES was ultrabooks, a term that is copyrighted by chip maker Intel, who has been one of the biggest pushers of the concept. Ultrabooks are basically slimmer, lighter weight versions of laptop computers. Intel displayed a number of these at CES, boasting an interesting variety of units sporting hardware from manufacturers such as Asus, Hewlett Packard, and Lenovo. Ultrabooks are very similar to tablets in terms of portability, but are much closer to conventional computers in the performance department. The performance boost makes these trendy gadgets much more useful to the busy marketer.

There was a lot to take in at CES 2012, and while most of it was updates to technology we had already been introduced to previously, the final products are looking quite impressive. To close, this year’s event certainly unveiled some interesting tools marketers can use to supercharge their business.