Best of CES 2012 Awards winners revealed
The votes have been cast and the results are in. CES has produced some seriously awesome products this year -- take a look at the best.
As CES winds down for another year, so the time comes for the Best of CES Awards to be doled out to the most innovative and exciting products seen by the discerning CNET judging panel, including CNET UK's very own Jason Jenkins and Luke Westaway. We have the full rundown of all the deserving winners.
Drum roll puh-lease...
Best of Show and Best TV
Best of Show this year went to the top telly of the week, LG's 55EM960V OLED TV, a 55-inch slither of technology that truly blew us away. At only 4mm in depth, this TV is thinner than any smart phone we've heard of. We're not sure how LG has squeezed such tip-top OLED technology into a telly this skinny, but we like it. The 55EM960V is expected to arrive this autumn, so start saving your pennies now because you won't want to miss out.
People's Voice Award
You cast your votes and Razer's Project Fiona emerged victorious in the People's Voice Award. This bonkers gaming tablet concept suggests even hardcore gamers are starting to take tablets seriously.
Best Smart Phone
Winner in the smart phone category was unfortunately not the Sony Xperia S, the only shortlisted blower that will wing its way to the UK, but the nonetheless lovely Nokia Lumia 900. The Lumia 900 is almost identical to the Lumia 800 that launched last year in the UK, except it packs a forward-facing camera, 4G LTE technology and a slightly larger screen.
We loved the Lumia 800 and were overjoyed to see Nokia back on form. We have our fingers tightly crossed that its big brother is a success in the US, as it will mean developers put more stock into developing Windows Phone apps.
Best Laptop
The glass-coated HP Envy 14 Spectre ultrabook took the title in the laptop category. We managed to get our mitts on the Spectre here in London and donned our lab coats to put it through its paces in our top-secret tech testing dungeon.
The slab of black glass that sits atop the Spectre's lid lends it a stunning appearance, which gives it an edge on the other rather samey-samey ultrabooks that were ten-a-penny at CES this year. We did feel however that it was rather hefty and bulky for an ultrabook, as well being pricier than we would have liked.
Best Camera
The best camera of the show was the Fujifilm X Pro 1, a mirrorless snapper targeted at pro photographers. The X Pro 1 is an interchangeable-lens model that sports a striking vintage design and takes pride of place as the top camera in Fujifilm's premium X range.
It's quite an achievement for Fujifilm, a company that was known primarily for its mid-range point-and-shoots and has taken massive strides in a relatively short amount of time.
Best Tablet
The accolade for tablet of the show goes to the Nvidia Tegra 3-based, quad-core Asus Memo 370T. Measuring 7 inches across, the Memo will pack a quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM and 16GB of storage and will ship running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Best of all, you won't need a to take out a second mortgage to get your hands on one -- it will go on sale at a very reasonable $250 (£160) in the US. Sadly, there are no plans to bring its reasonableness to the UK.
Best Software
BlueStacks might not be a name you've heard before, but this worthy winner in the software and apps category is about to make waves. The program will ship pre-installed on select Windows 8 machines, bringing the entire Android Market, with more than 400,000 apps, to users of the Microsoft OS.
Best Car Tech
The QNX Car 2 mobile apps platform scooped the award for the best piece of car tech with its vision of dashboard technology of the future, which includes the innovative application of NFC technology to instantly and automatically pair a phone with the car.
Best Home Theatre
In the home theatre category, the Simple.TV DVR claimed the badge of honour. This DVR without a built-in hard drive or video output lets you supply your own hard drive, then stream live and recorded over-the-air TV to the Simple.TV app, which is available on any of your devices.
Best Networking
The prize for Networking went to the Amplifi HD Media Router 3000, the first home router that will come equipped with USB 3.0, supporting D-Link's SharePort cloud technology.
Best Emerging Tech
Looking forward, the futuristic MakerBot Replicator 3D printer was deemed the best slab of emerging tech. Using 'dualstrusion' technology it can print 3D objects in multiple colours and materials.
So there you have it -- all the top products of CES 2012. Do you think the right tech won? Do these products make you excited for the year ahead, and which ones are you hoping to get your hands on?
Let us know in the comments below or on our Facebook page.