2011 CES – Tablets, Tablets, and More Tablets

The annual Consumer Electronics Show is about to start in Las Vegas. The CES officially runs from January 6 to the 9th, but there are several press conferences today for new product announcements. The show is huge – 2700 exhibitors, and over 100,000 attendees. Most of the major electronics brands will be there showing off their latest computers, cameras, TV’s, home theatres, and accessories. (With the notable exception of Apple.)

One of the hot items this year will be tablets. As I’ve mentioned before, (and I’m certainly not the only one) tablets will forever change how we consume information and media – both as a consumer and business device.

Some predictions call for as many as 80 different tablets to be introduced at the CES. There will be various flavours of operating systems and sizes. But they will all be compared to the iPad. And version 2 of the iPad is expected to be introduced within the next couple of months or so. 

It will take time for the market to decide what features, operating system, size, and price points become useful and popular. And which of those 80 will not survive.

My advice for anyone wanting a tablet is to hold tight for a short while and see what the choices are when the next version of the iPad arrives. And then decide which of those choices makes the most sense for you.

The tech press has extensive coverage of the CES. See, for example, CNET, Engadget, Wired.