As we bid farewell to the 2011 International CES, we close with some general observations from the ETC reporting team…

Las Vegas was crowded – really crowded. If the national economy is slow to recover, there was little evidence of it in the Nevada desert. CEA estimates that about 140,000 people attended the show (more than last year and on par with pre-recession levels), and the state of the industry is showing strength. CEA’s Gary Shapiro estimates that consumer electronics spending will show a 6% increase for 2010, to $180 billion, and will rise an additional 3% this year, to more than $186 billion.

If we had to sum up this year’s show in 10 words, they would be: smart, connected, apps, 3D, 4G, gestural interfaces, tablets, tablets, and tablets.

The word that appeared around every corner of this year’s show floor was ‘smart’ – from banners and new product lines to marketing slogans and more. There was no escaping it, as it seems manufacturers now recognize the need to simplify consumer control over the dizzying array of available devices and services.

‘Connected’ everything was another star of the show, especially in regards to television and related services: search, discovery, VOD, and way too many apps to fathom. In fact, it was a challenge to spot a TV that wasn’t connected to Hulu, Netflix, Skype, Facebook, Twitter, Pandora, Yahoo! – you get the idea.

CES presented the connected TV as the center for our new multimedia-driven homes. We saw Hubs, Dashboards, Media Links – all designed to address these needs.

This CE connectivity is reliant upon high-speed networks and we heard a lot in terms of 4G and LTE. Verizon, T-Mobile, and others showcased their recently launched networks and collection of tablets and smartphones designed to leverage new speed and efficiency. We found the Motorola Atrix 4G compelling, an Android-based phone featuring NVIDIA’s dual-core Tegra 2 chipset, support for AT&T’s 4G network, and a very interesting laptop dock.

We saw 3D in record abundance – from 3D mobile and 3D gaming to new autostereo displays and a wide selection of prototype and market-ready 3DTVs and laptops.

Sony and Panasonic are sticking with active-shutter, while others – including LG, Toshiba, and Vizio – are touting the benefits of new passive 3D models. Passive displays are being produced at a more reasonable cost and many find passive polarized to be more comfortable. Additionally, the weight of the glasses is an improvement, and they work better over eyeglasses.

For those who believe donning plastic glasses may become the primary obstacle to consumer adoption, a number of autostereo displays were on hand, some that showed real promise and others that were less than impressive.

In terms of gestural interfaces, Microsoft Kinect is already breaking sales records, but the real story here is how gesture technologies will be used beyond video games. PrimeSense showed a system that wirelessly links the PC and TV, enabling access to content from a controller-free 3D system. Imagine what ‘connected’ TV will be like with set-top boxes featuring gesture recognition.

If there was a single breakout star this year, however, it would be tablets.

The Motorola XOOM turned a lot of heads in Vegas. The Android-based device (CNET’s ‘Best of Show’ winner) is one in a growing number of tablets targeting the burgeoning iPad market. Reactions were also positive for the 4G BlackBerry PlayBook which, unlike most of the iPad competitors, does not use Android, but will run on the BlackBerry Tablet OS.

Another tablet not using Android is Samsung’s Sliding PC 7. It runs on Windows, and is a touch-screen device with its own slide-out keyboard. Larger than an iPad but smaller than many Netbooks, it could be the hybrid that many have been hoping for.

We have much more to discuss, especially in regards to cloud-based content hosting and delivery services (i.e. UltraViolet), connected TVs and Blu-ray players with 2D-to-3D conversion capabilities, and more – but we’ll save those thoughts for our post show report which should be available within the next week.

Thanks for reading the blog for this year’s CES coverage. A special thank-you to ETC’s sponsors who make our work possible. Until the next show…

KC Blake, Sarah Blake, George Gerba, Carolyn Giardina, Bryan Gonzalez, Bob Lambert, Michael Lei, Phil Lelyveld, Jack Lerner, Edie Meadows, Nick Nero, Paula Parisi, Adrian Pennington, Rob Scott, David Wertheimer, Joyce Yi

LG presented a new approach to television and board controls with its LG Pen Touch Multi Board, essentially a large widescreen LCD with stylus touch controls.

The LG board is distinct from similar computer-driven boards currently on the market (such as the Smart Board) in that it allows image manipulation via multiple controls and supports more than one user at a time. Imagine using two pressure-sensitive stylus controls to manipulate the screen, similar to how you’d use two fingers on the touchscreen of an iPhone or iPad. This advancement enables multiple simultaneous users, which really opens up new possibilities.

The Pen Touch Multi Board is being promoted for classroom applications, but could also be an interesting resource for kiosks, theme parks, museums, and more. Notes taken during a meeting or presentation, for example, can be saved to a PC to be accessed at a later time.

LG anticipates Q2 availability. (Los Angeles Times has an interesting online video demo.)

Appotronics specializes in low power and highly portable projectors. They offer a wide range of projectors with connections to practically any source (VGA, HDMI, composite) as well as embedded SD card slot for direct media playback on select models.

The LP200 is an LED driven DLP ‘pocket projector’ (pictured left) with a very respectable 200 lumen output, 858×600 resolution, 2000:1 contrast ratio, a 30,000 hour bulb life, a built-in speaker and an SD card slot for an all-in-one media playback solution.

However, their newest projector (the Y|X) more than doubles the light output at 500 lumens and still only uses as much power as a typical lightbulb (60W).

Optoma’s latest pocket projector, the PK201 (pictured right), can literally fit in your pocket — it’s the size of an iPhone. It also uses an LED lit DLP and has a built in SD card slot for direct media playback. However, this model only puts out 20 lumens so it’s very limited in its application.

Microvision, one of the pioneers in the pico projector market, has also doubled the light output of their previous model meaning it can paint a surprisingly bright picture given its size. The ShowWX+ uses laser light to drive a micromirror (not DLP) at 858×480 resolution in a 16:9 aspect ratio. The good news — it uses lasers (!!!) which means you never have to focus. The bad news — it’s still only 15W, which means you won’t be running your home theater (or your closet theater) from it.

Oh, and laser light projectors still have ‘speckle’ — an artifact caused by light of the same wavelength destructively interfering which cause dark and light spots to crawl all over the projected image. Still, as seen on the left, the image is certainly relatively bright and punchy. The projector is even being powered by the iPhone that’s providing the video.

It’s a great sign that these low power microprojectors are doubling their light output but still maintaining very low power requirements from one year to the next.

In years past it was really hard to imagine being able to use a projector with a sub-100 lumen light output, but at 500 lumens we are really starting to see something you could use for small gatherings.

Japanese company NEC showed its LT-W Cloud Communicator,  a new “book-style” dual-screen slate running Android 2.1.

Two 7-inch TFT LCD screens are about the size of a traditional paperback book in full color. It weighs 530 grams and offers screen functions that range from side-by-side to divergent uses for multiple portals on the two screens. NEC has provided a range of original applications that let you share different scenarios (one interestingly allows a lecture on one side while taking notes on the other).

The prototype device features Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS. Each screen is 800 x 600.

NEC reps say the tablet will be introduced in Japan, possibly in the next six months. There are no formal plans for a US release, but NEC is hoping to license the LT-W to other companies.

Qualcomm generated some buzz at the show with their new Mirasol Display for mobile devices.

Unlike traditional LCD screens that must be backlit, the Mirasol display uses a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) to manipulate the amount of space between two conductive plates to reflect ambient light in full-color. This gives the screen many of the same benefits of E-Ink displays, including the ability to operate with extremely low-power consumption in full-sunlight.

Unlike E-Ink however, these displays are able to switch extremely fast, allowing for full-motion video. The screen was fully functional and the video ran smooth, although the colors left a little to be desired. Qualcomm is also working on edge-lighting that can be switched on in dark environments.

Reps expect the screen to be in products on shelves this year. The Mirasol Display site features a great video demo.

Digital content has quickly become the norm in a user’s daily life. And the need to be able to share, move, and enjoy the content at home in a seamless unified way is quickly becoming a demand that must be met. If digital is the way of the future, users must feel comfortable and have the means to share and move content around, without having to worry about the logins, IP address, or network settings.

Aiming to make it easier for consumers, Samsung has introduced AllShare, their software platform that uses DLNA to move content around a user’s home network. AllShare will allow many of Samsung new products such as the Galaxy Tab, the Galaxy smartphone, Blu-ray players, TVs, and home router to move content around the network seamlessly.

Using AllShare, a Blu-ray player can stream a movie out to a Galaxy Tab or smartphone. Also, the user can share photos from their Samsung camera or mobile phone and stream a photo slideshow to their TV. The platform even allows cameras to automatically back up photos to a computer, even if the camera is turned off.

Prepare to be dazzled at the Samsung booth…

Crowds were gathering around eye-catching 1080p imagery, playing on a prototype of an ultra-thin, 75-inch, Full HD 3D LED TV.

The prototype is Internet-enabled, supports 3D, and includes a touchscreen remote. Samsung also explained the display is power efficient since it features LED backlighting.

The prototype is roughly an inch thick, though a company spokesperson said that could change before release, which is slated in Q4. A 55- and 60-inch version of the TV will also be available.

Haier arrived at CES with a new range of LED displays powered by Yahoo!’s Connected TV platform. These Net Connect displays also feature Wi-Fi.

Augmenting the services on the Yahoo! Connected TV platform include Amazon VOD, Facebook, Twitter, CBS, Showtime, NBC, eBay, YouTube and Pandora, Haier also has Hulu Plus, Blockbuster on Demand, Film Fresh and Netflix.

Buttons specifying Netflix — including some featuring the iconic red Netflix logo — will be situated prominently on remote controls that operate certain new Haier Blu-ray Disc players, and the Netflix one-click button will be included on remote controls for the Net Connect TVs.

Haier is also demonstrating Yahoo! Connected TV’s new broadcast interactivity feature and has plans to participate in the pilot program.

Further details on release date, pricing and additional specs for the TVs were not made available.

All of Panasonic’s 2011 TVs will have VIERA Connect on board, rather than the current VIERA CAST system. The change is not a mere cosmetic one. Unlike VIERA CAST, VIERA Connect is an open platform, which means it will be available to developers of third-party content to promote the expansion of IPTV services and applications.

This will be collected into a new VIERA Connect Market section, where users will be able to select individual apps to personalize their IPTV portal.

Apps include Netflix, Amazon VOD, Napster, Pandora, Facebook, CinemaNow and Skype functionality. Other content includes the ability to play 3D games online through Gameloft.

Fifteen new flat-panel TVs models (42- to 65-inches) are compatible with this service, on release in the US market this spring.

The company expects to drive its IPTV sales up to 70% of its total television sales in the global market by 2012.

VIERA Connect is also shared with Panasonic’s first tablet device, shown in prototype. Few details were available about the VIERA Tablet but it will be capable of streaming content from a VIERA HDTV onto the tablet device, allowing users to effectively take their TV programming with them throughout the house. Samsung is showing a similar functionality on its Galaxy tablet and smart TVs.

On its Bravia LCD HDTV line, Sony is highlighting its 3D-capable KDL-HX820 series with 1080p resolution; 46- and 55-inch models are available. This series uses Sony’s X-Reality PRO Engine, a two-chip digital processor.

In all, the 2011 Bravia line includes 16 new 3D-capable and 22 Internet-connected models.

New this year, Sony is incorporating 2D-to-3D technology in 3D models, though how these conversion features — appearing in a growing number of 3DTVs — would be utilized remains a question.

Bravia models include Internet connectivity, enabling access to movies, video and music services through the Bravia Internet Video platform.

Like the Bravia line, Sony’s new Blu-ray Disc player, the BDP-S780, can convert 2D content to 3D. The player also incorporates Sony’s IP content noise reduction technology and precision cinema HS upscaling technologies, aimed at improving SD and enhancing web quality video, while Sony’s Super Bit Mapping technology aims to smooth color reproduction. The player features built-in Wi-Fi wireless with Wi-Fi Protected Setup, as well as an Ethernet jack.

Sony is also demonstrating its Internet TV powered by Google TV that was introduced this past October (see related post about Sony’s Google TV).